First Glasgow

Infobox Bus transit
name = First Greater Glasgow

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logo_size = 150


image_size = 250
image_caption = A First Glasgow Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini leading a line of buses through George Square.
company_slogan = Transforming travel
parent = FirstGroup
founded = July 1998
headquarters = Glasgow
locale = Greater Glasgow
service_area =
service_type = bus
alliance =
routes = 118
destinations =
stops =
hubs = Larkfield, Blantyre, Parkhead, Cumbernauld, Scotstoun, Overtown and Dumbarton
stations =
lounge =
fleet = Over 1000
ridership =
fuel_type =
operator =
ceo =
website = [http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/scotland/swscot/home/ First Greater 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. The company operates within the area covered by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, a public body responsible for helping to co-ordinate public transport services in the Greater Glasgow area. It runs around 118 services, has a fleet of over 1,000 buses, and employs over 2800 drivers [ [http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/scotland/swscot/about/index.php FirstGroup - UK Bus Greater Glasgow ] ] .

History

First Glasgow was created through FirstGroup's buyout of the former Strathclyde Buses (created from the former Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive bus fleet, formerly the municipal Glasgow Corporation Transport), which had itself recently bought out the former Kelvin Central Buses (an amalgamation of Kelvin Scottish and Central Scottish, owned by the state-owned Scottish Transport Group).

Depots

First Glasgow currently operates out of seven depots.
* Larkfield (Govanhill)
* Blantyre
* Parkhead
* Cumbernauld
* Scotstoun
* Dumbarton
* Overtown

Services

First Greater Glasgow mainly run services in Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire areas of Strathclyde. However, some services do run outside of these areas. It was one of the first bus operators to introduce an "overground", a colour-coded set of bus routes with route branding on the bus exteriors and timetables. As of 2006, route branding has been removed from buses but remained on timetables until mid 2008.

Former First Stop Travel Services

On Saturday 23rd August 2008, First Glasgow took over three services in the Govan area. These services were previously operated by First Stop Travel as services 149 (Govan-South Nitshill via Silverburn), 289 (Govan-Drumoyne Circular) and 217 (Govan-Paisley via Penilee). They have now been renumbered 49, 189 and 17 respectively, but continue to operate on the same route of the previous operator.

pecial Services

398

The 398 is a special circular service that operates all day, every day in Glasgow City Centre, and connects between Glasgow Central Station, Buchanan Bus Station and Glasgow Queen Street Station. The service is free for passengers with valid rail tickets. This service runs on behalf of First ScotRail and SPT.

747

The 747 AirLink is one of two services to Glasgow International Airport operated by the company. It currently departs from Buchanan Bus Station and travels to the airport via Partick and Braehead. It and sister service 757 (below) now run in competition with Arriva and BAA's GlasgowFlyer service [http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/scotland/swscot/service_changes/?item=1222&show=1 747 AirLink Extension to the City Centre] .

757

The 757 AirLink is a brand new addition to the network (10/08/08). It operates from Buchanan Bus Station to Glasgow Airport with a journey time of approximately 25-30 minutes. The route also serves the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) in both directions.Fairline coaches previously operated this route as Service No. 905.

X7

The X7 is the direct express between Glasgow and Motherwell's M&D's Theme Park - running frequently by the company every summer until September.

Gallery

References

External links

* [http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/scotland/swscot/home/ First Greater Glasgow Website]
* [http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/index.php First UK Bus Website]
* [http://www.andypreece.co.uk/nightbuses/ Website detailing night buses in Glasgow]