El directorio enciclopédico desde la Wikipedia.
FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP) is a Scottish transport company operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Canada, USA, and from 2009 also in Denmark, with headquarters in Aberdeen. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
[edit] HistoryFirstGroup originated from the deregulation of bus services in the United Kingdom, which allowed private companies to purchase former nationalised and municipal bus operators. In 1989 the council owned Aberdeen city municipal bus company Grampian Regional Transport was purchased by its employees in a deal led by its then general manager Moir Lockhead, the future FirstGroup Chief Executive.[1] The company expanded through acquisition as the GRT Group to purchase 6 more former nationalised bus companies in England and Scotland. Elsewhere in the UK, the Badgerline Group had similarly grown through acquisitions of former nationalised bus companies in England and Wales accumulating 12 companies, from similar beginnings to GRT from privatisation of the Somerset based bus company Badgerline, sold to its management in 1986. FirstGroup was formed initially as "FirstBus" in June 1995 through the merger of the Badgerline Group and the GRT Group, with fleets in England, Wales and Scotland.[2] The group began applying a standard corporate typeface to its bus company fleet names, along with a stylised f logo. A new corporate white, pink and indigo livery was introduced for all new low-floor buses, nicknamed 'Barbie', now the UK bus company standard, while further bus company acquisitions continued. Inherited bus fleets were initially left in their original colours with First fleet names, with the intention that the Barbie scheme would stand for a set service quality. Laterly, older buses would receive a modified 'Barbie 2' livery, with fleets later still converted to full Barbie colours. By the late 1990s, the corporate colours of Firstbus, Stagecoach Group and Arriva were appearing in buses in all parts of the UK except London and Northern Ireland. In 1998 the company was renamed FirstGroup when the company moved into railways with the privatisation of British Rail, gaining the Great Eastern franchise,[3] then purchasing Swindon based Great Western Trains, holders of the North Western and Great Western franchises.[4] Soon after, they also began operating London’s Tramlink system under franchise from London Transport.[5] In late 2000, the FirstGroup sold its entire 26% stake in New World First Bus (NWFB), a joint venture established in 1998 to operate the Hong Kong Island routes formerly operated by China Motor Bus, to NWS Holdings Ltd, its joint venture partner.[2] During 2004 First were awarded the ScotRail franchise to run trains in Scotland, in which it already operated the lion’s share of bus services, and took over the new TransPennine Express franchise in partnership with French transport company Keolis.[6] The First North Western franchise, however, was lost to Serco/NedRailways in December 2004. First North Western’s services in northern England were combined with those previously run by Arriva Trains Northern (and not part of the Transpennine network) to form the new Northern Rail franchise.[7] In 2004 First also lost First Great Eastern to National Express Group who now operate it as National Express East Anglia.[8] In fact, they were banned from bidding for the franchise, despite being named Train Operator of the Year at the time.[9] From 1 April 2006 First has operated a new rail franchise under the brand First Capital Connect. This comprises the amalgamation of the existing Great Northern line of the former WAGN service and the Thameslink line.[10] 
The Great Western franchise was extended in 2006 to also include the services of the former Wessex Trains and Thames Trains, and this new franchise was again awarded to First.[11] In February 2007 FirstGroup agreed to buy the US-based firm Laidlaw, an operator of inter-city coaches and yellow school buses across North America, for £1.9 billion (US$3.7 billion). This also gave them a controlling stake in Greyhound Lines, the largest bus operator in North America. The Greyhound name and the names of Canadian subsidiaries of Greyhound Canada were retained, and all other Laidlaw-owned services in the United States and Canada were rebranded under the First or Greyhound names, except for Voyageur Colonial and Grey Goose in Canada.[12] [edit] OperationsFirstGroup plc is Britain's largest bus operator running more than one in five of all local bus services. A fleet of nearly 9,000 buses carries some 2.9 million passengers a day in more than 40 major towns and cities. FirstGroup also run passenger and freight rail services in the UK. Passenger rail franchises consist of First Great Western, First Capital Connect, First TransPennine Express and First ScotRail. They also operate First Hull Trains (an 80% share), a non-franchised open access intercity passenger train service and provide rail freight services through FirstGBRf. First operates the Tramlink network carrying approximately 24 million passengers a year on behalf of Transport for London, although its contract has been cancelled and will be transferred wholly to TfL.[13] 
In North America, FirstGroup has several divisions: First Student which runs school bus routes;[14] First Transit which holds many city and county public transport contracts;[15] and First Vehicle Services which maintains vehicles for many corporations, organisations and local governments, including the other First divisions and Greyhound lines.[16] Canadian operations are provided through their First Canada subsidiary which operates school buses and fulfils public transport contracts. FirstGroup has always had a consistent brand and most of the names of its operations begin with the word First, such as First ScotRail, First Aberdeen, First Glasgow and First Bristol. The company has since removed all local branding for its local bus services - buses now simply carry the fleet name ‘First’ throughout the UK, although each company still operates independently. Its corporate colours are white, pink and blue, and many of its buses and trains are now liveried in these colours, except for buses and trams operating Transport for London-tendered services, and suburban rail services in Strathclyde operated on behalf of SPT, which retain those authorities' liveries - red, and carmine/cream respectively. Similarly, in North America, all services are operated under the First or Greyhound brands except in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Manitoba. All American subsidiaries of Greyhound Lines are now operated under the Greyhound name.[17] First own and operate the Aircoach service in Dublin,[18] linking Dublin Airport with the Dublin southside, Greystones and Bray as well as long distance runs to Cork and Belfast. Aircoach also operate car park shuttles at Belfast and Dublin Airports. As of April 2008, Aircoach has started operating shuttle bus services for the Mater Private Hospital and Phoenix Park. Aircoach does not carry corporate branding although recently drivers have begun to receive standard FirstGroup uniforms with additional Aircoach branding. [edit] Senior managementFirst's senior management are as follows:[19]
[edit] Current operating companies[edit] Rail services
[edit] Light rail services
[edit] Bus and coach services[edit] UK
[edit] Ireland[edit] USA
[edit] Canada
[edit] Denmark and Sweden
[edit] Fleet numbersIn 2003 First introduced the SemaVoyager system of fleet numbering across all its fleets within the United Kingdom. Vehicles now carry five-digit fleet numbers, with the first digit denoting vehicle type, as follows:
[edit] Services formerly operated
[edit] References
[edit] See also[edit] External links
Directorio de Enlaces Directorio dmoz Directorio espejo dmoz Pedro Bernardo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
