First Bus East of England is a bus operator that provides services in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

and

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

in eastern England; it is a subsidiary of

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

and

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

History

Cambridge Bound on London Road - geograph

In July 1931, the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company was formed with a fleet of 534 buses out of the merger of four existing bus companies in East Anglia: Eastern Counties Road Car Company of Ipswich, Ortona Motor Company of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and Peterborough Electric Traction Company, which were all owned by Tilling & British Automobile Traction and

United Automobile Services United Automobile Services was a bus company, which operated local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne & Wear, England. It provided bus services across a wide geographical area, stretch ...

' East Anglia services. Upon completion of the merger, the major shareholders of Eastern Counties were United Automobile Services (43%), Tilling & British Automobile Traction (28%), the

London & North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At tha ...

(24%) and the

London Midland & Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

(3%). Also included were United's bus and lorry

coachbuilder A coachbuilder manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles. The trade of producing coachwork began with bodies for horse-drawn vehicles. Today it includes custom automobiles, buses, Coach (bus), motor coaches, and passenger car (rai ...

, based in Lowestoft, which was renamed to

Eastern Coach Works Eastern Coach WorksCompanies House extract company no 318856
...

and supplied bus bodies to its parent company and operators within the Tilling & British Automotive Traction group on various chassis. By the end of the 1930s, the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company had purchased another 50 operators. In September 1942, Tilling & British Automobile Traction was placed into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

, with the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company shareholding transferred to the

Tilling Group The Tilling Group was one of two Conglomerate (company), conglomerates that controlled almost all of the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between World Wars I and II and until nationalisation in 1948. Tilling, together with the other ...

. In November 1948, Eastern Counties was included in the nationalisation of the Tilling Group, becoming part of the

British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the s ...

, which was merged with the

Transport Holding Company The Transport Holding Company (THC) was a British Government–owned company created by the Transport Act 1962 to administer a range of state-owned transport, travel and engineering companies that were previously managed by the British Transpo ...

in January 1969 to become the National Bus Company. In preparation for

bus deregulation Bus deregulation in Great Britain involved the abolition of Road Service Licensing for bus services outside of Greater London. It began in 1980 with long-distance bus services and was extended to local bus services in 1986 under the Transport ...

, in September 1984, Eastern Counties' operations in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

were transferred to a separate company named Cambus Limited. The company was sold into privatisation from the National Bus Company in February 1987 through a

management buyout 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 individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...

, which was followed by its coaching operations transferring to Ambassador Travel of Great Yarmouth in December 1987. Bus in hole

An Eastern Counties

Bristol VRT The Bristol VR was a rear-engined double-decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and ...

double decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but Open top bus, open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are Coach (bus), coaches too for long-d ...

made international headlines when it fell rear-first into a

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

formed from a medieval chalk mine running underneath

Earlham Road Earlham Road (the B1108 road, B1108) is a road in Norwich, England, linking the city centre to the area of Earlham to the west of the city and the Norwich southern bypass (A47 road, A47) beyond. Details The road formerly marked the northern l ...

in Norwich on 3 March 1988. The driver of the bus, along with the passengers on board, managed to escape minutes before the bus fell further into the sinkhole, which severed a gas main running underneath the road and resulted in the overnight evacuation of the nearby area while the main was repaired. A photograph of the incident would be used by

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...

the next day in full-page newspaper advertisements and on billboards to promote their Double Decker chocolate bar, captioned with the slogan "Nothing fills a hole like a Double-Decker". In July 1994, Eastern Counties was sold to the

GRT Group GRT Group was a bus operating company in the United Kingdom from 1989 until 1995. It was formed when First Aberdeen, Grampian Regional Transport (GRT) was privatised. It went on to purchase a number of bus companies in England and Scotland. In ...

for £6.7 million, which merged with

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 man ...

to form

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

Divisions

First operates out of five main depots; each division provides services to the area around its depot:

Network Norwich

First Eastern Counties operates services branded as the ''Network Norwich'' within the city centre of

and to towns and villages within approximately a radius. This network was launched on 23 September 2012, with buses painted in colour-coded route branding on the fronts to reflect the line in the network they were allocated to. On 22 March 2017, First announced that they were to introduce a direct bus service numbered X41, running between Norwich and

Bungay Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . It lies in the Waveney Valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at th ...

in Suffolk via

Ditchingham Ditchingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Ditchingham is located north of Bungay and south-east of Norwich, along the course of the River Waveney. History Ditchingham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and d ...

