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First South West

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 95.150.29.26 (talk) at 12:04, 6 June 2022 (→Depots: Brought information up to date with new depot). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the bus operation. Not to be confused with South Western Railway, a rail service that is also operated by FirstGroup.

First South West
An ALX400 in The Buses of Somerset livery (left) and an Enviro400 MMC in Kernow livery at Taunton in 2020
ParentFirstGroup
HeadquartersCamborne
Service areaCornwall
Somerset
Devon
Service typeBus services
Routes82[1]
Depots7
Chief executiveAlex Carter
Websitefirstbus.co.uk/cornwall, firstbus.co.uk/somerset

First South West[2] is a bus company operating services in the English counties of Somerset and Cornwall. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.

First South West includes the Kernow, Truronian, Adventures by Bus and Buses of Somerset brands.

History

Preserved ECW bodied Leyland Olympian in the original First Bus livery at Penzance Bus Station in April 2012
Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart in Plymouth in August 2007
Alexander Dennis Enviro400 in Plymouth in June 2012
An example of current route branding on an Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC in Redruth in 2018

First South West was known as 'First Devon & Cornwall' until 2015. This had been formed from two previous FirstGroup companies: Western National in Cornwall and south Devon, and Red Bus in north Devon. FirstGroup purchased independent Cornish operator Truronian in April 2008 and merged it into First Devon & Cornwall.[3][4] First Somerset & Avon routes around Taunton and Bridgwater were transferred to First Devon & Cornwall in 2014 and rebranded as The Buses of Somerset.

On 6 September 2015, the Plymouth, Dartmouth and Tavistock garages were taken over by Stagecoach South West.[5][6] Torpoint depot is being used[clarification needed] to store the unused members of the fleet. At the same time, First Devon & Cornwall changed their name to First South West to reflect their new area of operation which is only in Cornwall and south Somerset.

In January 2020, Cornwall Council awarded the entire tendered bus network within the county to Plymouth Citybus, consisting of 73 routes. Kernow continues to operate their entire commercial network across Cornwall, including Tinner, University, Lizard and Coaster branded routes, as well as the 24, 27, 87 and 91.

Commencing from May 2021, First South West launched a number of services under the 'Adventures by Bus' brand across Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. These services are operated commercially and include a number of services that were previously operated by Kernow under different circumstances.

Routes

First South West routes cover much of Cornwall. It operates the Park & Ride service in Truro.[7] In March 2015, First Kernow commenced operating some of Western Greyhound following its sudden closure.

Many routes are operated commercially and not under any tender or subsidy by the local council. Many of these fall within Cornwall, yet many other services are also operated commercially rather than under tenders such as the Adventures By Bus routes.

First South West operate the Taunton Park & Ride service under Buses of Somerset using Wright Streetlite vehicles in a two-tone orange and purple livery. This service is contracted under Taunton Council.[8]

Adventures by Bus

In May 2021, the 'Adventures by Bus' brand commenced operations across First South West's service area, with operations shared between the existing Kernow and Buses of Somerset divisions. The brand includes many seasonally operated routes. These include; The Dartmoor Explorer, Lands End Coaster, Falmouth Coaster, Atlantic Coaster, Exmoor Coaster, Lizard, Exeter Tour and Daytripper services. Many of these services operate using open-top vehicles across the summer season. The Atlantic Coaster, Lands End Coaster and The Lizard services operate on routes previously operated by Kernow. Adventures by Bus services operate out of multiple depots and outstations across the service area, all of which are owned and operated by either Kernow or Buses of Somerset. Adventures by Bus brought First services back to Devon for the first time since September 2015.[9]

Service Name Start Terminus Locality Vehicle Operation Notes
Dartmoor Explorer Plymouth Exeter St Davids Devon Wrightbus Gemini 1 Journeys split at Moretonhampstead and Tavistock. Always operated using

closed-top double decker vehicles.

