Kernow (formerly known as First Kernow) is a bus company operating services in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, England. It is part of
First South West
First South West is a bus company operating services in the English counties of Somerset and Cornwall. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
First South West includes the Kernow, Truronian, Adventures by Bus and Buses of Somerset brands.
Histo ...
First South West
First South West is a bus company operating services in the English counties of Somerset and Cornwall. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
First South West includes the Kernow, Truronian, Adventures by Bus and Buses of Somerset brands.
Histo ...
, which was formed from two previous operators:
Western National
Western National was a bus company operating in South West England from 1929 until the 1990s.
Early history
Western National Omnibus Company was founded in 1929 as a joint venture between the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the National Om ...
(in Cornwall and South Devon) and Red Bus (in North Devon).
First purchased Truronian coaches in 2008, which now forms part of Kernow.
It was announced on 6 January 2020 that
Cornwall Council
Cornwall Council ( kw, Konsel Kernow) is the unitary authority for Cornwall in the United Kingdom, not including the Isles of Scilly, which has its own unitary council. The council, and its predecessor Cornwall County Council, has a tradition ...
had awarded the entire tendered bus network in the county, except the Truro park & ride service, to the
Go-Ahead Group
The Go-Ahead Group plc is a passenger transport company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, with operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, Norway and Germany. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange, in 2022 it was purchased ...
from 1 April. It is operated under their Go Cornwall Bus brand. The contract consists of 73 routes, which made up roughly half of the First Kernow network at the start of 2020. First retain their commercially operated routes and the Truro park & ride contract.
Routes
Kernow routes mainly cover central and west Cornwall, west of an imaginary line connecting
Camelford
Camelford ( kw, Reskammel) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Bodmin and is governed ...
, Bodmin and Fowey, although two services continue along the north coast from Camelford as far as
Bude
Bude (; kw, Porthbud) is a seaside town in north east Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as Bude Haven.''Corn ...
.
Kernow operates the ''Park for Truro'' service in
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...
on behalf of Cornwall Council, as well as services intended primarily for university students between Truro, Redruth and
Falmouth University
Falmouth University ( kw, Pennskol Aberfal) is a specialist public university for the creative industries based in Falmouth and Penryn, Cornwall, England. Founded as Falmouth School of Art in 1902, it was later known as Falmouth College of Ar ...
campuses in Falmouth and Penryn (using route numbers prefixed U).
During the summer months, Kernow operates
open top bus
An open top bus is a bus, usually but not exclusively a double-decker bus, which has been built or modified to operate without a roof. Early buses were constructed without roofs but in more recent times they have only been built for tourist and ...
es. In 2017, the service was relaunched under the ''Atlantic Coaster'' brand with
Plaxton President
The Plaxton President was a low floor double-decker bus body built at Northern Counties plant in Wigan, England and branded as a Plaxton product for its main production run. It was first unveiled in 1997 on the longitudinal Volvo B7L chas ...
bodied
Dennis Trident 2
The Dennis Trident 2 is a 2-axle low-floor double-decker bus chassis originally manufactured by Dennis, which was unveiled in 1997 and replaced the Dennis Arrow. It was built by TransBus after Dennis was incorporated into the group in 2001, t ...
s drafted in to replace the
Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
bodied Volvo Citybuses. In 2022 First Kernow operated four 'Coaster' branded
open top bus
An open top bus is a bus, usually but not exclusively a double-decker bus, which has been built or modified to operate without a roof. Early buses were constructed without roofs but in more recent times they have only been built for tourist and ...
routes in Cornwall: the Land's End Coaster (Penzance - Marazion - St Ives - Land’s End - Penzance Circular); the Tin Coaster (Penzance - Lower Boscawell); the Atlantic Coaster (Newquay - Padstow); and the Falmouth Coaster (Falmouth Circular).
Most Kernow routes are interurban or rural in character, but there are local town services in some of the larger urban areas – Falmouth, Newquay, Penzance and St Austell, as well as the Park & Ride service in Truro.
Kernow took over some of
Western Greyhound
Western Greyhound was a bus operator based in Summercourt, near Newquay, which operated services in Cornwall and Devon from January 1998 until March 2015.
History
Western Greyhound was established in January 1998 to take over the three veh ...
