First South West

This article is about the bus operation and is not to be confused with South Western Railway, a former rail company majority owned by FirstGroup.

First South West^[2] is a bus company operating services in the English counties of Somerset, Cornwall and Devon. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.

First South West

A Wright StreetLite in Taunton, 2025
Parent	FirstGroup
Headquarters	Camborne
Service area	Cornwall Somerset Devon
Service type	Bus services
Routes	82[1]
Depots	7
Chief executive	Simon Goff
Website	firstbus.co.uk/cornwall, firstbus.co.uk/somerset

First South West includes the business areas previously operated under the Kernow, Adventures by Bus and Buses of Somerset brands, all of which are now operating under the main First Bus brand. Truronian continues to operate private-hire coach services under its separate existing branding.

History

An ALX400 in The Buses of Somerset livery (left) and an Enviro400 MMC in Kernow livery in Taunton, 2020

First South West was known as 'First Devon & Cornwall' until 2015. This had been formed from two previous FirstGroup companies: Western National in Cornwall and south Devon, and Red Bus in north Devon. FirstGroup purchased independent Cornish operator Truronian in April 2008 and merged it into First Devon & Cornwall.^[3][4] First Somerset & Avon routes around Taunton and Bridgwater were transferred to First Devon & Cornwall in 2014 and rebranded as The Buses of Somerset.

On 6 September 2015, the Plymouth, Dartmouth and Tavistock garages were taken over by Stagecoach South West.^[5][6] Torpoint depot is being used^{[clarification needed]} to store the unused members of the fleet. At the same time, First Devon & Cornwall changed their name to First South West to reflect their new area of operation which is only in Cornwall and south Somerset.

In January 2020, Cornwall Council awarded the entire tendered bus network within the county to Plymouth Citybus, consisting of 73 routes. Kernow continues to operate their entire commercial network across Cornwall, including Tinner, University, Lizard and Coaster branded routes, as well as the 24, 27, 87 and 91.

Commencing from May 2021, First South West launched a number of services under the 'Adventures by Bus' brand across Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. These services are operated commercially and include a number of services that were previously operated by Kernow under different circumstances.

In December 2024, FirstGroup announced that they would be moving away from the majority of locally branded identities within their operating areas as the result of a brand re-focus. This included the Kernow and Buses of Somerset brands operated by First South West, with vehicles and other assets beginning a gradual re-branding process to incorporate the new brand identity.^[7]

Routes

First South West routes cover much of Cornwall. It operates the Park & Ride service in Truro.^[8] In March 2015, First Kernow commenced operating some of Western Greyhound following its sudden closure.

Although the operator is named ‘First South West’, it only operates services in Cornwall and Southern Somerset, with a minority of services operating into Devon. It does not cover the rest of the South West region of England, with these areas being covered by different subsidiaries of the wider FirstGroup business.

Many routes are operated commercially and not under any tender or subsidy by the local council. Many of these fall within Cornwall, yet many other services are also operated commercially rather than under tenders such as the Adventures By Bus routes.

First South West, trading as The Buses of Somerset, operated the Taunton Park & Ride service under a contract with Somerset Council signed in 2021. This was due to last for five years,^[9] however, First South West informed Somerset Council it no longer finds the route to be viable and ended its commitment in February 2024. The service was taken over by Stagecoach South West.^[10]

Adventures by Bus

In May 2021, the 'Adventures by Bus' brand commenced operations across First South West's service area, with operations shared between the existing Kernow and Buses of Somerset divisions. The brand included many seasonally operated routes. These included; The Dartmoor Explorer, Lands End Coaster, Falmouth Coaster, Atlantic Coaster, and Exmoor Coaster services. Many of these services operated using open-top vehicles across the summer season. Adventures by Bus services operated out of multiple depots and outstations across the service area, all of which were owned and operated by either Kernow or Buses of Somerset. Adventures by Bus brought First services back to Devon for the first time since September 2015.^[11]

Typical vehicle	Service Name	Start	Terminus	Locality	Notes
	Dartmoor Explorer	Plymouth	Exeter	Devon	Operated as a Seasonal route via Yelverton, Princetown, Postbridge, and Moretonhampstead. Ceased operating in 2023.
	Lands End Coaster	Land's End	St Ives	Cornwall	Circular route via Porthcurno, Penzance, Marazion and Sennen previously using open-top vehicles in the summer season. Circular ceased operating before the Summer 2025 season, with Penzance-Land’s End replaced by 1/1A, operated by closed tops.
	Falmouth Coaster	Falmouth Docks	Swanpool	Cornwall	Seasonal circular around Falmouth using open-top vehicles. Ceased operating in 2023.
	Atlantic Coaster	Newquay	Padstow	Cornwall	Seasonal route along the coast between Newquay and Padstow. Previously used open-top vehicles. Ceased before the Summer 2025 season.
	Exmoor Coaster	Minehead	Ilfracombe	Somerset & Devon	Seasonal route via Blue Anchor, Minehead and Exmoor National Park. The only service that continues to operate with open-top vehicles as of the Summer 2025 season.
	Tin Coaster	Penzance	Lower Boscaswell	Cornwall
	Sunseeker	Gwithian	St Ives	Cornwall
	The Mousehole	Penzance	Mousehole	Cornwall	Operated initially using short Optare Solo buses, although changed to Mercedes Sprinter-based Ilesbus vehicles from 2023. Duplicated by 'The Cat' service during the 2024 summer season.

Fleet

An example of route branding on an Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC in Redruth, 2018

As of April 2019 the fleet consisted of 296 buses and coaches.^[12] This number has dropped to 169 as of February 2025.^[13]

First South West used to operate one of the oldest FirstGroup fleets with an average of 11.6 years, but investment in new buses has seen this figure decrease to 9.9 years.^[14] New purchases were made in 2016 and 2018 for the Kernow division. These were ADL Enviro400 MMCs, ADL Enviro200 MMCs and Optare Solo SRs. Most buses are typically second hand from within the FirstGroup fleet. There were previously large fleets of Plaxton Presidents on Volvo B7TL and Dennis Trident 2 chassis and Plaxton Pointer bodied vehicles on a Dennis Dart chassis, although these have been replaced in recent years by Wrightbus Gemini bodied Volvo B7TL and B9TL vehicles. A number of Optare Solo's and Mercedes-Benz Citaros are also present within the fleet.^[15]

Until December 2006 First South West operated the last sizeable fleet of Bristol VRT double-deck buses in the United Kingdom.^[16] Some of these Bristol VRTs have since been preserved.

Depots

• Camborne
• Newquay
• Penzance
• Taunton
• Truro
• Yeovil

Outstations

• Eden Project
• Falmouth
• Helston
• Minehead
• Padstow
• Bodmin
• Plymouth Citybus (Milehouse Depot)
• Callington, Cornwall
• Exeter
• Winkleigh

See also

• Cornwall portal

• List of bus operators of the United Kingdom