From its head office on Edinburgh's New Street, Eastern Scottish operated throughout the Lothians, from the Firth of Forth in the north and east to Bathgate in the west and Gorebridge in the south. The company ran urban, interurban and rural services in and around the towns of Bathgate, Livingstone, Dalkieth and Musselburgh as well as services within the city of Edinburgh itself. Eastern Scottish started life as Scottish Motor Traction in 1905, and was nationalized in 1949 to become part of the Scottish Bus Group. When the Scottish Bus Group was split up and privatized, Eastern Scottish was one of the most profitable parts. Reverting to Scottish Motor Traction on sale in 1990, it was bought out by what would become First Group in 1994.