FirstGroup plc
Encyclopedia
FirstGroup plc is a public transport
company, registered in Scotland at its headquarters in Aberdeen
, operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and the United States. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange
and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index
.
in the United Kingdom, whereby private companies purchased former nationalised and municipal bus operators.
In 1989 the council-owned Aberdeen
city municipal bus operator Grampian Regional Transport was purchased by its employees in a deal led by its then general manager Moir Lockhead
, the future FirstGroup Chief Executive. The company expanded through acquisition as the GRT Group
purchasing six former nationalised bus companies in England and Scotland. Elsewhere in the UK, the Badgerline Group had similarly grown through acquisitions of former nationalised bus companies in England and Wales accumulating 12 companies such as Western National, from similar beginnings to GRT from privatisation of the Somerset-based bus company Badgerline, sold to its management in 1986.
FirstGroup was formed as "FirstBus" in June 1995 through the merger of the Badgerline Group and the GRT Group, with fleets in England, Wales and Scotland.
At the time of the merger, Firstbus had 5,600 buses, 4,000 of which came from Badgerline. Badgerline's Trevor Smallwood remained as chairman of First for four years, while GRT head Moir Lockhead became deputy chairman and chief executive.
FirstBus continued the policy of growth by acquisition acquiring former council owned operations and companies owned by the English and Welsh and Scottish
nationalised operators. Post merger, First went on to acquire larger urban metropolitan operators by taking advantage of the privatisation of the PTE bus operations and the privatisation of London bus services
. FirstBus acquired GM Buses North
in Greater Manchester and Strathclyde Buses
in Greater Glasgow in 1996, and Mainline
in South Yorkshire and CentreWest
in London in 1997, and Capital Citybus
in London in 1998.
Post-merger, the group began applying a standard corporate typeface to its fleet names with a stylised f logo. A new corporate white, pink and indigo
livery was introduced for all new low-floor bus
es, nicknamed 'Barbie
', now the UK bus company standard, while further bus company acquisitions continued. Inherited bus fleets were initially left in their original colours with First fleet names, with the intention that the Barbie scheme would stand for a set service quality. Latterly, older buses received a modified 'Barbie 2' livery, with fleets later still converted to full Barbie colours. By the late 1990s, the corporate colours of Firstbus, Stagecoach Group
and Arriva
were appearing in buses in all parts of the UK except London
and Northern Ireland
.
The company was renamed First Group plc following an Extraordinary General Meeting on 23 December 1998, when the company moved into railways with the privatisation of British Rail
, gaining the Great Eastern
franchise
, then purchasing Swindon
-based Great Western Holdings
, holders of the North Western
and Great Western
franchises. The change of name was due to the managing director of Great Eastern trains objecting to having FirstBus displayed on the side of his trains. As Badgerline, First had originally entered the rail market with a stake in Great Western Holdings
, before the outright purchase of Great Western by First in 1998.
Soon after, it also began operating London's Tramlink
system under franchise from London Transport
.
In late 2000, FirstGroup sold its 26% stake in New World First Bus
(NWFB), a joint venture established in 1998 to operate the Hong Kong Island
routes formerly operated by China Motor Bus
, to NWS Holdings Ltd, its joint venture partner.
During 2004 First was awarded the ScotRail
franchise to run trains in Scotland, where it already operated the lion's share of bus services, and took over the new TransPennine Express franchise in partnership with French transport company Keolis.
The First North Western
franchise was lost to Serco-Abellio in December 2004. First North Western's services in northern England were combined with those previously run by Arriva Trains Northern
(and not part of the Transpennine network) to form the new Northern Rail
franchise.
In 2004 First lost First Great Eastern
to National Express Group
, which now operates it as National Express East Anglia. It was banned from bidding for the franchise, despite being named Train Operator of the Year
at the time.
From 1 April 2006 First has operated a new rail franchise under the brand First Capital Connect
, amalgamating Thameslink
with the Great Northern line of WAGN.
The Great Western franchise was extended in 2006 to also include the services of the former Wessex Trains
and Thames Trains
, and this new franchise was again awarded to First.
In February 2007 FirstGroup agreed to buy the US-based firm Laidlaw
, an operator of inter-city coaches and yellow school buses across North America, for £1.9 billion (US$3.7 billion). This also gave it a controlling stake in Greyhound Lines
, the largest bus operator in North America. The Greyhound name and the names of Canadian subsidiaries of Greyhound Canada were retained, and all other Laidlaw-owned services in the United States and Canada were rebranded under the First or Greyhound names, except for Voyageur Colonial
and Grey Goose
in Canada.
On 29 June 2009, FirstGroup said a takeover bid over fellow transport operator National Express Group
, which was struggling with debt over the East Coast Main Line
rail franchise at the time, had been rejected, National Express saying it did not "consider it appropriate" at the time to discuss a takeover. FirstGroup believed that there was "significant industrial and commercial logic" for a merger, but National Express wished to focus on its own initiatives.