, as part of the Charcoal colour line. This line was launched in April 2016 with service 40 from Norwich to

Poringland Poringland is a village in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. It lies south of Norwich city centre and north of Bungay. Its population has rapidly grown in the past 50 years. It covers an area of and had a population of 3,261 l ...

. The Network Norwich operation was one of five FirstGroup operations to begin taking delivery of

battery electric bus A battery electric bus is an electric bus that is driven by an electric motor and obtains energy from on-board batteries. Many trolleybuses use batteries as an auxiliary or emergency power source. Battery electric buses offer the potential for z ...

es in 2023, funded through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) grant from the UK government. The first seven buses from an order for 59

Wright StreetDeck Electroliner The Wright StreetDeck is an integral double-decker bus manufactured by Wrightbus since 2014, originally delivered as standard with a Daimler AG, Daimler OM934 diesel engine. Hybrid-electric, full-electric and hydrogen-powered variants have subse ...

double-decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are coaches too for long-distance travel. They app ...

es began entering service in October 2023, while eleven Wright GB Kite Electroliner

single-deck bus A single-decker bus or rigid is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term ''single-decker'' refers to a standard two-axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which is essent ...

es are also on order for delivery to Norwich during 2024. When completed, this order is set to replace pre-existing diesel buses at First's Roundtree Way depot.

First Great Yarmouth

First Great Yarmouth operates services within the towns of Great Yarmouth and

Gorleston-on-Sea Gorleston-on-Sea (), historically and colloquially known as Gorleston, is a seaside town in the borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England. It lies to the South of Great Yarmouth, on the opposite side of the mouth of the River Yare. Historic ...

, as well as dedicated routes to Norwich and Lowestoft under the ''Coastlink'' brand. The Great Yarmouth services operate out of the old Great Yarmouth Transport depot on Caister Road, which is a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

dating back to the mid-1900s, retaining its original frontage.

First Lowestoft

First Lowestoft operates services within the town of Lowestoft, as well as dedicated routes to Great Yarmouth,

Beccles Beccles ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is located along the A145 r ...

and Norwich. The Lowestoft services operate out of Britain's most easterly bus depot, situated on Gordon Road, just a few hundred metres away from

Ness Point Ness Point, also known as Lowestoft Ness, is the most easterly point of England, Great Britain, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. It is located in Lowestoft in the East Suffolk district of the county of Suffolk. The site is located to ...

First Ipswich

First Ipswich operates within and around the town of Ipswich to a radius of about . The Ipswich services operate out of one depot situated on Star Lane, just a few minutes walk from the town's bus station in the Old Cattle Market. A

guided bus Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a Bus lane, dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of Public transport timetable, schedules even during rush hours. Unl ...

system named ''Superoute 66'' was established in February 1995, running between Ipswich town centre and the suburbs of

Kesgrave Kesgrave is a town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. The town is close to both Ipswich and Woodbridge. Kesgrave forms part of the wider Ipswich Built-up area. History The area was recorded as ''Gressgrava'' in ...

and

Martlesham Heath Martlesham Heath is a village in Suffolk, England. It is east of Ipswich, This was an ancient area of heathland and latterly the site of Martlesham Heath Airfield. A "new village" was established there in the mid-1970s and this has developed in ...

, in partnership between Eastern Counties and

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Governme ...

, commencing operations with a fleet of six

Plaxton Pointer The Plaxton Pointer (originally known as the Reeve Burgess Pointer, and later as the TransBus Pointer and Alexander Dennis Pointer) is a single-deck midibus body that was manufactured between 1991 and 2006, predominantly on the Dennis Dart chas ...

bodied

Dennis Dart The Dennis Dart is a Rear-engine design, rear-engined single-decker bus, single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles, Dennis of Guildford, England, in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a ...

s. This service was the first commercially-run guided bus system to be operated in the United Kingdom, and would eventually be upgraded to use double-decker buses under FirstBus. Having previously operated Ipswich's

park and 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 transport, r ...

service from 2008 until November 2013, First Ipswich resumed operating the service in July 2017. In 2019, First rebranded their Ipswich operation to ''Ipswich Reds'' and introduced a new red livery for the town's services.

