First South Yorkshire

First South Yorkshire

First South Yorkshire service 81 passing Sheffield Town Hall in 2009
Parent	FirstGroup
Founded	1998, formerly Mainline Group Ltd
Headquarters	Midland Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England
Service area	Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield, North East Derbyshire, Peak District, East Riding of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire
Service type	Bus services
Hubs	Hillsborough Interchange
Fleet	Wright Eclipse Gemini Wright Eclipse Alexander Dennis Trident Wright Renown Alexander PS Optare Solo and more
Daily ridership	90 Million/year
Web site	Official Website

First South Yorkshire is the largest bus operator in South Yorkshire, England. As a division of FirstGroup the company's legal name was, for a time, Mainline which operated it between 1993 and 1998, following the sale South Yorkshire Transport (SYT) to its employees.

History

SYT was eventually sold to its employees in 1993, and it became Mainline Group Limited.^{[citation needed]} It was bought by First Group in 1998, operating at first as First Mainline and then First South Yorkshire.^{[citation needed]}

SYT's head office was moved from SYPTE's HQ in Exchange Street, Sheffield to Amos Road in Meadowhall and at the time of the company's formation its central works was located on Queens Road in Sheffield, although this later closed. Under First ownership, Herries Road, Leadmill Road, Greenland Road and recently, Halfway garages have all been closed with only the Olive Grove garage remaining in Sheffield.^{[citation needed]} The head office is now based at Midland Road garage in Rotherham.

Mainline

Under SYT, Mainline began as a trade name for the main routes, starting in Sheffield in 1989. Buses traded with Sheffield Mainline names in a bright red and yellow livery, replacing the beige/red livery used before. It was followed by Doncaster Mainline in a silver grey and red livery relieved by a light yellow band and finally Rotherham Mainline, whose buses ran in blue and yellow. In 1992 the locality was dropped from the logo when Mainline became the fleetname, the livery based on the former Sheffield Mainline red and yellow, but with silver and blue bands added. Mainline operated most bus services in South Yorkshire over that time (thanks in the main to the former monopoly position of SYT), though other operators such as Leon Motors, Wilfreda Beehive, Andrew's of Sheffield and Yorkshire Terrier started making inroads. The company was generally popular with passengers, and boasted an extensive network with low fares and modern vehicles.^{[citation needed]} Mainline was sold to its employees in 1993, though Stagecoach bought a 20% stake in the company not long after. This had to be sold off in 1995, at which point the newly created FirstBus took this stake.

First Mainline

Mainline was taken over by First Group in 1998, and became First Mainline. A simplified livery of just red and yellow was introduced, reminiscent of the original 1989 Sheffield Mainline livery. The name was altered again to First South Yorkshire. Since about 2000, vehicles began being repainted in First Group corporate livery (nicknamed "Barbie" by enthusiasts). There are three versions of the livery: the main corporate livery, a livery intended for buses pre 1998 but this livery is being slowly phased out, and a revised version of the original livery.

Depots

• Doncaster
• Rotherham
• Sheffield

Fleet

A First South Yorkshire Wright Eclipse Gemini

First received a large batch of Volvo B10BLEs in 1999 as well as a number of Volvo B7Ls (most from First Manchester) and B7TLs between 2002–2004; most of these were however allocated to Sheffield, where 10 Volvo B7TLs/Wright Eclipse Gemini also entered service during summer 2006. Secondhand Volvo Olympians (Northern Counties) were cascaded from London and now make up the entire step entrance double decker fleet.

Save for the 10 Geminis, the fleet changed very little from 2003 until 2007 when First invested £6.4 million in 38 new double-decker buses.^[1] Twenty Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini double-decker buses arrived to upgrade the X78 route to low-floor operation; these new buses entered service on 1 June 2007. All twenty buses are now based at Rotherham Midland Road Garage although previously they were to be shared with Doncaster Leger Way depot. Doncaster received the remaining 18 of these buses in early 2008. These operate services 50, 55 and 78 as part of the Woodlands to Rossington Quality Bus Corridor. Shortly afterwards, an order for 58 more of the same buses was announced, and the majority of these have now entered service in Sheffield on routes 47/48/75/76.