On 15 February 2010, FirstGroup was announced as preferred bidder for the provision of bus and coach services for the London 2012 Olympic Games
. This will involve the provision of venue shuttle and park and ride services, services connecting peripheral park and ride sites on the M25
with the Olympic Park
and Ebbsfleet
, and a nationwide network of express coaches to the Olympic Park and the Weymouth and Portland sailing venue
. The services will require around 900 vehicles in total, although some will be sub-contracted.
In June 2010 First Group sold its railfreight business First GBRf, which it had acquired in 2003 (as part of a larger acquisition of GB Railways
) to the Eurotunnel Group for £31 million, ending the group's involvement in rail freight transport.
In September 2010 former London Underground
managing director Tim O'Toole, already a board member since May 2009 and Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive since June 2010, was announced as the successor to retiring group Chief Executive Officer Moir Lockhead with effect from 31 March 2011.
. It also operates First Hull Trains (an 80% share), a non-franchised open access intercity passenger train service, and provides rail freight services through FirstGBRf. First operated the Tramlink
network carrying approximately 24 million passengers a year on behalf of Transport for London, although its contract has been cancelled and will be transferred wholly to TfL.
In North America, FirstGroup has several divisions: First Student, which runs school bus routes; First Transit, which holds many city and county public transport contracts; and First Vehicle Services, which maintains vehicles for many corporations, organisations and local governments, including the other First divisions and Greyhound lines. Canadian operations are provided through its First Canada subsidiary, which operates school buses and fulfils public transport contracts.
FirstGroup has always had a consistent brand and most of the names of its operations begin with the word First, such as First ScotRail
, First Aberdeen
, First Glasgow
and First Bristol. The company has since removed all local branding for its local bus services - buses now simply carry the fleet name 'First' throughout the UK, although each company still operates independently. Its corporate colours are white, pink and blue, and many of its buses and trains are now liveried in these colours, except for buses and trams operating in the following services:
Similarly, in North America, all owned and operated services are operated under the First or Greyhound brands except in the Canadian provinces of Quebec
and Manitoba
for regulatory reasons, and vehicles operated under contract to public agencies, which carry the branding of the agency that owns the particular bus. All American subsidiaries of Greyhound Lines
are now operated under the Greyhound name.
FirstGroup owns and operates the Aircoach
service in Dublin, linking Dublin Airport
with the Dublin southside, Greystones and Bray as well as long-distance runs to Cork
. Aircoach also operates car park shuttles at Belfast and Dublin Airports. As of April 2008, Aircoach has started operating shuttle bus services for the Mater Private Hospital and Phoenix Park. Until 2009 Aircoach did not carry corporate branding, although recently drivers had begun to receive standard FirstGroup uniforms with additional Aircoach branding. Buses introduced since January 2009 on Aircoach carry a revised livery, still predominantly blue, but with a pink and white stripe and FirstGroup logo alongside the Aircoach logo.
External links=
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
company, registered in Scotland at its headquarters in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and the United States. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index
FTSE 250 Index
The FTSE 250 Index is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions to and demotions from the index take place quarterly in March, June, September and December...
.
History
FirstGroup originated from the deregulation of bus servicesBus deregulation
Bus deregulation in Great Britain came into force on 26 October 1986, as part of the Transport Act 1985.The 'Buses' White Paper was the basis of the Transport Act 1985, which provided for the deregulation of local bus services in the whole of the United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland and...
in the United Kingdom, whereby private companies purchased former nationalised and municipal bus operators.
In 1989 the council-owned Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
city municipal bus operator Grampian Regional Transport was purchased by its employees in a deal led by its then general manager Moir Lockhead
Moir Lockhead
Sir Moir Lockhead OBE is an English businessman and has been Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman of UK transport group FirstGroup since its formation in 1995...
, the future FirstGroup Chief Executive. The company expanded through acquisition as the GRT Group
GRT Group
GRT Group plc was a bus operating company in the United Kingdom. Created in 1989 as a holding company to effect the buyout of Grampian Regional Transport , it grew by acquisition and in 1995 merged with Badgerline to create FirstBus plc, forerunner to worldwide transport company FirstGroup...
purchasing six former nationalised bus companies in England and Scotland. Elsewhere in the UK, the Badgerline Group had similarly grown through acquisitions of former nationalised bus companies in England and Wales accumulating 12 companies such as Western National, from similar beginnings to GRT from privatisation of the Somerset-based bus company Badgerline, sold to its management in 1986.
FirstGroup was formed as "FirstBus" in June 1995 through the merger of the Badgerline Group and the GRT Group, with fleets in England, Wales and Scotland.
At the time of the merger, Firstbus had 5,600 buses, 4,000 of which came from Badgerline. Badgerline's Trevor Smallwood remained as chairman of First for four years, while GRT head Moir Lockhead became deputy chairman and chief executive.
