FirstGroup plc
Type	Public (LSE: FGP)
Founded	1995
Headquarters	Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
Area served	British Isles and North America
Industry	Public transport and Railfreight
Products	First, First ScotRail, First Great Western, First Capital Connect, TransPennine Express, First Student and FirstGBRf.
Revenue	£92.2m GBP (Six months to October 2006)
Employees	72,000 (approx)
Subsidiaries	UK Bus, UK Rail, First Student, First Transit and First Services
Website	http://www.firstgroup.com/

FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP) is a Scottish transport company operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and North America, with headquarters in Aberdeen. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Source by Greyworld, in the new LSE building Paternoster Square. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Scotland. ... , Aberdeen (IPA: ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is Scotlands third largest city with an official population of 202,370. ... This article is about the country. ... This article describes the archipelago in north-Western Europe. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... Bangkok Skytrain. ... First ScotRail is the brand under which First Group PLC runs its railway franchise to operate all domestic passenger services within Scotland, as well as the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London, England. ... First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd,[1] a British train operating company owned by First Group, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales. ... First Capital Connect is a train operating company in England that began its passenger operations on the National Rail network at 02:00 BST 1 April 2006. ... TransPennine Express (TPE) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... Class 66 66713 Forest City on display at Crewe Works open day on 1 June 2003. ... Look up revenue in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The pound sterling, which strictly speaking refers to basic currency unit of sterling, now the pound, is the currency of the United Kingdom (UK). ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... In business, a subsidiary is a company controlled by another company or corporation. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML... The Source by Greyworld, in the new LSE building Paternoster Square. ... This article is about the country. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... , Aberdeen (IPA: ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is Scotlands third largest city with an official population of 202,370. ... The Source by Greyworld, in the new LSE building Paternoster Square. ... The FTSE 250 Index is a capitalisation weighted index of 250 companies on the London Stock Exchange. ...

Company

Livery of First Group vehicles shown on a bus in Bristol

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 Bristol, First Aberdeen and First Glasgow. 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 (though buses and trams operating Transport for London-tendered services retain their traditional red livery as required by the operating licence agreements). Download high resolution version (895x446, 128 KB)Livery of First Group PLC, demonstrated by a Bristol bus. ... Download high resolution version (895x446, 128 KB)Livery of First Group PLC, demonstrated by a Bristol bus. ... This article is about the English city. ... First ScotRail is the brand under which First Group PLC runs its railway franchise to operate all domestic passenger services within Scotland, as well as the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London, England. ... FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP) is a British transport company operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and North America, with headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland. ... First Glasgow is the largest bus operator in Glasgow, UK. It is part of First Group, a major bus and train operator based in Aberdeen, UK. It operates 118 services in Greater Glasgow and has over 1,000 buses. ... Transport For London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system throughout Greater London in England. ...

First own and operate the Aircoach service in Dublin, linking Dublin Airport with the Dublin southside suburbs as well as long distance runs to Cork and Belfast; as of 2007 this does not carry corporate branding. Dublin city centre at night WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Leinster County: Dáil Éireann: Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East European Parliament: Dublin Dialling Code: +353 1 Postal District(s): D1-24, D6W Area: 114. ... Dublin Airport (IATA: DUB, ICAO: EIDW), or Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath in Irish, is operated by the Dublin Airport Authority plc. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Munster County: Area: 37. ... This article is about the city in Northern Ireland. ...

In North America, First Group 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. Canadian operations are provided through their First Bus Canada subsidiary which operates school buses and fulfills public transport contracts.

A First Great Western Class 180 Adelante train stops at Bath Spa on its way to London Paddington

Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 686 KB)BR Class 180, no. ... Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 686 KB)BR Class 180, no. ... First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd,[1] a British train operating company owned by First Group, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales. ... Class 180, no. ... Bath Spa railway station is the principal railway station in the city of Bath, Somerset. ... Paddington station or London Paddington is the name of a major railway station in the Paddington area of London, which is the London terminus for long distance trains to the West of England and South Wales and some West London commuter services. ...

History

The company was formed as FirstBus in June 1995 through the merger of two bus companies, the Badgerline Group (see First Badgerline) and GRT Limited (Grampian Regional Transport). First Badgerlines roots can be traced back to the old Bristol Omnibus Company - the unprivatised regional bus company based in, not surprisingly, Bristol. ...

