Stagecoach East Scotland (legally incorporated as Fife Scottish Omnibuses Ltd) () is an operating region of Stagecoach UK Bus, with its regional base in Dunfermline, Scotland. The company operators under six different brands. History Stagecoach began long distance express coach services in 1981 from its base in Perth, expanding into local bus operation when it bought McLennan of Spittalfield in 1985. Deregulation of bus services in 1986 gave Stagecoach the opportunity to expand operations in Perth, thus fierce competition with the dominant operator Strathtay Scottish began, which eventually saw Stagecoach's then Perth Panther subsidiary emerge as the largest provider of bus services in the Perth area. On the breakup and privatisation of the Scottish Bus Group, Stagecoach was successful in acquiring two of the subsidiaries, namely Northern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd (in March 1991) and Fife Scottish Omnibuses Ltd (in July 1991). Allisons Coaches of Dunfermline was purchased in April 2000. In August 2003 the UK's first entirely commercial demand responsive bus service was launched by Stagecoach East Scotland in Fife. Trading as Yellow Taxibus and using the AA Buses Ltd legal name (transferred from Stagecoach West Scotland where it was purchased with the AA Buses operation in Ayrshire) the operation combined the benefits of a fixed bus route with the flexibility of pre-booked taxi pick-ups. Yellow Taxibus operated a fleet of eight-seater spacious, upmarket Mercedes-Benz Vito vehicles on a high-frequency service between Dunfermline and Edinburgh seven days a week; however after a two-year trial the loss making service was withdrawn in November 2005. On 14 December 2005 Stagecoach purchased the Barnsley-based Traction Group, the largest remaining private bus company, for £26 million. The Traction Group owned Strathtay Scottish, which Stagecoach had pushed out of Perth some 16 years earlier. The Strathtay operations bridged the gap between Stagecoach's Fife, Perth and Bluebird operations, giving the group a vast swathe of the country extending from Edinburgh through to Perth, northwards to Aberdeen and round to Inverness, with only Travel Dundee and First Aberdeen being the major non-Stagecoach operators within that area. Unusually, despite the Strathtay fleet receiving the corporate livery, fleet vehicles were branded with Strathtay with Part of the Stagecoach Group straplines. In early 2007, Stagecoach in Perth started one of two Stagecoach Gold services as a trial for Stagecoach Group. Along with the service run by Stagecoach Warwickshire, they offer newer vehicles to a higher standard, and are in a