FirstBus continued the policy of growth by acquisition acquiring former council owned operations and companies owned by the English and Welsh and Scottish
Scottish Bus Group
The Scottish Bus Group was a state-owned Scottish holding company that included a number of bus operators covering the whole of Scotland. The group was formed in 1961 as Scottish Omnibuses Group Ltd, to take control of the British Transport Commission's bus operating subsidiaries in Scotland...
nationalised operators. Post merger, First went on to acquire larger urban metropolitan operators by taking advantage of the privatisation of the PTE bus operations and the privatisation of London bus services
Privatisation of London bus services
The privatisation of London bus services was the progressive process of the transfer of operation of London Buses from public bodies to private companies....
. FirstBus acquired GM Buses North
GM Buses
GM Buses was the main bus company serving Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. The company was public owned by Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, which is a public body responsible for helping to co-ordinate public transport services in the Greater...
in Greater Manchester and Strathclyde Buses
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
The Strathclyde Partnership for Transport is a public body which is responsible for planning and co-ordinating regional transport, and especially the public transport system, in the Strathclyde area of western Scotland...
in Greater Glasgow in 1996, and Mainline
First South Yorkshire
First South Yorkshire is the largest bus operator in South Yorkshire, England. As a division of FirstGroup the company's legal name was, for a time, Mainline which operated it between 1993 and 1998, following the sale South Yorkshire Transport to its employees.-History:SYT was eventually sold to...
in South Yorkshire and CentreWest
First London
.First London is one of many operators of London Buses and owned by First Group. They did also run the Tramlink network, in a partnership with Tramtrack Croydon before June 2008. Their registered office is at Paddington station in London...
in London in 1997, and Capital Citybus
Capital Citybus
Capital Citybus was a major bus operator for London Buses in North and East London. The company was eventually sold to First in 1998. Capital Citybus is not to be confused with the other former London bus and coach operator Capital Logistics, for whom in 1999 it provided amongst others relief buses...
in London in 1998.
Post-merger, the group began applying a standard corporate typeface to its fleet names with a stylised f logo. A new corporate white, pink and indigo
Indigo
Indigo is a color named after the purple dye derived from the plant Indigofera tinctoria and related species. The color is placed on the electromagnetic spectrum between about 420 and 450 nm in wavelength, placing it between blue and violet...
livery was introduced for all new low-floor bus
Low-floor bus
A low-floor bus is a bus that has no steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. Being low floor improves the accessibility of the bus for the public, particularly the elderly or infirm, or those with push chairs, and increasingly, those in wheelchairs.In the modern...
es, nicknamed 'Barbie
Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
', now the UK bus company standard, while further bus company acquisitions continued. Inherited bus fleets were initially left in their original colours with First fleet names, with the intention that the Barbie scheme would stand for a set service quality. Latterly, older buses received a modified 'Barbie 2' livery, with fleets later still converted to full Barbie colours. By the late 1990s, the corporate colours of Firstbus, Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
and Arriva
Arriva
Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...
were appearing in buses in all parts of the UK except London
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London that manages bus services within Greater London, UK. Buses are required to carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme...
and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
The company was renamed First Group plc following an Extraordinary General Meeting on 23 December 1998, when the company moved into railways with the privatisation of British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
, gaining the Great Eastern
First Great Eastern
First Great Eastern was an award-winning train operating company that operated suburban, local and medium distance train services from London Liverpool Street via Romford to Essex and Ipswich in the United Kingdom on the Great Eastern Main Line railway.First Group gained the Great Eastern...
franchise
Government-granted monopoly
In economics, a government-granted monopoly is a form of coercive monopoly by which a government grants exclusive privilege to a private individual or firm to be the sole provider of a good or service; potential competitors are excluded from the market by law, regulation, or other mechanisms of...
, then purchasing Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
-based Great Western Holdings
Great Western Holdings
Great Western Holdings was a company created to bid for the Great Western rail franchise in the United Kingdom. The company consisted of 51 per cent management buyout 24.5 per cent Badgerline and 24.5 per cent 3i. The company won the Great Western franchise and operated it under the name Great...
, holders of the North Western
First North Western
First North Western was a train operating company in the United Kingdom serving North West England. It operated from 1997 to 2004.The company when first privatised was known as North Western Trains and was owned by Great Western Holdings, a partnership between Great Western's management, First...
and Great Western
Great Western Trains
Great Western Trains was a UK train company created in the mid 1990s as part of the privatisation of British Rail. It was one of the first two passenger companies to be privatised, passing into private ownership along with South West Trains on 4 February 1996....
franchises. The change of name was due to the managing director of Great Eastern trains objecting to having FirstBus displayed on the side of his trains. As Badgerline, First had originally entered the rail market with a stake in Great Western Holdings
Great Western Holdings
Great Western Holdings was a company created to bid for the Great Western rail franchise in the United Kingdom. The company consisted of 51 per cent management buyout 24.5 per cent Badgerline and 24.5 per cent 3i. The company won the Great Western franchise and operated it under the name Great...
, before the outright purchase of Great Western by First in 1998.
Soon after, it also began operating London's Tramlink
Tramlink
Tramlink is a tramway system in south London in the United Kingdom which began operation in May 2000...
system under franchise from London Transport
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
.