's routes following that company's sudden closure in March 2015, which meant that First returned in force to
Newquay
Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...
and neighbouring settlements (including Padstow, Perranporth and Wadebridge), where nearly all services had been operated by Western Greyhound for some years. Western Greyhound had also possessed some services in the Penzance and St Austell areas, most of which were also transferred to Kernow.
Many rural routes where lost when the contract was given to
by Cornwall Council in March 2020. The only bus routes still operated by First Kernow are the U/T/L prefixed routes, "Coaster" branded services, "Sunseeker" S1/S2 routes, The "Mousehole" branded service between Penzance, Newlyn & Mousehole and the unbranded 17, 19, 24, 27, and 91. These are operated on a commercial basis. All of the Truro College routes and some school buses are run as well. In May 2021, Kernow started the Cornwall Daytripper brand based around the Eden Project, added a Falmouth Coaster and Discover Exeter operated with open toppers and Dartmoor Explorer with B7TLs.
Depots
The principal maintenance depot is at Camborne with a second in the Newquay area at Summercourt, which was acquired from Western Greyhound after that company had ceased to trade. The depots at Penzance and Truro also carry out some vehicle checks and minor maintenance.
Summercourt
Summercourt ( kw, Marghashir) is a village in mid Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is in the civil parish of St Enoder five miles (8 km) southeast of Newquay. The village is centred on the crossroads at of the old course of the A30 ...
(Newquay). Former base for
Western Greyhound
Western Greyhound was a bus operator based in Summercourt, near Newquay, which operated services in Cornwall and Devon from January 1998 until March 2015.
History
Western Greyhound was established in January 1998 to take over the three veh ...
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...
Bude
Bude (; kw, Porthbud) is a seaside town in north east Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as Bude Haven.''Corn ...
*
Eden Project
The Eden Project ( kw, Edenva) is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England, UK. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit, located from the town of St Blazey and from the larger town of St Austell.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS ...
Helston
Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map she ...
*
Padstow
Padstow (; kw, Lannwedhenek) is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately northwest of Wadebridge, northwest of Bodmin and ...
Winkleigh
Winkleigh is a civil parish and small village in Devon, England. It is part of the local government area of Torridge District Council. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 1,305, compared to 1,079 in 1901. The population of the el ...
Fleet
First Kernow had an older fleet of buses, virtually all of which had been cascaded from other FirstGroup fleets. They included
Plaxton President
The Plaxton President was a low floor double-decker bus body built at Northern Counties plant in Wigan, England and branded as a Plaxton product for its main production run. It was first unveiled in 1997 on the longitudinal Volvo B7L chas ...
Dennis Trident 2
The Dennis Trident 2 is a 2-axle low-floor double-decker bus chassis originally manufactured by Dennis, which was unveiled in 1997 and replaced the Dennis Arrow. It was built by TransBus after Dennis was incorporated into the group in 2001, t ...
Dennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, England in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a high-floor design, In 1996 the low-floor seco ...
chassis, Optare Solo's and
Mercedes-Benz Citaro
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is a single-decker, rigid or articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz/ EvoBus. Introduced in 1997, the Citaro is available in a range of configurations, and is in widespread use throughout Europe and parts of Asia ...
s from Western Greyhound.First: Devon, Kernow, Somerset, Truronian UK Buses 1 September 2013 Several closed top Volvo B7TL Plaxton Presidents were converted to part open top for 'Atlantic Coaster' routes for the 2017 summer season.
First Kernow received 30 new Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMCs in late 2016/early 2017 for use on its U1/U2 (blue livery) routes and ''the Tinner'' T1/T2 routes (red livery). A further 21 Enviro400 MMCs and 20
Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC
The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC (sold as the Alexander Dennis Enviro200) is a single-decker city bus produced by Alexander Dennis since 2014, as the successor to the Enviro200 midibus and Enviro300 full-size bus. The first Enviro200 MMC ...
sFirst cements Cornish comeback with £8.4m order '' Buses'' issue 757 April 2018 page 8 and 14
Optare Solo
The Optare Solo is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Optare in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketing its vehicle as having an entrance that is ...
SRs were purchased in December 2018.
Most services use green buses or those in First Group corporate pastel colours. Certain branded routes have dedicated liveries: