Aberdeen, Scotland, 2014-12-17 — /Travel PR News/ — First Bus, the UK’s leading bus operator, today announced that it will run a record number of services this Boxing Day.
Responding directly to people’s changing habits and the increased demand for travel on 26 December, around 1,000 buses and some 1600 staff will operate local services across Britain on Boxing Day. First expects to carry in the region of 250,000 passengers.
“With every passing year we operate more and more services on Boxing Day,” said Giles Fearnley, Managing Director of First Bus. “Whilst historically we have operated services on 26 December principally with support from Local Authorities, this year we will see a record 55% of Boxing Day services being run entirely at our commercial risk.”
He continued: “We are responding to the needs of our passengers. Customers are telling us that they want to get out and about on Boxing Day to take advantage of the sales, take in a sporting event or visit friends and family. Retailers and Local Authority partners are telling us that running buses on Boxing Day helps support local economies.
“I’m delighted to confirm therefore that we’ll be running services in the majority of the major towns and cities that we operate in, including Aberdeen, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Leicester, Bristol, Portsmouth, Southampton and Swansea.”
Giles Fearnley also paid tribute to colleagues who have volunteered to give up their holidays in order to help customers get around this Christmas. “Of course it’s not just our drivers who will sacrifice their Boxing Day, they will be supported by engineers, mechanics, controllers and other support staff. In total around 1600 First Bus staff will be transporting an estimated 250,000 customers on Boxing Day. I’m very fortunate to lead a company that has such a fantastic and committed workforce.”
For more details on First services, visit http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/
ENDS
For more information, please contact Niall Dowds, Head of Comms for First UK Bus, on 01224 650011 or 07860 936671 or email niall.dowds@firstgroup.com
Notes to Editors
FirstGroup plc is the leading transport operator in the UK and North America with revenues of more than £6.7 billion a year. We employ approximately 117,000 employees and transport around 2.5 billion passengers a year.
Our vision is to provide solutions for an increasingly congested world… keeping people moving and communities prospering.
First UK Bus
FirstGroup is one of Britain’s largest bus operators with around a fifth of bus services outside London. A fleet of some 6,400 buses carries approximately 1.6 million passengers a day in a huge number of communities including 40 of the UK’s largest towns and cities. We operate Greyhound UK providing regular intercity coach services linking South Wales and Bristol Airport, and we also operate some US-style yellow school buses and have a fleet of coaches available for charter. We also operate the Aircoach network in Ireland.
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UK’s leading bus operator First Bus to operate local services across Britain on Boxing Day