In late 2000, FirstGroup sold its 26% stake in New World First Bus
New World First Bus
New World First Bus Services Limited , abbreviated as First Bus and "NWFB", is the third largest public bus operator in Hong Kong.NWFB was established in 1998, taking over China Motor Bus's franchise on 1 September 1998 to provide bus services on Hong Kong Island together with Citybus...
(NWFB), a joint venture established in 1998 to operate the Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km², as of 2008...
routes formerly operated by China Motor Bus
China Motor Bus
China Motor Bus Company Ltd. , often abbreviated as CMB, was the first motor bus company in Hong Kong, and was responsible for the introduction of double-decker buses to Hong Kong Island....
, to NWS Holdings Ltd, its joint venture partner.
During 2004 First was awarded the ScotRail
First ScotRail
ScotRail Railways Ltd. is the FirstGroup-owned train operating company running domestic passenger trains within Scotland, northern England and the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London using the brand ScotRail which is the property of the Scottish Government...
franchise to run trains in Scotland, where it already operated the lion's share of bus services, and took over the new TransPennine Express franchise in partnership with French transport company Keolis.
The First North Western
First North Western
First North Western was a train operating company in the United Kingdom serving North West England. It operated from 1997 to 2004.The company when first privatised was known as North Western Trains and was owned by Great Western Holdings, a partnership between Great Western's management, First...
franchise was lost to Serco-Abellio in December 2004. First North Western's services in northern England were combined with those previously run by Arriva Trains Northern
Arriva Trains Northern
Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company that operated passenger trains in Yorkshire and the North East of England. The company had previously been known as Northern Spirit before being taken over by Arriva....
(and not part of the Transpennine network) to form the new Northern Rail
Northern Rail
Northern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...
franchise.
In 2004 First lost First Great Eastern
First Great Eastern
First Great Eastern was an award-winning train operating company that operated suburban, local and medium distance train services from London Liverpool Street via Romford to Essex and Ipswich in the United Kingdom on the Great Eastern Main Line railway.First Group gained the Great Eastern...
to National Express Group
National Express Group
National Express Group plc is a British transport group headquartered in Birmingham that operates bus, coach, rail and tram services in the UK, the US and Canada, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe...
, which now operates it as National Express East Anglia. It was banned from bidding for the franchise, despite being named Train Operator of the Year
Train Operator of the Year
Train Operator of the Year is a rail transport industry award to recognize excellence among train operating companies of the United Kingdom. The award has been presented as part of the HSBC Rail Business Awards since 1997....
at the time.
From 1 April 2006 First has operated a new rail franchise under the brand First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
, amalgamating Thameslink
Thameslink
Thameslink is a fifty-station main-line route in the British railway system running north to south through London from Bedford to Brighton, serving both London Gatwick Airport and London Luton Airport. It opened as a through service in 1988 and by 1998 was severely overcrowded, carrying more than...
with the Great Northern line of WAGN.
The Great Western franchise was extended in 2006 to also include the services of the former Wessex Trains
Wessex Trains
Wessex Trains was the primary passenger rail operator in the South West of England. The company operated trains in the region bounded by Penzance, Cardiff, Gloucester, Worcester and Brighton...
and Thames Trains
Thames Trains
Thames Trains was a British railway company, owned by the Go-Ahead Group, franchised to run regional and suburban trains from London Paddington station to destinations in the home counties west of London like Slough, to Worcester, Hereford and Stratford-upon-Avon, and the Reading to Gatwick Airport...
, and this new franchise was again awarded to First.
In February 2007 FirstGroup agreed to buy the US-based firm Laidlaw
Laidlaw
Laidlaw, organized as Laidlaw International, Inc. , was a predecessor corporation of First Student , a US subsidiary of the Scottish transport firm FirstGroup plc...
, an operator of inter-city coaches and yellow school buses across North America, for £1.9 billion (US$3.7 billion). This also gave it a controlling stake in Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
, the largest bus operator in North America. The Greyhound name and the names of Canadian subsidiaries of Greyhound Canada were retained, and all other Laidlaw-owned services in the United States and Canada were rebranded under the First or Greyhound names, except for Voyageur Colonial
Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines
Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines, commonly called Voyageur Colonial or just Voyageur, is a Canadian intercity bus company that serves Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec, primarily the cities of Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston...
and Grey Goose
Grey Goose Bus Lines
Grey Goose Bus Lines is a subsidiary of Greyhound Canada operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba.-1924-1934:Brown Brothers Bus LineJohn Smith started a bus service between Winnipeg and Carman.-1934-1961:...
in Canada.
On 29 June 2009, FirstGroup said a takeover bid over fellow transport operator National Express Group
National Express Group
National Express Group plc is a British transport group headquartered in Birmingham that operates bus, coach, rail and tram services in the UK, the US and Canada, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe...
, which was struggling with debt over the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
rail franchise at the time, had been rejected, National Express saying it did not "consider it appropriate" at the time to discuss a takeover. FirstGroup believed that there was "significant industrial and commercial logic" for a merger, but National Express wished to focus on its own initiatives.