Discover Exeter Exeter St Davids Exeter Cathederal Devon Open-Top Plaxton President Circular tour route. Runs seasonally using open-top vehicles.
Lands End Coaster Lands End St Ives West Cornwall Open-Top Plaxton President Circular route via Porthcurno, Penzance, Marazion and Sennen. Runs seasonally

using open-top vehicles.

Falmouth Coaster Falmouth Docks Swanpool Cornwall Open-Top Plaxton President Circular route via Town Quarry and Castle Beach. Runs seasonally using

open-top vehicles.

Atlantic Coaster St Ives Padstow Cornwall Open-Top Enviro400 via Perranporth and Newquay. Runs seasonally using open-top vehicles.
Exmoor Coaster Watchet Lynmouth West Somerset,

North Devon

Open-Top Scania Omnicity via Blue Anchor, Minehead and The Exmoor National Park. Journeys can

occasionally be split at Minehead Butlins. Runs seasonally always using open-top

vehicles between Minehead and Lynmouth, with the occasional single decker

vehicle operating on the Minehead to Watchet section.

The Lizard Helston St Ives, Lizard, Falmouth, Truro West Cornwall Open-Top Plaxton President,

Optare Solo SR, East Lancs Myllennium Lolyne

Consists of L1, L3 and L5. Connects with Kernow route U4. L1 is operated using

open-top vehicles for the summer season. L3 and L5 use single deckers.

Cornwall Daytripper The Eden Project Lost Gardens of Heligan,

Charlestown, Mevagissey,

Polperro, Newquay

Cornwall Optare Solo SR, Wrightbus

Gemini 1

Consists of D1, D2, D3, D4, D5,D6,D7 D8, D9, D10 and D11. Operates seasonally using both

closed-top double decker and single decker vehicles.

Fleet

As at April 2019 the fleet consisted of 296 buses and coaches.[10]

First South West used to operate one of the older FirstGroup fleets with an average of 11.6 years, but investment in new buses has seen this figure decrease to 9.9 years.[11] New purchases were made in 2016 and 2018 for the Kernow division. These were ADL Enviro400 MMCs, ADL Enviro200 MMCs and Optare Solo SRs. Most buses are second hand from within the FirstGroup fleet, they are large fleets of Plaxton Presidents on Volvo B7TL and Dennis Trident 2 chassis, Plaxton Pointer on Dennis Dart chassis, Optare Solo's and Mercedes-Benz Citaros.[12]

Until December 2006 First South West operated the last sizeable fleet of Bristol VRT double-deck buses in the United Kingdom.[13] Some of these Bristol VRTs were preserved.

As at May 2019, the oldest buses are Dennis Trident 2/Plaxton Presidents from 1998 operating out of Bridgwater depot. A Volvo Olympian has been preserved in the fleet.[12][14]

Depots

Outstations

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/devon_cornwall/journey_planning/timetables/index.php?operator=6&page=1&redirect=no [dead link‍]
  2. ^ Companies House extract company no 1669417 First South West Limited
  3. ^ First to buy Truronian Archived 24 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine busandcoach.com 15 February 2008
  4. ^ Anticipated acquisition by Firstgroup plc of Truronian Limited Archived 24 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine Office of Fair Trading 11 April 2008
  5. ^ First agrees sale of South Devon business to Stagecoach FirstGroup 10 July 2015
  6. ^ FirstBus agrees to sell Plymouth operations to Stagecoach Archived 21 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine Plymouth Herald 13 July 2015
  7. ^ Cornwall Council, http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/transport-and-streets/public-transport/park-and-ride/
  8. ^ "Bus company wins five-year contract to run Taunton's park and ride". Somerset County Gazette. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Adventures By Bus |". www.firstbus.co.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  10. ^ FirstGroup Fleetlist Steve White
  11. ^ About us First Devon & Cornwall
  12. ^ a b First: Devon, Kernow, Somerset, Truronian Archived 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine UK Buses 1 September 2013
  13. ^ FDC VR running day, 09/12/06 sulzerpower.com
  14. ^ Service 300 Cornwall Explorer First South West

Media related to First Devon and Cornwall at Wikimedia Commons

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