Bus operator in Swansea and South Wales
First Cymru
[1]
is an operator of bus services in
South West Wales
. It is a subsidiary of
FirstGroup
with its headquarters in
Swansea
.
History
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
The company operates 98 bus services in the South West Wales area, in and between
Haverfordwest
,
Pembroke
,
Tenby
,
Carmarthen
,
Ammanford
,
Llanelli
,
Swansea
,
Pontardawe
,
Neath
,
Port Talbot
,
Maesteg
,
Bridgend
and
Cardiff
. Their network used to be larger and included destinations such as
Brecon
,
Llandovery
and
Cardigan
.
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 using
Yutong
electric vehicles owned by them.
First Cymru branding was previously used across the network. However, local 'Swansea and the Bay', 'Western Welsh', 'Neath Port Talbot' and 'Bridgend and County' branding is gradually being applied to services in its sub-areas.
Swansea University services
[
edit
]
First Cymru has provided bespoke services for students of
Swansea University
for a number of years. The original service, known as 'Bright Orange Bus' linked Hendrefoilan Student Village to Singleton Campus and the City Centre. The service was expanded to the Bay Campus when it opened in 2015 and renamed 'Campus to Campus'. A new route was also introduced between the two campuses via
Sketty
,
Uplands
and
Swansea railway station
. The network was redesigned and rebranded 'Unibws' following the closure of Hendrefoilan Student Village in the summer of 2023. Newly numbered services 90-94 link the two campuses with the city centre, Sketty, Uplands and new student accommodation in the
Parc Tawe
, railway station and Morfa Road areas, with service 91 operating 24-hours a day during term time.
Park and Ride
[
edit
]
First Cymru operates
park & ride
sites, which are located at
Fabian Way
and
Landore
in
Swansea
.
Cymru Clipper
[
edit
]
In 2014, First Cymru introduced the Cymru Clipper network of longer distance routes, spanning from Carmarthen & Ammanford to Cardiff.
Services X1, X2,
[4]
X3, X5, X6, X7, X11, X13, are encompassed into this network. Dedicated vehicles in blue livery operate these services, with the majority of them offering WiFi and leather seats as standard.
Swansea Metro
[
edit
]
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.
[5]
[6]
TrawsCymru
[
edit
]
First Cymru have held the contract for the T1 service between
Carmarthen
and
Aberystwyth
since 2014, when
Arriva Buses Wales
pulled out of Mid Wales. In 2023, First began operating
Welsh Government
owned
Yutong
electric vehicles on this service from a bespoke depot in
Carmarthen
.
Cymru Coaster
[
edit
]
In May 2021, First Cymru launched two new open top bus routes in Swansea and Porthcawl:
[7]
[9]
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
[10]
In 2023 just one open top service ran in Tenby.
Previous services
[
edit
]
Coach services
[
edit
]
First Cymru used to have its own coaching division and operated school services,
National Express
contracts and interurban services. Special services were also operated to
Abergavenny
market and
Oakwood Theme Park
and
Tenby
in the summer.
Swansea to Cardiff shuttle service
[
edit
]
First Cymru operated an hourly shuttle service between
Cardiff
,
Bridgend Designer Outlet
and
Swansea
, which was known as the 'Shuttle100'. From 2010-15, this service was part of the
Greyhound UK
network.
[11]
[12]
Following the demise of Greyhound this service was renumbered X10.
[13]
The service was suspended during the
COVID-19
pandemic and has not since been reinstated, marking the end of First Cymru's coaching operations.
Greyhound UK
[
edit
]
In 2010, the Swansea-Cardiff shuttle service became part of the
Greyhound UK
network and was operated by coaches with leather seats and additional legroom, which could be booked online for the first time. In 2013, the service was extended to
Newport
,
Bristol
and
Bristol Airport
. In March 2015, the Cardiff to Bristol Airport leg of the route was withdrawn and in December 2015 the Greyhound UK brand was dropped. This was the last Greyhound service to operate in the UK.
National Express
launched its 216 service between Cardiff and Bristol Airport immediately after the withdrawal of the Greyhound service.
National Express
[
edit
]
Until July 2012, when the contract was lost to
Edwards Coaches
, First Cymru were a
National Express
contractor and operated services on routes:
[14]
Fleet
[
edit
]
As of April 2024, the First Cymru fleet consisted of 208 buses based from depots in
Bridgend
,
Haverfordwest
,
Port Talbot
,
Tycroes
, Carmarthen and
Swansea
.
[
citation needed
]
Depots were previously located in
Llanelli
,
Pontardawe
,
Maesteg
and
Cardiff
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
First Cymru
at Wikimedia Commons
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