In 1998 the company was renamed First Group when the company moved into railways with the privatisation of British Rail, gaining the Great Eastern franchise, then purchasing Swindon based Great Western Trains, holders of the North Western and Great Western franchises. Soon after, they also began operating London’s Tramlink system under franchise from London Transport. Privatization (sometimes privatisation, denationalization, or — especially in India — disinvestment) is the process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership. ... This article is about the defunct entity British Railways, which later traded as British Rail. The History of rail transport in Great Britain is covered in its own article. ... First Great Eastern was a successful railway company that operated suburban, local and medium distance train services from London Liverpool Street via Romford to Essex and Ipswich. ... In economics, a government-granted monopoly (also called a de jure monopoly) is a form of coercive monopoly in 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... , For other places with the same name, see Swindon (disambiguation). ... First North Western was a train operating company in the United Kingdom serving North West England. ... First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd,[1] a British train operating company owned by First Group, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Tramlink (initially known as Croydon Tramlink) is a public transport tramway in south London, operated by FirstGroup on behalf of Transport for London. ... Transport For London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system throughout Greater London in England. ...

During 2004, First were awarded the ScotRail franchise to run trains in Scotland, in which it already operated the lion’s share of bus services, and took over the new TransPennine Express franchise. In addition, First Great Western run the Heathrow Connect service in partnership with BAA. Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... First ScotRail is the brand under which First Group PLC runs its railway franchise to operate all domestic passenger services within Scotland, as well as the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London, England. ... This article is about the country. ... TransPennine Express (TPE) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... Heathrow Connect is a train service in London, connecting Heathrow Airport with Paddington station. ... BAA plc is the owner and operator of seven major United Kingdom airports and operator of several airports worldwide, making the company one of the largest transport companies in the world. ...

The First North Western franchise, however, was lost to Serco/NedRailways 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. First North Western was a train operating company in the United Kingdom serving North West England. ... Serco Group plc is an international company with several branches. ... Nederlandse Spoorwegen or NS (Dutch railways) is the main public transport railway company in the Netherlands. ... ← - 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in December • 30 Artie Shaw • 29 Julius Axelrod • 28 Jacques Dupuis • 28 Jerry Orbach • 28 Susan Sontag • 26 Reggie White • 26 Sir Angus Ogilvy • 23 P. V. Narasimha Rao • 23 Doug Ault • 19 Renata Tebaldi • 16... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company that operated passenger trains in Northern England. ... Northern Rail is a train and railway operating company that has operated local services in the north of England since 2004. ...

First have also lost First Great Eastern to National Express Group who operate it along with Anglia Railways and wagn, as 'one'. In fact, they were banned from bidding for the franchise, despite being named Train Operator of the Year at the time. First Great Eastern was a successful railway company that operated suburban, local and medium distance train services from London Liverpool Street via Romford to Essex and Ipswich. ... National Express Group plc (LSE: NEX) is a UK-based transport group that operates airport, bus and rail services in the UK, the US and Canada, Australia, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe. ... Anglia Railways was a British Train Operating Company, owned by GB Railways, which between January 1997 and March 2004 operated mainline trains out of London Liverpool Street station and a number of local rail services in East Anglia. ... wagn was a franchise operator of commuter train services out of London Kings Cross and Moorgate stations. ... ‘one’ is the brand name of London Eastern Railway Ltd, which operates local, suburban and express services from London Liverpool Street in the City of London to East and North London, Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and East Anglia, otherwise known as the Greater Anglia network. ... Train Operator of the Year is a rail transport industry award to recognize excellence among train operating companies of the United Kingdom. ...

From 1st April 2006 First has operated a new rail franchise under the brand First Capital Connect. This comprises the amalgamation of the existing Great Northern line of the former wagn service and the Thameslink line. First Capital Connect is a train operating company in England that began its passenger operations on the National Rail network at 02:00 BST 1 April 2006. ... wagn was a franchise operator of commuter train services out of London Kings Cross and Moorgate stations. ... Thameslink is a fifty-station line in the British railway system running 225 km (140 miles) north to south across London from Bedford to Brighton through the Snow Hill tunnel. ...

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. A Wessex Class 153 A Class 150/2 unit in West Country advertising livery. ... Thames Trains was a British railway company franchised (from September 1996, following the privatisation of British Rail, until 31 March 2004) to run regional and suburban trains from London Paddington station to destinations in the home counties west of London (also to Worcester, Hereford and Stratford-upon-Avon), as well...

