Rugby fans took advantage of First Bus services in Leeds.
Organisers at the Rugby World Cup have thanked and praised First Bus for providing ‘excellent’ services during the event and making a significant contribution to the overall success of the tournament.
First Games Transport (FGT), part of First Bus, delivered a range of contracts during the Rugby World Cup, including: spectator travel at Twickenham, Milton Keynes and Cardiff; media services across all host cities; and VIP services, also across all venues in England and Wales. In addition regular First Bus services in cities like Leeds helped to transport thousands of rugby fans to and from the stadiums.
Mick Wright, Head of Tournament Services from England Rugby 2015, said: “Bus services provided by First Games Transport during the tournament were excellent. The media and VIP services operated like clockwork while feedback from fans using the convenient and reliable spectator services was extremely positive. The success of bus services in our travel management plans made a huge contribution to the overall success of the tournament.”
He also paid tribute to local bus operators with many spectators using local services to travel to matches. “Many spectators relied on local bus operators, such as First Leeds, to travel to matches. Bus operators, their drivers and support staff really embraced the tournament, the fantastic atmosphere and provided a wonderful service on match days.”
First Games Transport made a total of 6,300 journeys carrying more than 320,000 customers over the six week-long event. Demand for services peaked on 25th October with more than 27,500 customer using its services at Twickenham, and on 6 Oct First Games Transport carried over a third of the spectators leaving the match at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes.
First Games Transport’s operations during the Rugby World Cup was led by its Managing Director, Andy Scholey, who also headed up First Bus contracts during London 2012, Glasgow 2014 and the 2014 Ryder Cup in Gleneagles.
Andy said: “Thanks to the commitment and talent of everyone at First Games Transport we ran a very successful operation during the Rugby World Cup. I’m pleased that we made such a positive contribution to what was a fabulous event.”
He added: “First Bus has been involved in every major sporting event that the UK has hosted in the last few years, including the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and now the Rugby World Cup. We’ve established a great reputation thanks to our experience and our ability to manage large and complex bus operations at major events.”
Meanwhile local First Bus companies reported increases in passenger numbers on game days. First Bus in Leeds for example operated an additional 666 journeys in partnership with the Rugby World Cup, Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority and carried more than 30,000 customers over the Rugby World Cup weekend in Leeds, 26 and 27 September.
Giles Fearnley, Managing Director of First Bus, said: “We expected our teams to deliver during the Rugby World Cup, but their performance surpassed our high expectations. Colleagues at First Games Transport and our local teams were fine ambassadors for First Bus and should be very proud of their contribution.”
ENDS
For more information, please contact Niall Dowds, First UK Bus, Head of Communications, on 07860 936671 or email [email protected]
NOTES TO EDITORS
FirstGroup plc is the leading transport operator in the UK and North America and our services help to create strong, vibrant and sustainable local economies. During the last year around 2.4 billion people relied on us to get to work, to education, to visit family and friends and much more and, each day, every one of our 110,000 employees works hard to deliver vitally important services for our passengers.
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First Bus
FirstGroup is one of Britain’s largest bus operators with around a fifth of bus services outside London. A fleet of some 6,300 buses carries approximately 1.7 million passengers a day in a huge number of communities including 40 of the UK's largest towns and cities. We operate some US-style yellow school buses and have a fleet of coaches available for charter. We also operate the Aircoach network in Ireland.