A First Plaxton President bus arriving at Crystal Peaks

Dennis Dominators were the main double deckers in the fleet with over 300 at one time. These have steadily been withdrawn and the last ran in service on 26 July 2006. A large number of Volvo B10Ms with Alexander PS bodywork (new to Mainline) are still in service although some of the older ones have been converted to driver training buses, some of the others are still in service while the rest are operating in Scotland with First Glasgow, and a large batch of the newest ones were recently cascaded to Glasgow. The latest wave of new buses has allowed many of the older B10Ms to finally leave the fleet, and has also seen off the last of the step entrance Plaxton Pointers (both Dennis Dart and Volvo B6 chassis example were operated, indeed two of the latter remain in service albeit with Alexander Dash bodywork).

As of September 2010 the following bus types are operated:^{[citation needed]}

• Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini - all depots, the group's current favoured order
• Volvo B7TL/Alexander ALX400 - all depots
• Volvo B7L/Wright Eclipse - all depots
• Volvo B7RLE/((Wright Eclipse)) - Doncaster/Sheffield
• Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine - Sheffield/Rotherham although only Sheffield has the Palatine II version
• Optare Solo - Doncaster, M850 version
• Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown - Sheffield/Rotherham
• TransBus Dart - Doncaster
• Volvo B7TL/TransBus ALX400 - Doncaster
• Volvo B6LE/Wright Crusader - Doncaster
• Volvo B6BLE/Wright Crusader 2 - Doncaster/Sheffield
• Dennis Dart SPD - Rotherham. Slowly re-entering service after six months on reserve. some received corparte seating.
• Scania L113CRL/Wright Axcess-Ultralow - Sheffield

Routes

First South Yorkshire run services in Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. Due to bus services history and number changes, some routes share service numbers within South Yorkshire.

Service X78 is a limited stop service which goes from Sheffield Interchange via Meadowhall, Rotherham and arriving an hour and a half later in Doncaster Frenchgate Interchange. From Monday to Saturday it operates every ten minutes during the day and every fifteen minutes on Sundays and week day evenings.

Service 91, Airport Services, departs from Doncaster Frenchgate Interchange and arrives approximately twenty-eight minutes later at Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport. This bus has luggage racks for passengers located at the front of the bus.

First also run Peak District services; 51A and 272, from Sheffield, across the South Yorkshire boundary and into Derbyshire in the Peak District. Local or South Yorkshire FirstDay/Week/Month tickets are only valid up to the Sheffield boundary. Special day tickets must be purchased on board to travel on First South Yorkshire buses in Derbyshire. See ticketing

First also ran 215, 218, 240 to the Peak District, but as of 27 April 2009 First withdrew these services, and TM Travel operate these routes on behalf of Derbyshire County Council.

Overground

First have branded some services as Overground on bus services with high frequency during the daytime. Based on the London Underground network where each frequent service is given a recognisable colour, each Overground service is, in addition to its running number, colour coded. The concept is now a prominent fixture throughout all First bus companies in the UK. Most buses on the Overground run to a frequency of ten minutes, although some run every fifteen to twenty minutes, a few routes in certain areas may even run on a frequency under ten minutes.