On 15 February 2010, FirstGroup was announced as preferred bidder for the provision of bus and coach services for the London 2012 Olympic Games
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. This will involve the provision of venue shuttle and park and ride services, services connecting peripheral park and ride sites on the M25
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
with the Olympic Park
Olympic Park, London
The Olympic Park in London is a new sporting complex currently under construction, adjacent to the Stratford City development in Stratford, Bow, Leyton & Homerton in East London for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics....
and Ebbsfleet
Ebbsfleet
Ebbsfleet may refer to:* Ebbsfleet Valley, a redevelopment zone of the Thames Gateway in north west Kent, England**Ebbsfleet River**Ebbsfleet International railway station**Ebbsfleet United F.C., formerly Gravesend & Northfleet F.C....
, and a nationwide network of express coaches to the Olympic Park and the Weymouth and Portland sailing venue
Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy
Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is a centre for the sport of sailing on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England, United Kingdom. The academy building is located in Osprey Quay on the northern tip of the island, and the waters of Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay,...
. The services will require around 900 vehicles in total, although some will be sub-contracted.
In June 2010 First Group sold its railfreight business First GBRf, which it had acquired in 2003 (as part of a larger acquisition of GB Railways
GB Railways
GB Railways was a company created in 1995 by Michael Schabas, Jeremy Long, Jim Morgan and Max Steinkopf to bid for British railway franchises. The company won the Anglia Railways rail franchise in 1997. In 1999 it successfully acquired the passenger services of Australian National Railways, in a...
) to the Eurotunnel Group for £31 million, ending the group's involvement in rail freight transport.
In September 2010 former London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
managing director Tim O'Toole, already a board member since May 2009 and Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive since June 2010, was announced as the successor to retiring group Chief Executive Officer Moir Lockhead with effect from 31 March 2011.
Operations
FirstGroup plc is Britain's largest bus operator, running more than 20% of all local bus services. A fleet of nearly 9,000 buses carries some 2.9 million passengers a day in more than 40 major towns and cities. FirstGroup also runs passenger and freight rail services in the UK. Passenger rail franchises consist of First Great Western, First Capital Connect, First TransPennine Express and First ScotRailFirst ScotRail
ScotRail Railways Ltd. is the FirstGroup-owned train operating company running domestic passenger trains within Scotland, northern England and the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London using the brand ScotRail which is the property of the Scottish Government...
. It also operates First Hull Trains (an 80% share), a non-franchised open access intercity passenger train service, and provides rail freight services through FirstGBRf. First operated the Tramlink
Tramlink
Tramlink is a tramway system in south London in the United Kingdom which began operation in May 2000...
network carrying approximately 24 million passengers a year on behalf of Transport for London, although its contract has been cancelled and will be transferred wholly to TfL.
In North America, FirstGroup has several divisions: First Student, which runs school bus routes; First Transit, which holds many city and county public transport contracts; and First Vehicle Services, which maintains vehicles for many corporations, organisations and local governments, including the other First divisions and Greyhound lines. Canadian operations are provided through its First Canada subsidiary, which operates school buses and fulfils public transport contracts.
FirstGroup has always had a consistent brand and most of the names of its operations begin with the word First, such as First ScotRail
First ScotRail
ScotRail Railways Ltd. is the FirstGroup-owned train operating company running domestic passenger trains within Scotland, northern England and the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London using the brand ScotRail which is the property of the Scottish Government...
, First Aberdeen
First Aberdeen
First Aberdeen Ltd is the main bus company serving Aberdeen, Scotland and is part of FirstGroup. It was renamed First Aberdeen Ltd in 1998, having previously operated buses in Aberdeen as Aberdeen Corporation, Grampian Regional Transport and First Grampian.-Aberdeen Corporation:Aberdeen Corporation...
, First Glasgow
First Glasgow
First Glasgow is the largest bus company serving the Greater Glasgow area in, Scotland. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...
and First Bristol. The company has since removed all local branding for its local bus services - buses now simply carry the fleet name 'First' throughout the UK, although each company still operates independently. Its corporate colours are white, pink and blue, and many of its buses and trains are now liveried in these colours, except for buses and trams operating in the following services:
- Transport for LondonTransport for LondonTransport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
-tendered services (painted red) - Scotrail rail services in Scotland operated by First ScotRailFirst ScotRailScotRail Railways Ltd. is the FirstGroup-owned train operating company running domestic passenger trains within Scotland, northern England and the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London using the brand ScotRail which is the property of the Scottish Government...
(including those operated by First ScotRail for the Strathclyde Partnership for TransportStrathclyde Partnership for TransportThe Strathclyde Partnership for Transport is a public body which is responsible for planning and co-ordinating regional transport, and especially the public transport system, in the Strathclyde area of western Scotland...
), are painted in a blue livery with white SaltireSaltireA saltire, or Saint Andrew's Cross, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross or letter ex . Saint Andrew is said to have been martyred on such a cross....
markings on the carriage ends, as mandated by the Scottish Government's transport agency Transport ScotlandTransport ScotlandTransport Scotland was created on 1 January 2006 as the national transport agency of Scotland. It is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government's Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department and accountable to Scottish Ministers...
