Streetdecks for First in Bristol

Wrightbus Streetdecks have been rolled out on First West of England’s service 90 in Bristol. These buses are part of the operator’s £15m investment in 59 new buses across the West of England. The investment in 59 new buses for Bristol forms part of an overall order by FirstGroup’s UK bus division of 385 new vehicles worth £77.7m for delivery in the current financial year. The new micro-hybrid Euro6 vehicles are all DfT ‘low carbon certified’.

Bristol’s Service 90 is making the conversion from single deckers to double deckers in response to an ‘ever increasing number of passengers’. The front of the buses are painted in bright red as part of the operator’s ongoing route branding process in the city. Each ‘route corridor’ in Bristol will have a different colour, which should make it easier for customers to spot their bus. The 90 is the second corridor to have the new colour branding, the first being the 70/71 that went pink. Patronage on the city’s buses has increased, with First seeing close to 25% more people using their services since 2013.

MD of First West of England, James Freeman, said, ‘These new buses are really good news for people living on the 90. The service is more popular than ever, which is why we are giving the route a fleet of brand new, state of the art double deckers, replacing the aging single deck buses which currently operate the 90, adding up to 700 extra seats at rush hour. The new buses look really smart with their bright red front and smart interiors, we are sure the buses will be popular to customers on the 90 when they launch on Monday.’