Number	Branding	From	To	Via	Notes
Sheffield
11 11A 12	Pink	Stannington (11)(11A) Hall Park Head (12)	Sheffield City Centre	Stannington Road, Malin Bridge, Hillsborough Interchange, Langsett Road and Shalesmoor
14	Turquoise	Woodhouse	Loxley	Stradbroke, Hyde Park, Shalesmoor, Langsett Road, Hillsborough Interchange and Wisewood
20 20A	Lime Green	Hemsworth	Hillsborough	Woodseats (20A), Norton, Chesterfield Road, City Centre, Wicker, Burngreave, Pitsmoor, Northern General Hospital, Longley, Southey Green, Wadsley Bridge and Leppings Lane	Services from 2030 hours are run by Stagecoach Sheffield.
22	Green	Nether Edge	Woodhouse	Sharrow, City Centre, Hyde Park, Manor Park and Stradbroke
120 42 44 49	Orange	Fulwood (120) Crystal Peaks (42, 44) Killamarsh (49)	Halfway (120) Sheffield (42, 44, 49)	120: Nether Green, Ranmoor, Broomhill, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, City Centre, Duke Street, City Road, Manor Top, Intake, Frechville, Hackenthorpe and Crystal Peaks 42: Hackenthorpe, Dyke Vale Road, Frechville, Intake, Manor Top, City Road and Granville Road 44: Birley, Base Green, Hollinsend Road, Intake, Manor Top and Granville Road	Part of the Travel South Yorkshire 'Optio' network.
47 48	Olive	Herdings	Shiregreen	47: Heeley, Bramall Lane, City Centre, Nursery Street, Pitsmoor, Fir Vale, Northern General Hospital and Firth Park 48: Hemsworth, Newfield Green, Olive Grove Road, Bramall Lane, City Centre, Nursery Street, Pitsmoor, Fir Vale, Northern General Hospital and Firth Park
51	Yellow	Charnock	Lodge Moor	Gleadless Town End, Hollisend, Arbourthorne, Olive Grove Road, Queen's Road, Bramall Lane, City Centre, West Street, Western Bank, University of Sheffield, Western Park, Broomhill and Crosspool
52	Red	Crookes	Woodhouse Station	Crookes, Broomhill, Western Park, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, West Street, City Centre, Wicker, Darnall and Hansworth
53	Brown	Bradway	Ecclesfield	Meadowhead, Woodseats, Queen's Road, City Centre, Nursery Street, Neepsend, Hillsborough, Wadsley Bridge and Parsons Cross	Services before 1900 terminate at Low Edges instead of Bradway.
56	Salmon	Sheffield	Wybourn	Park Hill and Hyde Park
73	Violet	Sheffield	Ecclesfield	Wicker, Burngreave, Shirecliffe, Firshill, Southey Green and Parson Cross
75 76	Blue	Jordanthorpe (75) Low Edges (76)	High Green (75) Ecclesfield (76)	Batemoor (75), Greenhill (76), Meadowhead (75), Beauchief (76), Woodseats, Abbydale Road, City Centre, Wicker, Burngreave, Pitsmoor, Fir Vale, Firth Park, Sheffield Lane Top and Chapeltown (75)/Sicey Avenue (76)
82	Purple	Ecclesall	Sheffield	Banner Cross, Hunters Bar and Collegiate Crescent
95	Mauve	Walkley	Sheffield	Commonside, Crookesmoor, University of Sheffield, Western Bank and West Street
97 98	Claret	Ecclesfield	Totley (97) Totley Brook (98)	Southey Green, Northern General Hospital, Pitsmoor, Burngreave, Wicker, City Centre, Abbeydale Road, Milhouses, Abbey Lane, Abbeydale and Baslow Road (97)/Furniss Road (98)	Circulars around Ecclesfield
Rotherham
1 2	Red	Maltby	Rotherham	Bramley, Wickersley	Circulars in Maltby
7 8	Pink	Blackburn (7) Kimberworth Park (8)	Rotherham	Kimberworth
15	Orange	East Herringthorpe	Rotherham	Clifton Park	Circular
32 33	Peach	Sheffield (32) Treeton (33)	Rotherham	Brinsworth, Canklow
37	Green	Thrybergh	Rotherham	Herringthorpe
39	Mauve	Kimberworth Park	Rotherham
41 42	Yellow	Kimberworth Park	Rotherham		Circulars
Doncaster
15	Indigo	Edlington	Doncaster	Warmsworth, Balby	Circular around Edlington
16	Orange	Broomhouse Lane	Doncaster	Balby
19 19A	Green	Dryden Road	Doncaster	Balby Road
49	Sky	Sprotbrough	Doncaster		Circular around Sprotbrough
50 50A	Mauve	Skellow	Doncaster	Scawthorpe
55 55B	Pink	Rossington	Doncaster		Circulars around Rossington
57	Brown	Goodison Boulevard	Doncaster	Cantley
63	Yellow	Bentley	Doncaster		Circular around Bentley
66	Purple	Intake	Doncaster	Shaftesbury Avenue
71	Salmon	Greenfield Lane	Doncaster
76 76A 77	Turquoise	Clay Lane (76/76A) Wheatley Hills (77)	Doncaster	Wheatley, Wheatley Park
78 78A	Claret	Woodlands	Doncaster	Sunnyfields	Circulars around Woodlands
81 82	Blue	West Moor Park (81) Parkway (82)	Doncaster	Armthorpe, Doncaster Royal Infirmary	Circulars around Armthorpe
83 84 85	Lime Green	Hatfield	Doncaster	Edenthorpe, Kirk Sandall, Barnby Dun, Dunsville, Dunscroft	Circulars around Hatfield (83/85)
87 88 88A	Red	Moorends (87) Goole (88/88A)	Doncaster	Rawcliffe (88/88A), Moorends, Thorne, Edenthorpe
Barnsley
22	Claret	Rotherham	Barnsley	Stairfoot, Wombwell, Wath upon Dearne, Rawmarsh

Other services

• 4 Millhouses - Darnall
• 30: Dore - Hunters Bar - Sheffield - Birley - Crystal Peaks or Plumbley
• 39 Sheffield - Chancet Wood/Batemoor
• 57'58' Sheffield - Hillsborugh - Worrall - Oughtibridge - Deepcar - Stocksbridge
• X78 is not an Overground route but is listed in the Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster Overground maps.

