First Stop Travel was a Scottish

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

company, which operated primarily in

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

and southwest

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. Its depot was located in Muriel Street,

Barrhead Barrhead ( sco, Baurheid, gd, Ceann a' Bharra) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268. History Barrhead was formed when ...

. It was closed in 2008 after the

Traffic Commissioner The Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain are responsible for the licensing and regulation of the operators of heavy goods vehicles, buses and coaches, and the registration of local bus services in Great Britain. History The Road Traffic A ...

revoked its licence.

History

Initially founded as the 'Govan Minibus Company' after bus deregulation, it provided strong competition to Strathclyde Buses in the

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

area of Glasgow by operating cheaper minibuses instead of Strathclyde's then full-size buses. Strathclyde countered the threat with minibuses of their own, known as 'Your Wee Happy Bus'. This was the first round of the 'Paisley bus wars' with many competing companies challenging for routes, threatening to bankrupt the larger companies, including

Clydeside Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...

(now

Arriva Scotland West Arriva Scotland West was a bus company based in Inchinnan, near Paisley, Scotland. It was formed in 1997 as a rebranding of the former Clydeside 2000 company when purchased by Arriva. On 26 March 2012, the business was sold to McGill's Bus Serv ...

). The bus wars failed to stop the progress of the company, which was competing on a number of key routes with Strathclyde. After

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.VOSA Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) was an executive agency granted trading fund status in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Transport of the United Kingdom Government. It was announced on 20 June 2013 that VOSA would ...

. The company changed direction away from mini-buses and was re-opened as 'First Stop Travel', usually shorted to F.S.T. The company still had a large patronage on the former Govan Minibus Company routes and exploited this by running many services in competition with First Glasgow and

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Gibson Direct, another Paisley company, accepted a number of SPT contracts in 2004, and was unable to continue its competition with Arriva on the busy 21 route linking Paisley,

Renfrew Renfrew (; sco, Renfrew; gd, Rinn Friù) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former ...

Braehead Braehead ( sco, Braeheid, Gaelic: ''Ceann a' Bhruthaich'') is a commercial development located at the former site of Braehead Power Station in Renfrew on the south bank of the River Clyde in Renfrew, Renfrewshire. It is particularly notable ...

and

and thus the buses and route passed to FST. This was FST first route in Renfrew, especially unusual since their depot had been based in the town for some years. This also saw an influx of modern buses and a move to proper albeit small buses rather than minibuses. This service has returned to Gibsons in 2006. First's service cuts in 2005 saw FST become the only operator on the key " Paisley-

Penilee Penilee is a small housing scheme and suburb on the southwestern edge of Glasgow, Scotland. The area is bounded to its east by the Glasgow suburbs of Cardonald and Hillington, and to the west by the Renfrewshire border and the farms of North a ...

corridor", a route that was well-patronised and run using double deckers with First, as well as the Nitshill-Govan service. In August 2005, due to reported ill-health of the founder, the

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

company Slaemuir Coaches acquired the operation. Subsequently following redirection of the business by Slaemuir, the company has been sold on to the Walker Family who run a variety of small bus operations including Gullivers Travel,

Erskine Travel Erskine (, sco, Erskin, gd, Arasgain) is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire, and historic county of the same name, situated in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the southern bank of the River Clyde, providing the l ...

and L.B.C. The buses of both Gullivers, First Stop Travel and LBC have now been branded First Stop. As a result, First Stop took over a number of new routes, although these were licensed and operated by vehicles belonging to LBC, Erskine Travel and Gullivers Travel. The buses were painted in an all yellow livery, and the operations moved to premises in

with the other Walker companies, having left the previous depot in

. There was also a significant expansion of services in 2007 with many used vehicles purchased. This saw First Stop compete on many main corridors with local independent operators as well as major companies like Arriva and First. The company operated a service into Glasgow City Centre over the busy 38 corridor with full-size buses. Further into 2007 further expansion took place with the addition of the 9 Paisley - Hawkhead, 19 Paisley - Bridge of Weir and 301 Johnstone - Kilmacolm. On 14 July 2008 The Traffic Commissioner revoked the company's operating licence, fined owner John Walker £42,000 and banned him from holding an operating licence for 10 years.

Fleet

The fleet varied from Iveco minibuses to full size single deck Dennis Lances, most vehicles were dating from the mid- to late 1990s. The average estimated age of the fleet was 7 to 10 years. After the recent purchase of 10 Dennis Darts the fleet had a big mix of Iveco, Mercedes, Optare and Dennis vehicles. The licence allowed for over 30 vehicles to be run by First Stop Travel with more being licensed for use by associated companies. When the company was closed down it had around 60 vehicles and employed 87 staff.'Lying' bus boss is driven off the road - Evening Times
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References

{{Defunct British Bus Companies Companies of Scotland Transport in Glasgow Transport in Paisley, Renfrewshire Former bus operators in Scotland

History

Fleet

See also

References