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thumb|Preserved Midland Scottish [[Alexander Y-type bodied Leyland Leopard at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum in 2013]]
Midland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operator formed in June 1985 as a subsidiary of the Scottish Bus Group, created from part of W. Alexander & Sons (Midland) Ltd. The company operated as Midland Scottish until 1991, when it was renamed Midland Bluebird in preparation for privatisation.
From its head office in Camelon (later Larbert), Midland Scottish was the largest bus operator in Stirling, Clackmannanshire and Falkirk districts and was responsible for urban, rural and interurban services in and around Stirling, the Trossachs, Alloa, Falkirk, and Linlithgow, as well as parts of Argyllshire. Services from these places extended into Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth. The company also provided coaches for Scottish Citylink express work, mainly north west and central Scotland to other towns and cities in Scotland and England.
History
Midland Scottish's predecessor company, W Alexander & Sons can be traced back to 1923, being split into three smaller companies in 1961. The largest of these, Midland, subsequently renamed Midland Scottish, had an operating territory extended from Glasgow and Bo'ness in the south to Oban and Pitlochry in the north. In 1970 the Oban depot and services had been transferred to Highland Omnibuses, but the operating area was still large and varied.
In preparation for deregulation of the bus industry and eventual privatisation, the Scottish Bus Group reorganised its subsidiaries in 1985 to create smaller operating units which more closely corresponded with local government boundaries and which reduced the number of jointly-operated services. The Alexander (Midland) depots at within Strathclyde were ceded to a new company named Kelvin Scottish, whilst those in Tayside passed to another new company named Strathtay Scottish. The company's central works in Falkirk adjacent to Larbert depot also passed to another new SBG subsidiary, SBG Engineering.
The remainder of Alexander (Midland) was renamed Midland Scottish Omnibuses, and consisted of the Central Region depots at Alloa, Balfron, Bannockburn, Callander, Grangemouth and Larbert. Midland Scottish also were transferred the former Scottish Omnibuses depot at Linlithgow in West Lothian, giving Midland Scottish full responsibility for jointly operated Edinburgh to Stirling and Falkirk services, alongside the SBG's Highland Scottish Argyllshire operations from Oban depot and Western SMT depots Ardrishaig and Bridgend, Islay. Shortly afterward, the company changed its legal name to Midland Bluebird, with buses receiving a livery in the style of other GRT Group companies.
Midland Bluebird's Oban depot was sold to Oban & District in 1992, completing the withdrawal from Argyllshire, and in September 1992, the company announced a smoking ban on all its services from 12 October after a highly publicised public consultation found that 91% of respondents wished smoking to be banned on its services.
The former operations of Midland Scottish are today part of McGill's Scotland East.