Ticketing

FirstDay is for unlimited travel on all services in South Yorkshire, and costs £4.80. Local FirstDay tickets, covering Sheffield, Rotherham or Doncaster only, are available for £4.30. A FirstDay Group ticket is available to groups of two adults and a maximum of three children for £8.50.

FirstDay GreenZone is for unlimited travell on all services within a smaller area of the FirstDay in Doncaster for £3.^[2]

FirstWeek is for unlimited travel for a week on all South Yorkshire services for £19.50. A local FirstWeek ticket for Sheffield only is £17.50, while a Doncaster or Rotherham ticket is £16.

FirstXtra is for people who buy a local FirstDay/Week/Month/Term ticket and want to travel to another town for £1.

The Centro is a ticket for Sheffield City Centre for 50p and Doncaster Town Centre for 40p.

Students can travel for 70p on the Unilink service if valid student ID is shown.^[3]

Other tickets: Children under 5 are free, Children aged 16 and under and students aged 16–18 can travel for 50p if they show a valid pass.^[4] Dogs cost 40p. These apply to all bus operators in South Yorkshire.

First also do special offers on certain Overground routes. Such as the Red Line and Orange Line. A FirstDay Red or a FirstDay Orange specific for that route is for £3, a FirstWeek for £9.

Criticism

First lost many routes to other competition recently, particularly in Sheffield. Some routes are either shared with another company or completely run by a competitor. Routes 4/6/7/17/20/20A/33/272 are all now shared with other operators; this caused Stagecoach Sheffield and TM Travel ridership to increase and First's large share of the market to decrease dramatically.

First attracted criticism for raising fares four times in 2005,^[5] raising the cost of a 5-10 minute journey to £1.60 as of February 2007, as well as for cutting a number of services. But the fares for the 51 service (Charnock-Lodge Moor via City Centre and back) were frozen. Referring to low passenger numbers in an interview, First South Yorkshire's managing director, Gary Nolan. said that on some routes. his drivers were "carting fresh air about" and, as such, it was uneconomical to maintain current service levels.

The company also attracted criticism from national journalists^[who?] who launched an investigation into why First introduced several price rises in just two years whilst regional competitors such as Arriva and Stagecoach managed to cap their fare rises. The group's then financial director Nicola Shaw attributed the increases in fares to rising oil prices, despite the fact that in on press releases the group has said that it had hedged all of its fuel purchases to offset the rising cost of oil.

The company was also criticised^{[by whom?]} for the seating comfort of newer vehicles and for withdrawing the 'bendibus' from the roads of Sheffield. The company later went on to explain that the vehicles had been withdrawn 'due to their mileage', but these were later found to be in service at both Bristol airport and in Bath.

The company has suffered from poor industrial relations with drivers striking on many occasions due to pay and working conditions.^{[citation needed]} In such strikes, management employees tried to run a skeleton service by driving the buses themselves.

See also

• South Yorkshire Transport
• South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive
• List of bus operators of the United Kingdom

References

1. ^ First Investing £6.4 million In New Buses For Region First South Yorkshire website . Retrieved 6 April 2007. Archived 1 January 2011 at WebCite
2. ^ FirstDay GreenZone First South Yorkshire. Retrieved 16 May 2011. Archived 16 May 2011 at WebCite
3. ^ Unilink Fares FirstGroup - UK Bus South Yorkshire . Retrieved 17 October 2008. Archived 1 January 2011 at WebCite
4. ^ MegaTravel Pass Travel South Yorkshire . Retrieved 20 2009. Archived 1 January 2011 at WebCite
5. ^ Fares up Sheffield Today by the Sheffield Star . Retrieved 29 October 2005. Archived 1 January 2011 at WebCite

External links

• First South Yorkshire
• South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive