First Cymru

First Cymru[1] is an operator of bus services in South West Wales. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup with its headquarters in Swansea.

First Cymru
Alexander Dennis Enviro200 in Maesteg in 2014
ParentFirstGroup
HeadquartersSwansea
Service areaSouth West Wales
Service typeBus & coach services
Depots6
Fleet241 (June 2023)
Chief executiveDoug Claringbold
Websitefirstbus.co.uk/cymru

History
Plaxton bodied Volvo B7R in Cardiff in March 2006
Wright StreetCar operating an Ftrmetro Swansea journey in February 2014

In 1987, South Wales Transport was sold during the privatisation of the National Bus Company in a management buy out.[2]

In February 1990, along with Brewers Motor Services and United Welsh Coaches, South Wales Transport was sold to Badgerline.[3] All initially retained their trading names but following Badgerline merging with GRT Group in April 1995 to form FirstBus, all Welsh operations were rebranded as First Cymru.

Operations

The company operates 105 bus services in the South Wales area, in and between Haverfordwest, Pembroke, Tenby, Carmarthen, Ammanford, Llanelli, Swansea, Pontardawe, Neath, Port Talbot, Maesteg, and Bridgend.

In addition to internal South Wales work, First Cymru also operate the TrawsCymru T1 service between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth under contract to the Welsh Government.

Campus To Campus

For students of Swansea University, Campus to Campus service 8 links the Hendrefoelan Student Village, Singleton Park Campus and Bay Campus, plus Fabian Way Park and Ride to Swansea City Centre.[4] Campus to Campus service 9 is a shuttle bus between Singleton Park Campus and Bay Campus. Campus to Campus service 10 links Singleton Park Campus and Bay Campus with student areas Uplands and Sketty. These replaced the 82a and 85 in 2015 to coincide with the opening of the Bay Campus.

Park and Ride

First Cymru operates park & ride sites, which are located at Fabian Way and Landore in Swansea. They also operate a summer park & ride in Tenby.

X10

First Cymru operated an hourly shuttle service between Cardiff, Bridgend Designer Outlet and Swansea called the X10.This ceased to operate before covid. This replaced a Greyhound UK service in December 2015.[5][6][7]

Cymru Clipper
Cymru Clipper X2 service in Cardiff

In 2014, First Cymru started the Cymru Clipper express network which spans from Carmarthen & Ammanford to Cardiff.

Services X1, X2,[8] X3, X5, X6, X7, X8, X11, X13, are encompassed into this network. Dedicated vehicles operate these services, with the majority of them offering WiFi and leather seats as standard.

Swansea Metro
Optare Versa 49004 in Porthcawl in May 2017

First Cymru operate a bus rapid transport route between Singleton Hospital, Swansea University, Swansea City Centre and Morriston Hospital as Swansea Metro. On 28 August 2015 the fleet of Wright StreetCar articulated buses that operated the service were replaced by Wright StreetLite buses and were rebranded to red metro branding.[9][10]

Cymru Coaster

In May 2021, First Cymru launched two new open top bus routes in Swansea and Porthcawl:[11]

[13]
A further two open-top coaster services were launched in June 2022:

  • Aberavon Coaster Port Talbot Bus Station to Aberavon Seafront
  • Tenby Coaster Tenby to Saundersfoot

[14]

In 2023 just one open top service ran in Tenby.

National Express

Until July 2012 First Cymru were a National Express contractor and operated services on routes:[15]

Fleet

As at March 2014 the fleet consisted of 387 buses and coaches.[16]

Depots

First Cymru operate depots in Bridgend, Haverfordwest, Port Talbot, Tycroes , Carmarthen and Swansea.[16]

See also

References
  1. Companies House extract company no 133884 First Cymru Buses Limited formerly The South Wales Transport Company Limited
  2. NBC sale at halfway stage Commercial Motor 16 May 1987 page 21
  3. Names remain the same Commercial Motor 1 March 1990 page 20
  4. "Public Transport - Swansea University". www.swansea.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  5. Greyhound has changed First South & West Wales 17 November 2015
  6. Swansea to Cardiff Greyhound services to be scrapped from this week Wales Online 2 December 2015
  7. Greyhound brand in the UK comes to an end Route One 16 December 2015
  8. "X2 Cymru Clipper to go via Cardiff Bay from May 12". The Bridgend and Porthcawl GEM. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  9. First Cymru announces Swansea's bendy bus services to be scrapped South Wales Evening Post 24 June 2015
  10. "Three depots and Swansea ftr axed in First cutbacks" Buses issue 725 August 2015 page 6
  11. "Cymru Coasters | South & West Wales | First Bus". Archived from the original on 26 May 2021.
  12. Gregory, Rhys (3 June 2021). "Open-top bus rides come to Porthcawl". Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  13. Jackson, Peter (25 May 2021). "First Cymru returns to open-top bus operation". CBW. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  14. "All aboard! First Cymru launches open-top bus rides this Summer | First Bus".
  15. Edwards Expands Coach & Bus Week 2 May 2012
  16. FirstGroup Fleetlist Steve White

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