First South West Sold...

[Dutsey]

Looks like First South West has been sold.....

http://www.plymothiantransit.com/

[winston]

That will save First the headache of replacing all the non DDA single deckers this year at Plymouth

[Cheese]

Looks like First South West has been sold.....

http://www.plymothiantransit.com/

Only Plymouth depot and outstations from the looks of it. Camborne, Taunton and Bridgwater are not included from the looks of it.

[Cedric]

Looks like First South West has been sold.....

http://www.plymothiantransit.com/

I have just looked on   both companies websites  to find out more about this but can not find any thing about it. I may have look in wrong place on the sites can you
please post a link about this for the one of the company sites please  so I can read more

[Justin Tyme]

I have just looked on   both companies websites  to find out more about this but can not find any thing about it. I may have look in wrong place on the sites can you
please post a link about this for the one of the company sites please  so I can read more

Surprisingly, I haven't come across any announcements on their websites or in the local press yet.  However, Plymothian Transit is a very reliable blogging site, and so is the Public Transport Experience blog which has also briefly reported the sale here - http://publictransportexperience.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/oxfordshire-bedfordshire-cambridgeshire.html.  No doubt official confirmation will appear after the weekend.

Both reports confirm that only the Plymouth area operation is being sold (including two outstations but possibly not the third).  First are keeping Somerset and Cornwall.  First's pullout from Plymouth comes as no great surprise - at least a willing buyer has been found.

I hope First Bus will now be on a solid footing nationwide.

[winston]

Surprisingly, I haven't come across any announcements on their websites or in the local press yet.  However, Plymothian Transit is a very reliable blogging site, and so is the Public Transport Experience blog which has also briefly reported the sale here - http://publictransportexperience.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/oxfordshire-bedfordshire-cambridgeshire.html.  No doubt official confirmation will appear after the weekend.

Both reports confirm that only the Plymouth area operation is being sold (including two outstations but possibly not the third).  First are keeping Somerset and Cornwall.  First's pullout from Plymouth comes as no great surprise - at least a willing buyer has been found.

I hope First Bus will now be on a solid footing nationwide.

There are no announcements at present, I guess the stock market will be notified in the morning. Only staff have been notified thus far.

The deal doesn't include Torpoint, this is either been retained for storage initially & then possibly sold for housing. The deal may also not include some or all vehicles.

On a side note, it is suggested elsewhere that First have acquired the former Summercourt depot of Western Greyhound for First Kernow

[Roy]

One interesting area as far as First is concerned is Plymouth, where Plymouth CityBus (Go Ahead) has recently stepped up competition by introducing new services on the Tavistock and Plymstock corridors (the former with high-spec new buses), and the acquisition of the Liskeard depot of Western Greyhound has also greatly improved Plymouth CityBus services on the Saltash corridor.  First have already abandoned the X80 Plymouth to Torquay service after competition from Stagecoach Devon, so it will be interesting to see what happens next with its Plymouth operations.  They had not responded to this new completion by bringing in newer vehicles when I was in Plymouth last month.

The sale of First's Plymouth operations to Stagecoach is interesting given what I posted on 31 May on the First New Deliveries 2015/16 thread. 

First started a bus war in Plymouth when they created the Ugo network of services a few years ago in competition with Plymouth CityBus.  The acquisition of Plymouth CityBus by Go Ahead has given them the clout to fight back and they have done so with a vengeance over the past couple of years with an expanded network competing on many corridors with First.  Even though the latest acquisitions by Plymouth CityBus are 13 year old Presidents and Darts from Brighton and Hove, the fleet is still more modern that First's and the buses certainly look a lot cleaner.

It would appear from blogs on www.plymothiantransit.com that Stagecoach and Plymouth CityBus have agreed to end competing services.  Therefore, the Stagecoach operation will be smaller than the First one and I would imagine that Stagecoach will cascade their own buses in from elsewhere rather than buy some ancient First examples which will probably move to Cornwall to replace even older relics on the First Kernow network.

[Justin Tyme]

Yes, it looks like competition will be confined to the Plymouth - Tavistock corridor.  Stagecoach have registered a reduced network so it will come as no surprise if Citybus come off competitive routes and improve services that will no longer have competition.

It was reported that Stagecoach may hire some First buses for a while.  Whether this will happen may be open to question as Stagecoach apparently have some existing buses earmarked for immediate transfer to Plymouth in September. 

[Ashley 60171]

Stagecoach 's Plymouth fleet is nearly ready. Expected to be a mix of Darts, E200's, Solo's, as yet non DDA Tridents, possibly some E400's. The Park and Ride B7L's are allegedly staying until January.

Firsts fleet will be moved out overnight, most of it to Cambourne.

[T840MAK]

Further to @Ashley 60171 earlier, here's a full list of vehicles which Stagecoach will be using until January. Thanks to the original poster:

32757 WA54OLP -> 18531
32760 WA54OLR -> 18532
32761 WJ55CRX -> 18533
32762 WJ55CRZ -> 18534
33172 LR02LYP -> 18535
33420 WA08MVE -> 19707
33421 WA08MVF -> 19708
33422 WA08MVG -> 19709
60895 YJ51RFE -> 21096
60910 YJ51RFK -> 21097
60917 YG02DKV -> 21098
60918 YG02DLJ -> 21099