.. The blue Saltire livery is being introduced gradually and as of 2011, much of the Scotrail rolling stock still uses legacy First Scotrail or Strathclyde Partnership for Transport livery. - Greyhound UKGreyhound UKGreyhound UK is a low-cost intercity scheduled coach service in the United Kingdom, owned by FirstGroup and based on the long-established Greyhound service in the USA....
(began in September 2009) services between London and the South EastSouth East EnglandSouth East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
(painted in the navy blue and grey livery introduced to the American Greyhound line in 2009).
Similarly, in North America, all owned and operated services are operated under the First or Greyhound brands except in the Canadian provinces of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
for regulatory reasons, and vehicles operated under contract to public agencies, which carry the branding of the agency that owns the particular bus. All American subsidiaries of Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
are now operated under the Greyhound name.
FirstGroup owns and operates the Aircoach
Aircoach
Aircoach is a Republic of Ireland based subsidiary company of the United Kingdom based FirstGroup. It provides airport bus express coach services from Cork, Greystones, Bray, South Dublin and Dublin City Centre to Dublin Airport. It also operates contracted bus service for airport car parks...
service in Dublin, linking Dublin Airport
Dublin Airport
Dublin Airport, , is operated by the Dublin Airport Authority. Located in Collinstown, in the Fingal part of County Dublin, 18.4 million passengers passed through the airport in 2010, making it the busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland, followed by Cork and Shannon...
with the Dublin southside, Greystones and Bray as well as long-distance runs to Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
. Aircoach also operates car park shuttles at Belfast and Dublin Airports. As of April 2008, Aircoach has started operating shuttle bus services for the Mater Private Hospital and Phoenix Park. Until 2009 Aircoach did not carry corporate branding, although recently drivers had begun to receive standard FirstGroup uniforms with additional Aircoach branding. Buses introduced since January 2009 on Aircoach carry a revised livery, still predominantly blue, but with a pink and white stripe and FirstGroup logo alongside the Aircoach logo.
Rail services
Passenger Operations
- First Capital ConnectFirst Capital ConnectFirst Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
- First Great WesternFirst Great WesternFirst Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
- First Hull Trains (80% stake)
- First ScotRailFirst ScotRailScotRail Railways Ltd. is the FirstGroup-owned train operating company running domestic passenger trains within Scotland, northern England and the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London using the brand ScotRail which is the property of the Scottish Government...
- First TransPennine ExpressFirst TransPennine ExpressFirst TransPennine Express is a British train operating company. It is a joint operation between First Group and Keolis . It operates regular passenger services in northern England, including services linking the west and east coasts across the Pennines...
(55% stake)
UK
- First AberdeenFirst AberdeenFirst Aberdeen Ltd is the main bus company serving Aberdeen, Scotland and is part of FirstGroup. It was renamed First Aberdeen Ltd in 1998, having previously operated buses in Aberdeen as Aberdeen Corporation, Grampian Regional Transport and First Grampian.-Aberdeen Corporation:Aberdeen Corporation...
(formerly First Grampian) - First Berkshire & The Thames ValleyFirst Berkshire & The Thames ValleyFirst Berkshire & The Thames Valley is a bus operator serving Bracknell, Slough and Wokingham, in England. It is part of First Group, a major bus and train operator with a turnover of nearly £2.5 billion a year and 62,000 employees across the UK and North America...
(formerly First Beeline) - First BradfordFirst BradfordFirst Bradford is one of the bus companies serving the area of West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of FirstGroup. The company operates the majority of services in the Bradford area, covered by Metro, a public body responsible for helping to co-ordinate public transport services in the West...
- First BristolFirst BristolFirst Bristol is a bus operator based in Bristol, England. It is part of FirstGroup, and is the dominant public transport company in the city.-History:...
(formerly First CitylineBristol City LineBristol City Line was a British shipping line based in Bristol, England that traded from 1704 until 1974. From 1760 Bristol City Line also built ships....
) - First Calderdale & HuddersfieldFirst Calderdale & HuddersfieldFirst Calderdale & Huddersfield is one of the bus companies serving the area of West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...
- First Chester & The WirralFirst Chester & The WirralFirst Chester & Wirral is a division of bus operator First Manchester Ltd., running local bus services in and around Chester and the Wirral, north west England. The company is a subsidiary of FirstGroup plc, the largest bus operator in Britain....
- ChesterBus (local services within the City of Chester)
- First CymruFirst CymruFirst Cymru Buses Ltd. is a provider of public transport bus services in South Wales. First Cymru was formed from a number of privatised former bus companies, including South Wales Transport. Its headquarters are in Penlan, Swansea...
- First Devon & Cornwall (formerly First Western National & North Devon Red Bus)
- TruronianTruronianTruronian was a bus service and coaching holiday operator primarily located in mid-Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, In April 2008 Truronian was taken over by First Group PLC. Truronian local bus service has now merged with First Devon and Cornwall's bus operations. Truronian still operates the...