New World First Bus (NWFB) of Hong Kong was jointly established and owned by the group and NWS Holdings Limited since 1998 . The brand new company had successfully won the tender of 88 Hong Kong Island routes formerly operated by China Motor Bus. In late 2000, the group sold all 26% of NWFB stocks to NWS Holdings. New World First Bus Services Limited (First Bus, or NWFB) was established in 1998, taking over China Motor Buss franchise on 1 September 1998 to provide bus services on Hong Kong Island together with Citybus. ... The night view of the Island side as seen from the Kowloon side - the opposite side of the Victoria Harbour Hong Kong Island (Traditional Chinese: 香港島; Simplified Chinese: 香港岛; Cantonese Jyutping: hoeng1 gong2 dou2; Mandarin Pinyin: Xiānggǎngdǎo) is the island where the colonial settlement of the Hong Kong territory... China Motor Bus Company Ltd. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ...

In February 2007, FirstGroup agreed to buy the U.S.-based firm Laidlaw, an operator of inter-city coaches and yellow school buses across North America, for £1.9 billion (US$3.7 billion). [1] This also gives them a controlling stake in Greyhound Lines, the largest bus operator in North America. One of Laidlaws 40,000 yellow school buses Laidlaw, currently organized as Laidlaw International, Inc. ... A yellow school bus. ... Greyhound Lines is the largest inter-city common carrier of passengers by bus in North America, serving 2,200 destinations in the United States. ...

Controversy

Labour Problems

FirstGroup has encountered labour problems with its U.S. yellow school bus subsidiary, First Student^{[citation needed]}. At FirstGroup's 2006 annual general meeting, more than one-fifth of shareholders supported a resolution calling on the company to adopt an enforceable workers' rights policy^{[citation needed]}. Company Chairman Martin Gilbert later promised neutrality toward unions^{[citation needed]}, a promise that has not been kept^{[citation needed]}.

Worst Late Western

tickets used in a protest against FGW

FirstGroup has received large amounts of criticism over the operation of the great western franchise. First earned the title of worst rail operator of the year 2006 with 76.8 % of services within the London Thames valley area arriving late. First also received extremely large criticism over problems of overcrowding as well as them cutting out services on already overcrowded routes with their timetable changes in June 07. These problems have earnt them the nickname 'Worst Late Western'. More information can be found under First Great Western Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1200 × 900 pixel, file size: 179 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photograph taken by me today of fake ticket distributed freely by fare strike movement and reproduced freely in press and TV. I, the... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1200 × 900 pixel, file size: 179 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photograph taken by me today of fake ticket distributed freely by fare strike movement and reproduced freely in press and TV. I, the... First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd,[1] a British train operating company owned by First Group, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales. ...

Operating companies

Rail services

First Great Western train at Radley.

• First Capital Connect
• First Great Western
• TransPennine Express (55% stake) [2]
• First ScotRail
• FirstGBRf
• Hull Trains (80% stake) [3]
• Tramlink

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1508x1047, 315 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Radley First Great Western FirstGroup plc British Rail Class 180 Radley railway station Metadata This file contains additional... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1508x1047, 315 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Radley First Great Western FirstGroup plc British Rail Class 180 Radley railway station Metadata This file contains additional... First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd,[1] a British train operating company owned by First Group, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales. ... First Capital Connect is a train operating company in England that began its passenger operations on the National Rail network at 02:00 BST 1 April 2006. ... First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd,[1] a British train operating company owned by First Group, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales. ... TransPennine Express (TPE) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... First ScotRail is the brand under which First Group PLC runs its railway franchise to operate all domestic passenger services within Scotland, as well as the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London, England. ... Class 66 66713 Forest City on display at Crewe Works open day on 1 June 2003. ... ^ Pick up northbound, set down southbound; selected weekday services only Hull Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running up to seven long distance services each day between London Kings Cross and Hull. ... Tramlink (initially known as Croydon Tramlink) is a public transport tramway in south London, operated by FirstGroup on behalf of Transport for London. ...

Bus and coach services

• First Student (School Bus Transportation in the US)
• First Glasgow (formerly First Kelvin and First Greater Glasgow)
• First Aberdeen (formerly First Grampian)
• First Edinburgh (formerly First SMT, First Borders and First Midland Bluebird)
• First Pennine (which forms part of First Manchester)
• First Leeds
• First York
• First Bradford
• First Calderdale & Huddersfield
• First Manchester
• First South Yorkshire
• First Staffordshire & South Cheshire
• First Chester & The Wirral
• First Leicester
• First Northampton
• First East Anglia (formerly First Eastern Counties)
• First Wyvern (formerly First Midland Red West)
• First Cymru
• First Berkshire & Thames Valley
• First Somerset & Avon
• First Essex (formerly First Eastern National)
• First London & South East
• First Bristol (formerly First Cityline)
• First Hampshire & Dorset (formerly First Southampton and First Provincial)
• First Devon & Cornwall (formerly First Western National)
• Ipswich Rapid Transit
• Aircoach (Dublin)
• New World First Bus (Hong Kong)
• First Transit (Bus rapid transit in USA)
• First Bus America (Bus services all over United States)
• Greyhound Lines

