Key facts
- 1.5m passenger journeys a day in 2024/25
- Operates approximately 6,000 buses and coaches
- We serve more than 25% of the population in the UK with our bus services
- We employ roughly 18,000 employees across our operations and have around 70 depots across the UK
- Approximately 1,115 zero emission buses in our fleet (as at March 2025) and three fully electric depots, with ten other substantially electric depots
First Bus is one of the UK’s largest bus operators, with a fleet of more than 6,000 buses and coaches carrying 1.5m passengers a day. We serve more than 25% of the population in the UK with our regional and London bus services.
We provide tendered bus services for local authorities and are a leading operator in the majority of our local areas, including major urban centres such as Glasgow, Bristol and Leeds.
First Bus London was established in February 2025 following our acquisition of RATP London. We operate c.90 Transport for London routes in west and central London from ten depots, serving 180 million passengers annually.
As well as commercial networks, we also provide a range of bus and coach services including for schools, private tour operators, airports and airlines, distribution centres and major construction sites.
We have a fleet of coaches available for charter and operate some tendered services such as Park & Ride contracts. We also operate the Aircoach network in Ireland, Specialist Passenger Solutions, First Travel Solutions, York Pullman Bus Company and Ensignbus.
First Bus puts our people and customers at the heart of everything we do. We are the UK’s largest national bus operator to achieve real Living Wage employer status, cementing our position as an employer of choice in the sector.
We are leading the way in terms of digital transformation of the bus industry. Using real-time, granular data, we are now able to better understand our customers and their journeys meaning we can continuously improve our networks and timetables and introduce new ticketing options that better match demand and customer preferences. We were the first nationwide operator to offer contactless, Tap On Tap Off payment on all of our buses, and c.80% of our ticket transactions are now digital. Customer usage on our First Bus app and platform has grown to 35% of ticket revenue and through the app we interact with our customers to provide information on service disruption, timetable and fares changes as well as special offers and loyalty programmes. The app has has also been voted ‘best in class’ amongst UK bus operators.
Bus networks are key to supporting modal shift particularly from cars to sustainable, zero carbon public transport, a key part of the UK’s climate change goals. First Bus is leading the transition to a low-carbon future and we are committed to operating a zero-emission commercial bus fleet by 2035. We continue to commit significant investment and make use of innovative financing and strategic partnerships to deliver our decarbonisation programme. We have already invested over £300m in the decarbonisation of our fleet and depot infrastructure in First Bus, having secured over £125m in government co-funding. We have approximately 1,115 zero emission buses, with three fully and a further ten substantially electrified depots outside London.
And, we help local businesses to progress their own decarbonisation journeys – giving them access to our charging hubs while our buses are on the road.