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First South West

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First South West
Alexander RH bodied Volvo B10M-50 open top buses
at Penzance in May 2010
ParentFirstGroup
HeadquartersCamborne
Service areaCornwall
Somerset
Service typeBus services
Routes82[1]
Depots6
Fleet419 (September 2015)[2]
Websitefirstkernow.co.uk, busesofsomerset.co.uk

First South West[3] 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 First Kernow, Buses of Somerset and Buses of Taunton brands.

History

Alexander Dennis Enviro400 in Plymouth in June 2012
Plaxton Pointer II bodied Dennis Dart in Plymouth in August 2007
Preserved ECW bodied Leyland Olympian in the old livery at Penzance Bus Station in April 2012

First Devon & Cornwall was formed from two previous operators: Western National (in Cornwall and South Devon) and Red Bus (in North Devon).

In April 2008, First Devon & Cornwall purchased Truronian.[4][5] In 2014 First Somerset & Avon routes around Taunton were transferred to First Devon & Cornwall and rebranded as The Buses of Somerset.

On 6 September 2015, the Plymouth, Dartmouth and Tavistock garages were taken over by Stagecoach South West.[6][7] Whilst Torpoint depot is being used a resting place for the unused members of the fleet At the same time, First Devon & Cornwall changed their name to First South West.

Routes

First South West routes cover much of Cornwall. It operates the Park & Ride service in Truro.[8] In March 2015, First Kernow commenced operating some of Western Greyhound following its sudden closure.

Fleet

As at March 2013 the fleet consisted of 240 buses and coaches.[9]

First South West operate one of the older FirstGroup fleets with an average of 11.6 years.[10] New purchases are rare with most buses transferred from other group fleets.[11]

Until December 2006 First South West operated the last sizeable fleet of Bristol VRT double-deck buses in the United Kingdom.[12] Some of these Bristol VRTs were preserved.

As at September 2013 the oldest buses in the fleet were seven 1987 Alexander RH bodied Volvo B10M-50s that have been converted to open top buses for services between Penzance, Lands End and St Ives.[11][13]

Depots

Outstations

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/devon_cornwall/journey_planning/timetables/index.php?operator=6&page=1&redirect=no
  2. ^ http://www.ukbuses.co.uk/fleet/fdc.pdf
  3. ^ Companies House extract company no 1669417 First South West Limited
  4. ^ First to buy Truronian busandcoach.com 15 February 2008
  5. ^ Anticipated acquisition by Firstgroup plc of Truronian Limited Office of Fair Trading 11 April 2008
  6. ^ First agrees sale of South Devon business to Stagecoach FirstGroup 10 July 2015
  7. ^ FirstBus agrees to sell Plymouth operations to Stagecoach Plymouth Herald 13 July 2015
  8. ^ Cornwall Council, http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/transport-and-streets/public-transport/park-and-ride/
  9. ^ FirstGroup Fleetlist Steve White
  10. ^ About us First Devon & Cornwall
  11. ^ a b First: Devon, Kernow, Somerset, Truronian UK Buses 1 September 2013
  12. ^ FDC VR running day, 09/12/06 sulzerpower.com
  13. ^ Service 300 Cornwall Explorer First South West

Media related to First Devon and Cornwall at Wikimedia Commons

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