Press Releases

78 items found, showing page 4 of 7

GMN FIRST REASEHEATH 60

First Bus apprentice encourages more women to join the bus sector on International Women in Engineering Day

  • International Women in Engineering Day gives female engineers a platform to encourage more women to enter the industry.
  • First Bus' dedicated apprentice training academy offers women a clear pathway to begin their career in engineering.
  • First Bus apprentice Maddi Simmons encourages young women to apply for an engineering apprenticeship.
First Bus Summercourt bus

First Bus announces industry-first consumer Electric Vehicle charging hub at Summercourt

  • First Bus becomes UK’s first bus operator to offer a consumer charging hub to help local community make switch to electric vehicles. 
  • The new purpose-built site in Cornwall will be ready for customers later this summer. 
  • Site provides eight rapid charging points for public EVs that will fully charge a family car in under 30 minutes.  
  • New facility is ideally placed on key tourist route into Cornwall. 
Macmillan Charity Partner launch 2

First Bus select Macmillan Cancer Support as new charity partner

  • - Macmillan Cancer Support appointed as new national charity partner for First Bus for next three years.
  • - Macmillan were chosen by thousands of First Bus colleagues across the UK operations.
  • - Initial donation of £10k to kick off fundraising efforts.
TOTO Reader 4

First Bus completes UK wide rollout of Tap On, Tap Off ticketing technology across entire fleet

  • First Bus completes UK wide rollout of Tap On, Tap Off (TOTO) technology on over 4000 buses.
  • First Bus is first major UK bus operator to achieve this milestone across entire fleet. 
  • First Bus invests over £1 million alongside further investment from local authority partners. 
  • TOTO technology allows First Bus to charge more personalised fares to customers based on distance travelled.
  • TOTO gives customers unlimited travel on buses, whilst never paying more than the daily or weekly cap.
  • First Bus and Ticketer partnership has led to a first-of-its-kind pilot in the UK using this technology.
Leicester Solar PV

First Bus announces investment in solar power across 20 UK sites as part of net zero-emission strategy

  • First Bus invests £2.5m in solar power across 20 of its UK depots. 
  • Over 6,000 Solar Photo Voltaic (PV) panels will be in place by mid-June.  
  • The panels will generate more than 2 million kWh per year - enough to power 700 family homes. 
  • This investment will help First Bus to become net zero and self-sustaining with on-site energy generation.    
The News Centre Portsmouth #3

First Bus purchase new site to create new ‘super bus depot’ in Portsmouth

  • First Bus have purchased the old Daily Mail processing centre in Portsmouth.
  • The new site will become a purpose built all-electric site fit to host their new electric bus fleet of the future.
  • The new depot will take up to 2-3 years to build and represents a significant investment and future commitment to bus services in Portsmouth.
  • First Bus will be launching 62 brand-new all-electric buses from April 2024 from its existing Hoeford depot site.
First-Electric-Launch-21032023-44

‘Bus depot of the future’ launches in Leicester as one of the UK’s first fully electric depots outside of London

  • First Bus’ Leicester depot will join York and Norwich to become one of the UK’s first three fully electrified bus depots outside of London 
  • The ‘bus depot of the future’ sets a precedent for UK-wide road transport decarbonisation  
  • First Bus Leicester will have 86 new electric buses expected on public roads by March 2024 
  • This brings the total investment across all ZEBRA projects that First Bus is delivering to £92m, alongside ZEBRA funding of £66m.  
Autonomous Bus10

UK’s first autonomous zero-emission bus service begins in Oxfordshire

  • Operating at Milton Park business, science and technology park in Oxfordshire
  • Electric 15-seater autonomous bus accessible to wheelchairs and pushchairs
  • Ground-breaking technology in vehicle movement and world-first travel planning
First Bus York team unveil plans for all-electric depot with local councillor

York and Norwich set to become first all-electric bus depots outside of London after boosted ZEBRA funding

  • York and Norwich set to become the UK’s first bus depots outside of London to run fully electric fleets 
  • Four First Bus depots benefit from boosted joint investment in electric fleet 
  • First Bus to reach a total of over 600 zero emission buses across the UK by March 2024
BRG funding extension Feb22

First Bus welcomes extension to UK Government support for Bus services across England

  • Bus fare cap to be extended for three months, backed by up to £75 million to help passengers save money and Get Around for £2
  • Government also confirms up to £80 million to continue support for critical bus services around England
  • Over 5 million passengers have utilised the £2 fare scheme on First Bus services since January 2023
Simon Mathieson, Head of Operational Excellence (3)

First Bus appoint new Head of Operational Excellence

  • Appointment to new role as Head of Operational Excellence
  • New hire will collaborate with LBUs and Head of Engineering Excellence with purpose of improving customer experience
Ensignbus

FirstGroup plc reaches agreement to acquire Essex-based Ensign Bus Company

  • Agreement to purchase Ensign Bus Company Limited (‘Ensignbus’)
  • Ensignbus is a high-performing business with strong positions in business-to-business (‘B2B’) and regional commercial bus operations in Essex, as well as a vehicle refurbishment and re-sale operation, alongside a high value depot.
  • Completion of the acquisition is anticipated in the next few months subject to customary regulatory review.