First Cymru is an operator of bus services in

South West Wales South West Wales is one of the regions of Wales consisting of the unitary authorities of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. This definition is used by a number of government agencies and private organisations includin ...

. It is a subsidiary of

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Swansea.

History

First Cymru 49004 on route 63B in Porthcawl (17129385653)

In 1987,

South Wales Transport South Wales Transport was a bus company that operated services in South Wales centred on Swansea and West Wales. History South Wales Transport commenced operating on 2 May 1914 in Swansea. It operated bus services that connected with the S ...

was sold during the privatisation of the National Bus Company in a

management buy out A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or High-net-worth individual, individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout b ...

. In February 1990, along with Brewers Motor Services and United Welsh Coaches, South Wales Transport was sold to

Badgerline Badgerline was a bus operator in and around Bristol from 1985 until 2003. Its headquarters were in Weston-super-Mare. Initially a part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, it was privatised in September 1986 and sold to Badgerline Holdings in a manag ...

. All initially retained their trading names but following Badgerline merging with

GRT Group :''This article describes the bus group, for the Grampian Regional Transport bus company and successors/predecessors, see First Aberdeen'' GRT Group was a bus operating company in the United Kingdom from 1989 until 1995. It was formed when Gr ...

in April 1995 to form

FirstBus FirstGroup plc is a British Multinational corporation, multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Haverfordwest Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...

, Pembroke,

Tenby Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community. Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

, Ammanford,

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

, Swansea,

Pontardawe Pontardawe () is a town and a community in the Swansea Valley (Welsh: ''Cwmtawe'') in Wales. With a population of 6,832, it comprises the electoral wards of Pontardawe and Trebanos. A town council is elected. Pontardawe forms part of the county ...

, Neath,

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...

Maesteg Maesteg is a town and community (Wales), community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English ...

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

and

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. The company operates a bus rapid transit route in Swansea, branded Metro and a frequent shuttle service from Swansea to Cardiff branded X10. In addition to internal South Wales work, First Cymru also runs up to Mid and West Wales on the

TrawsCymru TrawsCymru is the brand name for a network of regional bus services in Wales, sponsored by the Welsh Government. It was introduced as a replacement for the TrawsCambria network. History Launch plans In 2010, the Welsh Assembly ran a consultatio ...

T1 and T1S services.

Campus To Campus

For students of

Swansea University Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

, Campus to Campus service 8 links the Hendrefoelan Student Village, Singleton Park Campus and Bay Campus, plus Fabian Way Park and Ride to Swansea City Centre. Campus to Campus service 9 is a shuttle bus between Singleton Park Campus and Bay Campus. Campus to Campus service 10 links Singleton Park Campus and Bay Campus with student areas Uplands and

Sketty The suburban district of Sketty ( cy, Sgeti) is about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the Swansea city centre on Gower Road. It falls within the Sketty council ward of Swansea. It is also a community. Description The area approximates to the Vivi ...

. These replaced the 82a and 85 in 2015 to coincide with the opening of the Bay Campus.

Park and Ride

First Cymru operates

park & ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (rap ...

sites, which are located at Fabian Way and

Landore Landore ( cy, Glandŵr) is a district and community in Swansea, Wales. The district falls in the Landore council ward. A mainly residential area, it is located about 2.5 miles north of Swansea city centre. The north-easterly part of Landore i ...

in Swansea. They also operate a summer

in Tenby.

X10

First Cymru operate an hourly shuttle service between

Bridgend Designer Outlet The Bridgend Designer Outlet, also known as ''McArthurGlen Designer Outlet'' (and known locally as "The Pines") is a commercial retail park and outlet store development in Bridgend, Wales, United Kingdom. It is owned and operated by McArthurGlen G ...

and Swansea called the X10. This replaced a

Greyhound UK Greyhound UK was a low-cost intercity scheduled coach service in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup. It was launched in September 2009 following their purchase of the long-established Greyhound service in the United States and developed in ...

service in December 2015.

Cymru Clipper

In 2014, First Cymru started the Cymru Clipper express network which spans from Carmarthen & Ammanford to Cardiff. Services X1, X2, X3, X5, X6, X7, X8, X11, X13, are encompassed into this network. Dedicated vehicles operate these services, with the majority of them offering WiFi and leather seats as standard.

Swansea Metro

First Cymru operate a bus rapid transport route between

Singleton Hospital Singleton Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Singleton) is a general hospital in Sketty Lane, Swansea, Wales. It is managed by Swansea Bay University Health Board. History The first stage of the hospital, which included outpatients' facilities, was completed ...

, Swansea City Centre and

Morriston Hospital Morriston Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Treforys) is a 750-bed hospital located in Cwmrhydyceirw near Morriston in Swansea, Wales. It is managed by Swansea Bay University Health Board. Alongside its role as a district general hospital, Morriston is a ...

as Swansea Metro. On 28 August 2015 the fleet of

Wright StreetCar The Wright StreetCar is an articulated bus developed by Wrightbus and Volvo for FirstGroup. It was built on the Volvo B7LA chassis, featuring a separate driver compartment at the front, resembling to some extent similar designs in Europe. It ...

articulated buses that operated the service were replaced by

Wright StreetLite The Wright StreetLite is a low-floor midibus introduced by Wrightbus in 2010. It was originally available in only one body style (wheel forward) before the door forward and StreetLite Max variants were introduced in 2011 and 2012 respectively. ...

buses and were rebranded to red metro branding.

Cymru Coaster

In May 2021, First Cymru launched two new open top bus routes in Swansea and Porthcawl: *1 Swansea (Bus Station) to Bracelet Bay via

Mumbles Mumbles ( cy, Mwmbwls) is a headland sited on the western edge of Swansea Bay on the southern coast of Wales. Toponym Mumbles has been noted for its unusual place name. The headland is thought by some to have been named by French sailors, ...

*99 Trecco Bay to Rest Bay via Porthcawl Town Centre
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

National Express

Until July 2012 First Cymru were a

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

contractor and operated services on routes:Edwards Expands
'' Coach & Bus Week'' 2 May 2012 * 201 Swansea -

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...

* 202 Swansea - Heathrow Airport * 508

Haverfordwest Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Victoria Coach Station Victoria Coach Station is the largest coach station in London, located in the central district of Victoria in the City of Westminster. It serves as a terminus for many medium- and long-distance coach services in the United Kingdom, and is al ...

* 528 Haverfordwest -

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Fleet

As at March 2014 the fleet consisted of 387 buses and coaches.FirstGroup Fleetlist
Steve White

Depots

First Cymru operate depots in

Tycroes Tycroes is a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales. As measured in the 2011 Census, the population of Tycroes electoral ward was 2,438 persons (50.5% male, 49.5% female). At the 2011 Census all the population was counted in Llanedi community. The ...

, and Swansea.

References

External links

Company website
{{Transport in Swansea Bus operators in Wales Bus transport in Cardiff Companies based in Swansea FirstGroup companies Transport in Bridgend County Borough Transport in Cardiff Transport in Carmarthenshire Transport in Pembrokeshire Transport in Neath Port Talbot Transport in Swansea