First Somerset & Avon

First Somerset & Avon

Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL in Weston-super-Mare in August 2010
Parent	FirstGroup
Founded	September 1983
Headquarters	Bristol
Service area	Bristol Bath Gloucestershire Weston-super-Mare Wiltshire
Service type	Bus services
Depots	4
Fleet	255 (February 2015)
Website	www.firstgroup.com/westofengland

First Somerset & Avon is a bus operator providing services in Bath, Somerset, South Gloucestershire and West Wiltshire. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.

History

Wright Renown bodied Volvo B10BLE in Bristol in June 2011

Wright Eclipse Fusion bodied Volvo B7LA in Bath in October 2010

The company name First Somerset & Avon dates only from 2003, although the origins of the company date back to 1887. The company combines the former Badgerline operation that created FirstBus in April 1995, and the Somerset operations of Southern National, acquired in 1999.

Badgerline was formed in 1985 as the business name of the Bristol Country Bus operations (in South Gloucestershire, Bath, Somerset and Wiltshire) of the Bristol Omnibus Company (then part of the National Bus Company). In 1986 the operations were transferred to a separate legal entity and privatised in September 1986 in a management buyout. After Badgerline merged with GRT Group to form FirstBus in April 1995, the operation was rebranded as First, although Badgerline Limited continued as the legal name of the operator.

In 2001 FirstGroup changed the legal structure of some of its bus operating subsidiaries. The legal entity which had been Badgerline Limited was renamed First City Line Limited and became the operator of Bristol city services (now First Bristol Limited). The legal entity which had been First Bristol Buses Limited (which had previously been Bristol Omnibus Company, incorporated in 1887) was renamed First Somerset & Avon Limited in May 2003. and became the operator of Badgerline's former services.

Southern National was formed in 1983 as the Somerset and Dorset operations of Western National (then part of the National Bus Company). It was privatised in 1988, acquired by FirstGroup in 1999 and rebranded as First Southern National. In 2003 the Somerset operations of First Southern National were merged into First Somerset & Avon.

In 2013 buses started to be painted into the new FirstBus livery and 'West of England' branding was applied on both sides beneath the windows (on some single-decks the branding is applied above the windows towards the front of the bus). First Somerset & Avon is still printed on some tickets, while other tickets are printed with First Bristol & Avon or simply just First Bristol.

In February 2014, First's Bridgwater and Taunton business was rebranded as The Buses of Somerset in an unprecedented break from the FirstGroup corporate style. The business instead now sports a two-tone green and cream livery with bespoke branding, website and social media profiles. These services were later transferred to First South West.

Services

First Somerset & Avon operates an extensive network of services in and around Bath, Bristol, Trowbridge, Wells and Weston-super-Mare.

Fleet

As at February 2015, the fleet consisted of 255 buses and coaches.

Depots

First Somerset & Avon operate four depots: Marlborough Street (Bristol), Bath, Weston-super-Mare and Wells.

See also

• First Bristol
• The Buses of Somerset

External links

• First Bristol, Bath & the West website
• First Somerset & Avon Flickr gallery