First Devon & Cornwall is a bus operating company providing services within the English counties of Devon and Cornwall. It is a subsidiary of First Group which operates public transport in many parts of Great Britain. It was formed from two previous operators: Western National (in Cornwall and South Devon) and Red Bus (in North Devon). First Devon and Cornwall routes stretch as far north as Ilfracombe, Tiverton and Exeter in the east and to Land's End in the west of Cornwall. However, some parts of the region are not served by First buses.
History [edit]
First Devon and Cornwall was known by bus enthusiasts for it large fleet of Bristol VRT double-deck buses. These buses were mainly the survivors brought in new for Western National in the late 1970s and early 1980s but some were also acquired from other operators such as Eastern Counties and Badgerline. These VRs were mainly found in front line service around the Penzance, Truro, Newquay, Plymouth and Torpoint areas. However, the last VR examples were withdrawn from ordinary service on 9 December 2006 after three buses, VDV141S, AFJ749T and LFJ873W, worked services 1, 2 and 17 from Penzance until the last departure from Penzance to Helston at 23.05 that evening, drawing a long VRT stronghold in Cornwall to a close. A small number were retained for open top tourist services between Penzance, Lands End and St Ives during the summer of 2007. Most of these Bristol VRTs were preserved or sold on for further use at the end of 2007
In May 2009, First Devon and Cornwall completed its transition of former Truronian operations (including staff, routes and vehicles) into the mainline First fleet. This saw major changes in the area, most notably in the renaming of previous Truronian routes and the introduction of the standard First Devon & Cornwall ticket machines into the Truronian fleet.
Depots & Outstations [edit]
- Plymouth Depot (Chelson Meadow) - head office - engineering workshops. (PH)
- Tavistock Outstation (Langsford Park)
- Dartmouth Outstation (Little Cotton Farm)
- Penzance Depot (Long Rock) - engineering workshops. (PE)
- Helston Outstation (Flambards) - Outstation for ex-Truronian operations.
- Camborne Depot (Union Street) - Cornwall operations office - engineering workshops. (CE)
- Truro Depot (Newham Industrial Estate) - Head Office of ex-Truronian operations.
- Falmouth Outstation (Tregoniggie Industrial Estate)
- Torpoint Outstation (Trevol Road)
- Eden Project Outstation - park & ride and Eden Branchline operations
See also [edit]
References [edit]
External links [edit]
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