Wikipedia

First South West

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[2] is a bus company operating services in the English counties of Somerset and Cornwall. It is a subsidiary of 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 executiveSimon Goff
Websitefirstbus.co.uk/cornwall, firstbus.co.uk/somerset

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

History

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Preserved ECW bodied Leyland Olympian in the original First Bus livery at Penzance Bus Station in April 2012

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

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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.

Although the operator is named ‘First South West’, it only operates minor services in Devon. Most services are based in Cornwall and Somerset.

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, trading as The Buses of Somerset, operated the Taunton Park & Ride service under a contract with Somerset Council signed in 2021. This was due to last for five years,[8] however, First South West informed Somerset Council it no longer finds the route to be viable and ended its commitment in February 2024. The service was taken over by Stagecoach South West.[9]

Adventures by Bus

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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, and Exmoor Coaster services. Many of these services operate using open-top vehicles across the summer season. The Atlantic Coaster, and Lands End Coaster 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.[10]

Typical vehicle Service Name Start Terminus Locality Notes
  Dartmoor Explorer Plymouth Exeter Devon Seasonal route via Yelverton, Princetown, Postbridge, and Moretonhampstead.
  Lands End Coaster Land's End St Ives Cornwall Seasonal circular route via Porthcurno, Penzance, Marazion and Sennen using open-top vehicles.
  Falmouth Coaster Falmouth Docks Swanpool Cornwall Seasonal circular around Falmouth. open-top vehicles.
  Atlantic Coaster Newquay Padstow Cornwall Seasonal route along the coast between Newquay and Padstow.
  Exmoor Coaster Minehead Ilfracombe Somerset & Devon Seasonal route via Blue Anchor, Minehead and Exmoor National Park.
Tin Coaster Penzance Lower Boscaswell Cornwall
Sunseeker Gwithian St Ives Cornwall
  The Mousehole Penzance Mousehole Cornwall Optare Solos and Mercedes-Benz Sprinters operate this

Fleet

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An example of current route branding on an Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC in Redruth in 2018

As at April 2019 the fleet consisted of 296 buses and coaches.[11]

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.[12] 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.[13]

Until December 2006 First South West operated the last sizeable fleet of Bristol VRT double-deck buses in the United Kingdom.[14] 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.[13][15]

Depots

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Outstations

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See also

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References

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  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[permanent dead link‍] 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/ Archived 28 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Bus company wins five-year contract to run Taunton's park and ride". Somerset County Gazette. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Taunton park and ride service set for new management". Somerset County Gazette. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Adventures By Bus |". www.firstbus.co.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  11. ^ FirstGroup Fleetlist Steve White
  12. ^ About us[permanent dead link‍] First Devon & Cornwall
  13. ^ a b First: Devon, Kernow, Somerset, Truronian Archived 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine UK Buses 1 September 2013
  14. ^ FDC VR running day, 09/12/06 Archived 10 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine sulzerpower.com
  15. ^ Service 300 Cornwall Explorer[permanent dead link‍] First South West
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