First Leicester

Leicester Citybus,[1] trading as First Leicester, is a bus operator providing services in Leicester. FirstGroup own 94% of the company with Trentbarton owning the other 6%.

First Leicester
A First Leicester Wright GB Kite Electroliner at St Margaret's Bus Station in August 2023
ParentFirstGroup 94%
Trentbarton 6%
HeadquartersAbbey Lane, Leicester
Service areaLeicester
Service typeBus services
Depots1
Fleet100 (March 2013)
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

History
Preserved 1964 Leicester City Transport AEC Renown

In December 1874 the Leicester Tramways Company commenced operating. In July 1901 it was taken over by Leicester Corporation Transport with 39 tramcars and 30 horse-drawn buses and began to be electrified. In July 1924 the first motor buses entered service gradually replacing the trams with the last running in November 1949.[2]

In 1972 Leicester Corporation Transit began operating services in partnership with Midland Red to South Wigston and Wigston Magna and in 1976 to Oadby. In August 1979 the business of Gibson Brothers, Barlestone was purchased which included two services from Market Bosworth to Leicester, one via Barlestone the other via Peckleton.[2]

In 1983 Leicester Corporation Transport was rebranded as Leicester CityBus. To comply with the Transport Act 1985, in 1986 the assets of Leicester CityBus were transferred to a separate legal entity.[1][2]

In November 1993 Leicester City Council sold its 94% shareholding in Leicester CityBus to GRT Group.[3] After GRT Group merged with Badgerline to form FirstBus in April 1995, the operation was rebranded as First Leicester. FirstGroup own 94% of the shares, with Wellglade Group's Trentbarton the remaining 6%.[4]

Fleet
Alexander Dennis Enviro400 branded for the FrequentFourteens in Glenfield in June 2023

As of August 2023 the fleet is made up of around 100 buses, mostly consisting of Wright StreetDecks new to Leicester between late 2015 and early 2016 alongside 68 Wright GB Kite Electroliner buses which have been slowly launched from May 2023[5][6]

The fleet also consists of a small number of Volvo B7RLE bodied Wright Eclipse which carry branding for services 88/88A/88E alongside a mixture of Alexander Dennis Enviro400 which are branded as FrequentFourteens although as the new electric buses enter the fleet these are being withdrawn and cascaded elsewhere within First Group.

During 2021 Leicester City Council successfully applied for £19 million of funding from the Government's ZEBRA scheme. Infrastructure work at First Leicester's Abbey Lane depot to support 68 Wright GB Kite Electroliner battery electric single-deck buses commenced in December 2022, with the first buses from this order entering service in May 2023.[7][8][9] 26 more GB Kite Electroliners are set to also be delivered to First Leicester between October 2023 and May 2024.[10]

Liveries

Leicester City Transport buses were painted in crimson relieved by cream, this was reversed in the 1960s. When rebranded Leicester CityBus, a red, white and grey livery was introduced.

Upon the takeover in November 1993 by GRT Group, the fleet began to wear a version of the GRT corporate livery, with the base and relief colours associated with Leicester City municipal buses, but in the corporate GRT arrangement, with Leicester CityBus fleetnames and a spire motif. This was replaced by FirstGroup corporate livery.

During 2015/2016 First Midlands the parent group of First Leicester introduced a fuchsia fronted version of the latest corporate livery across their fleet.[5]

During 2019 service 18 received 4 newer buses in a purple livery branded as 'theBraunstoneBus' with services 88/88A/88E branded as 'Saffron' referring to Saffron Lane which they serve in a yellow and crimson livery. Services 14 and 14a would later receive buses featuring orange FrequentFourteens branding.

Services

Most services are operated from Haymarket Bus Station or St Margaret's Bus Station.

Services operate from the City Centre to Glenfield, New Parks, Braunstone Frith & Kirby Frith, Glenfield Hospital, Braunstone, Eyres Monsell, Saffron Lane, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General Hospital, Goodwood, Netherhall, Thurnby Lodge, Thurmaston, Rushey Mead, Mowmacre Hill, Beaumont Leys, Anstey, Highfields and Birstall.

Depot

In 2007 a new depot was opened on Abbey Lane which is also the headquarters of First Midlands, replacing the former depot on Abbey Park Road which was once home to Leicester's tram network,[11] where a fire in August 1999 destroyed three vehicles and parts of the former tram sheds.[12]

See also

References
  1. Companies House extract company no 2000072 Leicester Citybus Limited
  2. Leicester Corporation Transport 1901-1986 Peter Gould
  3. Government Approves 19th Bus Sale of Leicester Citybus Ltd Local Government Chronicle 15 November 1993
  4. FirstGroup Annual Report March 2013 FirstGroup
  5. Cole, David (9 September 2015). "Leicester shines". Bus & Coach Buyer. Peterborough. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  6. "Transformation of Leicester's buses continues". routeone. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  7. "First Leicester starts electrification work". Coach & Bus Week. Emap. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  8. "First Leicester starts work on electric bus infrastructure". routeone. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  9. Williams, Mark (31 May 2023). "Electroliners enter service in Leicester". Bus & Coach Buyer. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  10. "Wrightbus in new deal to deliver 18 zero emission buses for Leicester". The Irish News. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  11. "At the Depot – Leicester Trams".
  12. Goddard, Jane (31 January 2019). "Workers braved flames to drive fleet away from Leicester bus garage blaze". Leicestershire Live. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to First Leicester.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.