Press Releases

80 items found, showing page 4 of 7

Gary Hitchmough, Chief Growth Officer 2

First Bus appoints new Chief Growth Officer

  • First Bus MD Janette Bell has appointed Gary Hitchmough as Chief Growth Officer.
  • He brings a wealth of experience in winning, mobilising and operating high value contracts.
  • Gary will lead on bus franchising bidding, securing major commercial contracts, and growing development businesses.
People
First Bus
Norwich Roundtree Way Electrification launch 1

First Bus begin works to transform Norwich Roundtree Way to all-electric fleet depot

  • Works begin to convert Roundtree Way depot in Norwich into all-electric fleet depot. 
  • The depot will become one of three all-electric fleet depots in the UK, outside of London. 
  • 70 Brand New Wrightbus vehicles, 11 single deck and 59 double deck buses, to be delivered from Autumn 2023 through to March 2024.  
  • Over 60 tonnes of tailpipe emissions saved per bus every year. 
Electric Buses
Mission 2035
First Bus
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.
E, D & I
First Bus
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. 
Environment
Mission 2035
First Bus
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.
Bus Partnerships
First Bus
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.
Bus Partnerships
Bus Fares
First Bus
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.    
Environment
First Bus
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.
Electric Buses
Mission 2035
Zero Emissions
First Bus
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.  
Electric Buses
Environment
Mission 2035
Zero Emissions
ZEBRA funding
First Bus
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
Zero Emissions
Electric Buses
First Bus
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
Electric Buses
Department for Transport
First Bus
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
First Bus
Covid -19 Restrictions
Department for Transport