First Glasgow is the largest bus operator in Glasgow, UK. It is part of First Group, a major bus and train operator based in Aberdeen, UK. It operates 118 services in Greater Glasgow and has over 1,000 buses. ... FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP) is a British transport company operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and North America, with headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland. ... FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP) is a British transport company operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and North America, with headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland. ... First Leeds is a bus operator based in and around Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. ... A Wright Crusader II on route 12 First York is the largest bus operator in York, England. ... First Bradford is one of the bus companies serving the area of West Yorkshire, England. ... First Calderdale & Huddersfield is one of the bus companies serving the area of West Yorkshire, England. ... First Manchester is one of the bus companies serving the area of Greater Manchester, England. ... First South Yorkshire is a large bus operator in South Yorkshire, England. ... Potteries Motor Traction (PMT) is a company based in Stoke-on-Trent that operates omnibuses in north-west England. ... A First Chester & The Wirral Scania L113CRL bus with Wright bodywork, photographed in Bromborough, Wirral First Chester & The Wirral is a division of bus operator First PMT Ltd, running local bus services in and around Chester and the Wirral, north west England. ... Olive Line 21 to Rushey Mead at the Haymarket Bus Station in Leicester. ... First East Anglia is a major bus operator in Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern England. ... Midland Red (previously The Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company, BMMO) was a bus operating company serving the Midlands of England, which was formed in 1904 and commenced operations in 1905. ... First Cymru Buses Ltd. ... First Group-owned First Essex is one of many operators of London Buses. ... First London is one of many operators of London Buses and owned by First Group. ... First in Hampshire & Dorset is a subsidiary bus company within First Group which operates buses and trains throughout Great Britain. ... First Devon and Cornwall is a subsidiary of First Group which operates public transport throughout the UK. As the name suggests, the company operate bus services within Devon and Cornwall following the takeovers of Western National (in Cornwall and South Devon) and Red Bus (in North Devon). ... Ipswich Rapid Transit is a high-quality bus system serving the town of Ipswich in south east England. ... Dublin city centre at night WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Leinster County: Dáil Éireann: Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East European Parliament: Dublin Dialling Code: +353 1 Postal District(s): D1-24, D6W Area: 114. ... New World First Bus Services Limited (First Bus, or NWFB) was established in 1998, taking over China Motor Buss franchise on 1 September 1998 to provide bus services on Hong Kong Island together with Citybus. ... FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP) is a Scottish transport company operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and North America, with headquarters in Aberdeen. ... Greyhound Lines is the largest inter-city common carrier of passengers by bus in North America, serving 2,200 destinations in the United States. ...

Fleet numbers

In 2003 First introduced the SemaVoyager system of fleet numbers replacing local numbers. This was to makes things easier when buses are transferred between regional fleets.

Services formerly operated

• First Great Eastern (until April 2004, now operated by National Express Group as part of 'one')
• First North Western (until December 2004, services now operated by Northern Rail, TransPennine Express, Arriva Trains Wales and Virgin Trains.)

First Great Eastern was a successful railway company that operated suburban, local and medium distance train services from London Liverpool Street via Romford to Essex and Ipswich. ... National Express Group plc (LSE: NEX) is a UK-based transport group that operates airport, bus and rail services in the UK, the US and Canada, Australia, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe. ... ‘one’ is the brand name of London Eastern Railway Ltd, which operates local, suburban and express services from London Liverpool Street in the City of London to East and North London, Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and East Anglia, otherwise known as the Greater Anglia network. ... First North Western was a train operating company in the United Kingdom serving North West England. ... Northern Rail is a train and railway operating company that has operated local services in the north of England since 2004. ... TransPennine Express (TPE) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... Arriva Trains Wales (Welsh: ) is a train operating company that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches. ... Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ...

References

See also

• National Rail
• Privatisation of British Rail

National Rail uses the BR double-arrow logo A typical National Rail station sign showing the double-arrow logo National Rail is a brand name of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

External links

• Corporate web site
• Aircoach web site
• York Aircoach web site
• First Group America
• First Bus Canada
• First Student (US) Website
• Driving Up Standards - Trade union website