(sub brand of First Devon & Cornwall, due to become part of First Devon & Cornwall)
- Truronian
- First Eastern Counties
- Ipswich Rapid TransitIpswich Rapid TransitIpswich Rapid Transit is a bus system in Suffolk, England. Operated by First Eastern Counties, part of the First Group, it has a short 0.5-kilometre stretch of guided busway. Like its counterparts in Leeds and Bradford the busway was something of an experimental venture. The route was launched in...
- Ipswich Rapid Transit
- First EdinburghFirst EdinburghFirst Edinburgh is a bus operator which operates in the south east and central Scotland, and was created by the merger of three companies: Lowland Scottish, Eastern Scottish and Midland Scottish to form a single company for the area and is part of First Group plc...
(formerly First SMT, First Borders and First Midland Bluebird) - First EssexFirst EssexFirst Essex Buses Limited is owned by First Group. First Essex carries around 29 million passengers each year on a network of routes serving Essex and the surrounding areas. It arose from an amalgamation of Eastern National and Thamesway Buses, whose yellow/maroon livery has only recently disappeared...
(formerly First Eastern National, First Thamesway) - First GlasgowFirst GlasgowFirst Glasgow is the largest bus company serving the Greater Glasgow area in, Scotland. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...
(formerly First Kelvin and First Greater Glasgow) - First Hampshire & DorsetFirst Hampshire & DorsetFirst Hampshire & Dorset is a subsidiary bus company within FirstGroup, which operates buses and trains throughout Great Britain.First Hampshire & Dorset has its head office in Empress Road, Southampton and operates bus services in the Weymouth and Bridport areas in Dorset; and services in...
(formerly First Southampton, First Provincial and the Dorset operations of First Southern National)
- First LeedsFirst LeedsFirst Leeds is one of the bus companies serving the area of West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...
- First LeicesterFirst LeicesterFirst in Leicester is the trading name of Leicester Citybus Ltd., a bus company owned by the First Group. It runs buses in the city of Leicester, England...
- First LondonFirst London.First London is one of many operators of London Buses and owned by First Group. They did also run the Tramlink network, in a partnership with Tramtrack Croydon before June 2008. Their registered office is at Paddington station in London...
- First ManchesterFirst ManchesterFirst Manchester is one of the bus companies serving Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...
- First Pennine (part of First Manchester)
- First Midland Red Buses Limited (sometimes referred to as First Wyvern)
- First NorthamptonFirst NorthamptonFirst in Northampton is a bus company which serves the towns of Northampton and Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, England. The legal name of the company is Northampton Transport Limited...
- First PotteriesFirst PotteriesFirst Potteries Limited is a company based in Stoke-on-Trent that operates buses in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, Crewe, and in Chester and The Wirral through its sub-brand First Chester & The Wirral.-History:The company began life as Potteries Motor Traction or PMT...
(operating in Staffordshire and South Cheshire, formerly First PMT/PMT Ltd) - First Somerset & AvonFirst Somerset & AvonFirst Somerset & Avon Ltd provides bus services in Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Bath and West Wiltshire. It is part of First Group. First Somerset & Avon operates an extensive network of services in and around Bath, Bridgwater, Bristol, Taunton, Trowbridge, Wells, Weston-super-Mare and...
(formerly Badgerline and the Somerset operations of First Southern National) - First South YorkshireFirst South YorkshireFirst South Yorkshire is the largest bus operator in South Yorkshire, England. As a division of FirstGroup the company's legal name was, for a time, Mainline which operated it between 1993 and 1998, following the sale South Yorkshire Transport to its employees.-History:SYT was eventually sold to...
- First YorkFirst YorkFirst York is the largest bus operator in York, England. It is part of First Group, a major bus and train operator with a turnover of nearly £2.5 billion a year and 62,000 employees across the UK and North America...
(including the York Park and RideYork park and rideYork park and ride is a park and ride system operated by First in the English city of York. It was designed and introduced to relieve York's overcrowded city centre car parks. Many of the car park developments, bus priority measures and new vehicles have been part-funded by City of York Council...
operated by First) - Greyhound UKGreyhound UKGreyhound UK is a low-cost intercity scheduled coach service in the United Kingdom, owned by FirstGroup and based on the long-established Greyhound service in the USA....
intercity service between London, Portsmouth and Southampton (begins 14 September 2009)
USA
- First TransitFirst TransitFirst Transit, a division of FirstGroup America, is a United States-based subsidiary of the United Kingdom-based FirstGroup. It provides contract public transit and paratransit services, transit management services and transit consulting throughout North America...
(bus and rapid transit) - First StudentFirst StudentFirst Student, a division of FirstGroup America, is a brand used by the British transport company FirstGroup for student transport in the United States. According to the company's website, it is the largest provider of school bus services in the United States. The company operates out of 650...
(school bus services) - Greyhound (United States)Greyhound LinesGreyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
(intercity bus services)- BoltBusBoltBusBoltBus is a bus line operating in the northeastern United States. It is a 50/50 venture between Greyhound Lines and Peter Pan Bus Lines providing service between New York City and other cities in the northeastern United States, utilizing the existing operating authority of Greyhound Lines...
