First Aberdeen
Wright StreetDeck Hydroliner in Peterculter, Aberdeen in 2022
ParentFirstGroup
Founded1986
HeadquartersAberdeen
Service areaAberdeen
Service typeBus services
Routes23
Fleet129 (July 2022)
Websitewww.firstgroup.com/aberdeen

First Aberdeen[1] is the main bus company operator in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.

History

Preserved Alexander AL bodied Leyland Atlantean in Grampian Regional Transport livery

Aberdeen Corporation

Aberdeen Corporation Tramways was formed on 26 August 1898. The company was renamed Aberdeen Corporation Transport Department when it became solely a bus operator with trams ceasing on 3 May 1958.

Grampian Regional Transport

Under local government reorganisation in 1975, the Aberdeen Corporation bus operations transferred to Grampian Regional Transport, a department of the Grampian Regional Authority.

To comply with the Transport Act 1985, Grampian Regional Transport was incorporated in 1986,[1] with the Grampian Regional Authority retaining ownership.

In January 1989 the company was privatised under an employee stock ownership plan led by its general manager Moir Lockhead.[2] At the time GRT operated a fleet of 200 buses and 500 employees.[3]

Unlike future similar sales in the UK, the sale of Grampian Regional Transport was done voluntarily by the council which had no overall majority party and had no deep rooted objection to the sale. At the time, councils could negotiate privately with single buyers, rather than the later practice of competitive bidding. It was a sale of a going concern, rather than as seen in other areas in later years, a distress sale, or a forced sale for political reasons.[4]

First Grampian

While the company continued to operate as GRT in Aberdeen, its holding company GRT Bus Group expanded through acquisition purchasing six former nationalised bus companies in England and Scotland. In April 1994 GRT Bus Group became a public limited company. In April 1995 FirstBus was formed through the merger of the Badgerline and GRT Bus Groups, with fleets in England, Wales and Scotland. Aberdeen was selected as the headquarters.[5]

In February 1998 Grampian Regional Transport was rebranded as First Aberdeen.

Liveries

Optare Prisma bodied Mercedes-Benz O405 in Grampian Regional Transport livery in March 1998

Aberdeen Corporation had a dark green and white livery, later becoming pea-green and cream. Council owned Grampian Regional Transport changed this livery, by removing the upper green band, replacing it with a thinner orange band, with Grampian fleetnames and a council crest. When privatised, a scheme with a larger area of cream base colour, supplemented by a two-tone green stripe pattern was adopted.

The cream base and stripe layout would become the corporate livery for the GRT Group, albeit with different colours for the stripes. The First Grampian livery consisted of the existing livery, with the fleetname changed to the FirstBus corporate style with the stylised f symbol. FirstGroup corporate livery was adopted in 1998 upon being rebranded as First Aberdeen.

Fleet

Mercedes-Benz Citaro G articulated bus on Union Street in September 2022

As of March 2013 the First Aberdeen fleet consisted of 173 buses and coaches.[6]

A mainstay of the Grampian Regional Transport fleet in the 1970s up to 1983 was the Alexander AL Type bodied Leyland Atlantean, supplemented by the Leyland National single-decker bus. In 1985 it moved to Alexander RH bodied Leyland Olympian double-deckers until 1988. From 1991 to 1997 the company steadily bought the Mercedes-Benz O405 single-decker.

Grampian Regional Transport was one of the first UK users of articulated buses. Aberdeen is one of the major locations for articulated buses in the United Kingdom with around 35 in the fleet in December 2013.[6]

In 2014, First Aberdeen purchased 26 Wright StreetLite micro-hybrid buses.[7]

First Aberdeen were the world's first operator of double-decker hydrogen fuel cell buses, taking delivery of 15 Wright StreetDeck Hydroliners in January 2021.[8] These were initially taken off the road in January 2022 due to technical faults and were temporarily replaced with Euro VI diesel buses loaned from First Glasgow.[9][10] The first of these returned to service in April 2022.[11] 10 more joined the fleet in April 2022, bringing the total fleet of Hydroliners to 25,[12] which would be joined by 24 Yutong E12 battery electric buses, entering service with First Aberdeen in July 2023.[13]

King Street headquarters

The company has occupied a historic depot site at 395 King Street at the heart of the city since 1914. It was built in 1862 and bought by Aberdeen Corporation Tramways[2] The site has also served as global headquarters of FirstGroup since its formation in 1995. On 21 June 2007 First gained permission to redevelop the site into a new Aberdeen bus depot and global FirstGroup headquarters building. It was officially opened by Anne, Princess Royal on 15 July 2010.[14]

Revenue

Most First Aberdeen services are operated commercially, an exception to this is the council subsidised Service 40 which operates from Guild Street to Dubford on Sundays. The company operates an exact fare policy, whereby no change is given by the driver, though they also allow contactless payment along with payment through the First Bus app on the Android and iOS mobile operating systems. The fleet was one of two divisions in FirstBus picked to trial the new "ticketer" ticket machines at the start of 2017.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Companies House extract company no SC097420 First Aberdeen Limited formerly Grampian Regional Transport Limited
  2. 1 2 The History of 395 King Street FirstGroup
  3. ↑ Andy Milne talks to Moir Lockhead by www.railwaypeople.com 11 April 2006
  4. ↑ Buses Magazine issue 648 March 2009
  5. ↑ Badgerline links with GRT The Independent 5 April 1995
  6. 1 2 FirstGroup Fleetlist Steve White
  7. ↑ "First Aberdeen welcomes 26 brand new micro-hybrid buses into fleet". Intelligent Transport. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  8. ↑ Randall, Chris (24 July 2019). "Aberdeen orders another 15 hydrogen buses". electrive. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  9. ↑ "Aberdeen's hydrogen buses taken off the road due to technical issue". BBC News. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  10. ↑ Peat, Chris (9 February 2022). "Wrightbus upgrading Aberdeen hydrogen fleet". Bus & Coach Buyer. Peterborough. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  11. ↑ "Aberdeen's hydrogen buses returning to service after technical issue". BBC News. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "Hydroliners clock up first million miles". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  13. ↑ Halford, Paul (12 July 2023). "First Aberdeen adds 24 Yutong E12 electric buses". routeone. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  14. ↑ The Princess Royal opens FirstGroup's new Aberdeen base BBC News 15 July 2010
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