Services

Excel

A number of services are operated under the ''Excel'' brand, most notably the services between Peterborough, King's Lynn and Norwich and the X1 between Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. This service is operated by nineteen

Alexander Dennis Enviro400 City The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 City is a low-floor bus, low-floor double-decker bus produced by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis since 2015, as an alternative to the standard Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC bodywork. The Enviro400 C ...

bodied Scania N250UDs that were delivered in early 2020, which are painted in a red livery and featuring high-specification interiors, next stop announcements and camera mirrors. Prior to July 2014, the Excel and X1 operated as a single service straight through from Peterborough to Lowestoft, end-to-end. The Excel is operated by King's Lynn outstation - the only service operated by the outstation - whilst Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft depots operate the X1 and related services, branded as Coastlink.

Coastlink

First Eastern Counties also provide a number of Coastlink branded feeder services at the eastern end of the main Excel service, operated using the

Alexander Dennis Enviro400 The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400 (from which the Enviro400 was developed). In 201 ...

s formerly used on the core route. Prior to February 2018, the Excel ran all the way from Peterborough to Lowestoft; Coastlink services replaced the Excel between Norwich and Lowestoft after this time. The X2 operates between Norwich bus station and Lowestoft bus station, as with the X1; however, it stops more frequently and is routed via Gillingham, Beccles,

Worlingham Worlingham is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is about east of Beccles, with the two places effectively joined to form one urban area. At the United Kingdom ...

and

Carlton Colville Carlton Colville is a seaside town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. It is south-west of the centre of the town of Lowestoft in the East Suffolk district. The area lies along the A146 Lowestoft to Beccles road. Carlton Colvi ...

. The X2 operates every 30 minutes from Monday to Saturday daytimes. Minor variations of the route of the X2, known as the X21 and X22, operate more infrequently to serve surrounding villages along the route of the X2, including

North Cove North Cove is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is part of the East Suffolk district, located around east of Beccles and west of Lowestoft. It merges with the village of Barnby and the villages sh ...

and Whitton; the X21 three journeys in the morning peak and five in the evening peak, while the X22 runs every hour from Monday to Saturday daytimes. The X11 operates as a variation of the X1, shadowing the route of the X1 between Norwich and Gorleston-on-Sea via Great Yarmouth, before diverging at James Paget University Hospital to serve and terminate in Belton rather than continuing onwards to Lowestoft. The X11 operates every 30 minutes from Monday to Saturday daytimes.

Coastal Clipper

First Eastern Counties' year-round ''Coastal Clipper'' services connect a number of

seaside resort A seaside resort is a city, resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requi ...

s in Norfolk and Suffolk, with service 99 using closed-top buses branded in blue livery, serving Lowestoft and

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the North Sea, in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth, Suffolk, River Blyth in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths ...

, via

Pakefield Pakefield is a suburb of the town of Lowestoft, in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is located around south of the centre of the town. It 2011 the ward had a population of 6,563. Pakefield has boundaries with Carlton Colvill ...

and

Kessingland Kessingland is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located around south of Lowestoft on the east coast of the United Kingdom. It is of interest to archaeologis ...

; service 99 briefly gained a 99A variant linking Bungay and Southwold, running five times a day, following the withdrawal of services by

Go-Ahead Group Go-Ahead Group Limited is a Multinational corporation, multi-national transport group based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. While the majority of its operations are within Great Britain, it also operates services in Ireland, Australia, Singapo ...

owned Konectbus in early 2019. Coastal Clipper buses also operate on services 1 and 1A, serving

Hopton-on-Sea Hopton-on-Sea is a village, civil parish and seaside resort on the coast of East Anglia, in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located south of Great Yarmouth and north-west of Lowestoft. History The village's name means "Farm/settleme ...

and Lowestoft via Martham,

Hemsby Hemsby is a seaside resort, coastal village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. England. It is situated north-west of the town of Great Yarmouth. In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 cen ...

Caister-on-Sea Caister-on-Sea, also known colloquially as Caister, is a large village, seaside resort and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Caister is located north of Great Yarmouth and east of Norwich. History Caister's history dates bac ...

, Great Yarmouth and Gorleston-on-Sea; service 1A would receive recognition in June 2023 in a guide by Snaptrip as one of the most scenic bus routes in the United Kingdom. From April until September, six Coastal Clipper Cabriolet-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 ...

es based at Great Yarmouth are operated on seafront service 1C. This service was launched in March 2021 and runs seasonally between Hemsby Beach and the Great Yarmouth seafront via Hemsby, Scratby and Caister-on-Sea.

References

External links

* {{FirstGroup Bus operators in Norfolk Bus operators in Suffolk FirstGroup bus operators in England Former nationalised industries of the United Kingdom Transport companies established in 1931 1931 establishments in England