(a discount operator competing with MegabusMegabus (United States)Megabus, branded on buses as megabus.com, is an intercity bus service of Coach USA/Coach Canada and DATTCO providing discount travel services since 2006, operating throughout the Northeast, parts of the Southeast, and Midwestern United States, and in southern Canada...
, 50% with Peter Pan Bus LinesPeter Pan Bus LinesPeter Pan Bus Lines is a long-distance bus carrier headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts. It operates in the northeastern United States. Over four million passengers per year travel on Peter Pan's bus routes....
)
- BoltBus
Canada
- First Student CanadaFirst Student CanadaFirst Student Canada, a subsidiary of the British company FirstGroup and a division of FirstGroup America, is a major contractor of school bus services and public transit systems. The company provides services in Canada comparable to those delivered by sister companies First Transit and First...
(school, charter bus and public transit services) - Greyhound Canada (intercity bus services)
- Grey Goose Bus LinesGrey Goose Bus LinesGrey Goose Bus Lines is a subsidiary of Greyhound Canada operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba.-1924-1934:Brown Brothers Bus LineJohn Smith started a bus service between Winnipeg and Carman.-1934-1961:...
- Vancouver Island Coach Lines
- Voyageur Colonial Bus LinesVoyageur Colonial Bus LinesVoyageur Colonial Bus Lines, commonly called Voyageur Colonial or just Voyageur, is a Canadian intercity bus company that serves Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec, primarily the cities of Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston...
- Grey Goose Bus Lines
Denmark & Sweden
- FirstGroup entered in a joint-venture bid with the Danish State Railways to operate trains on KystbanenKystbanenThe Coast Line is a regional railway line between Helsingør and Copenhagen in Denmark. It was opened in 1897, and it is today the busiest railway line in Denmark...
and over the Oresund BridgeOresund BridgeThe Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined twin-track railway and dual carriageway bridge-tunnel across the Øresund strait.The bridge connects Sweden and Denmark, and it is the longest road and rail bridge in Europe. The Øresund Bridge also connects two major Metropolitan Areas: those of the...
to MalmöMalmöMalmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
, Gothenburg, Växjö and Karlskrona and cities between. The bid makes them a 25% stakeholder on the Danish side and a 30% stakeholder on the Swedish side. They won this bid over SJ ABSJ ABSJ is a government-owned passenger train operator in Sweden. SJ was created in 2000, out of the public transport division of Statens Järnvägar, when the former government agency was divided into six separate government-owned limited companies.-Overview:SJ's operations fall broadly into subsidised...
, ArrivaArrivaArriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...
, and Veolia Transportation. From 11 January 2009 DSBFirstDSBFirstDSBFirst is a Danish-British railway company that since January 2009 is an operator on the Oresundtrains, serving Denmark and southern Sweden. The company is an alliance between Danish DSB and British FirstGroup, its headquarters being located in Malmö, southern Sweden. From december 11 2011...
operates trains along the eastern coast of Zealand and across the belt to Sweden, with connections to Westcoastline to Gothenburg, Southcoast to Karlskrona and to Växjö in Småland.
Services formerly operated
- First Great EasternFirst Great EasternFirst Great Eastern was an award-winning train operating company that operated suburban, local and medium distance train services from London Liverpool Street via Romford to Essex and Ipswich in the United Kingdom on the Great Eastern Main Line railway.First Group gained the Great Eastern...
(until April 2004: now operated by National Express GroupNational Express GroupNational Express Group plc is a British transport group headquartered in Birmingham that operates bus, coach, rail and tram services in the UK, the US and Canada, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe...
as National Express East Anglia - formerly known as 'one') - First North WesternFirst North WesternFirst North Western was a train operating company in the United Kingdom serving North West England. It operated from 1997 to 2004.The company when first privatised was known as North Western Trains and was owned by Great Western Holdings, a partnership between Great Western's management, First...
(until December 2004: now operated by Northern RailNorthern RailNorthern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...
, TransPennine Express and Arriva Trains WalesArriva Trains WalesArriva Trains Wales is a train operating company, owned by Arriva, that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches...
.) - New World First BusNew World First BusNew World First Bus Services Limited , abbreviated as First Bus and "NWFB", is the third largest public bus operator in Hong Kong.NWFB was established in 1998, taking over China Motor Bus's franchise on 1 September 1998 to provide bus services on Hong Kong Island together with Citybus...
- 26% stake in Hong Kong public bus operator - TramlinkTramlinkTramlink is a tramway system in south London in the United Kingdom which began operation in May 2000...
(until June 2008: Now operated by Transport for LondonTransport for LondonTransport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
.) - First GBRf (until May 2010: Now operated by the Eurotunnel Group branded as GB RailfreightGB RailfreightGB Railfreight is a British freight train operating company. Formerly called First GBRf, its new owner Eurotunnel bought the company in May 2010.-History:...
.) - First Group Deutschland (until September 2011: now operated by Marwyn European Transport.)
External links=
- FirstGroup official web site
- Wikinvest:FGP-LN