& suffolk x1 branded alexander dennis enviro400 in great yarmouth in april 2016 parent firstgroup founded july 1931 headquarters norwich service area norfolk suffolk cambridgeshire service type bus services routes 68 depots 5 fleet 342 website www.firstgroup.com suffolk norfolk first norfolk & suffolk 1 is a bus operator providing services in norfolk and suffolk in eastern england . it is a subsidiary of firstgroup . it has seven depots which are part of five operating areas spread out across east anglia . the five operating areas are norwich ipswich great yarmouth lowestoft and king s lynn . 2 contents 1 history 2 divisions 2.1 first norwich 2.2 first great yarmouth 2.3 first lowestoft 2.4 first ipswich 2.5 first king s lynn 3 heritage buses 4 references 5 external links history edit bristol lodekkas at cambridge depot in september 1977 in july 1931 the eastern counties omnibus company 1 was formed . it was a combination of the four existing bus companies in east anglia . eastern counties road car company of ipswich ortona motor company of cambridge and peterborough electric traction company all owned by tilling & british automobile traction and united automobile services east anglia services and commenced with 534 buses . citation needed upon completion the major shareholders were united automobile services 43 % tilling & british automobile traction 28 % london & north eastern railway 24 % and london midland & scottish railway 3 % . also included was the eastern coach works in lowestoft . by the end of the 1930s the eastern counties omnibus company purchased another 50 operators . citation needed in september 1942 tilling & british automobile traction was placed in administration and its eastern counties omnibus company shareholding transferred to tilling group . in november 1948 it was nationalised and placed under the control of the british transport commission and in january 1969 became part of the national bus company . citation needed in preparation for bus deregulation in september 1984 the company s operations in cambridgeshire were transferred to a separate company cambus limited . 3 the company s coaching operations were also transferred to ambassador travel 4 great yarmouth . 5 in february 1987 the company was privatised in a management buyout . in july 1994 it was sold to the grt group who in june 1995 merged with badgerline to form firstbus . 6 in september 1996 the great yarmounth transport 7 business was purchased . 5 in april 2011 the king s lynn based services were sold to norfolk green . 8 9 divisions edit first operates out of five main depots . each division provides services to the area around its depot . first norwich edit first norwich operates services within the city centre of norwich and to towns and villages within approximately a 20 miles 32 km radius . their fleet consists of volvo b7tl and dennis trident 2 double deck buses with plaxton president bodies volvo b9tl double deckers with wright eclipse gemini bodies some new wright streetdecks 10 wrightbus streetlites and volvo b7l and volvo b7rle single deckers with wright eclipse bodywork . on 23 september 2012 first norwich relaunched its bus network with new colour branding for its routes . 11 buses received exterior vinyl branding to identify the route which they operate with a number of vehicles allocated as spare to be used on any route if required receiving plain white norwich network branding . first great yarmouth edit wright streetdeck in norwich in 2016 first great yarmouth operates services within the towns of great yarmouth and gorleston as well as dedicated routes to norwich and lowestoft . the great yarmouth services operate out of the old blue bus depot on caister road which still retains its original frontage and is a listed building which dates back to the mid 1900s . 12 the fleet consists of dennis trident double deck buses with plaxton president bodies volvo b7tl deckers also with plaxton president bodies accompanied by some alexander alx400 examples . other deckers include wright eclipse geminis both on volvo s b7tl chassis and the newer b9tl version . single deckers in the fleet like norwich are volvo b7l wright eclipses and wright streetlites which are supplemented by a small fleet of dennis dart slfs with plaxton pointer bodywork . first lowestoft edit first lowestoft operates services within the town of lowestoft as well as dedicated routes to great yarmouth beccles and norwich . the lowestoft services operate out of britain s most easterly bus depot situated on gordon road just a few hundred meters away from ness point . the double deck fleet consists of volvo b7tls with alexander alx400 bodies and volvo b9tls with wright eclipse gemini bodywork . the single deck fleet is made up of dennis dart slf alexander pointer 2s and alexander dennis enviro200s . first ipswich edit alexander alx400 bodied volvo b7tl in ipswich in may 2011 ipswich s left and great yarmouth s right heritage buses with preserved examples of the livery stood next to them in 2015 . first ipswich operates within and around the town of ipswich to a radius of about 30 miles 48 km . the ipswich services operate out of one depot situated on star lane just a few minutes walk from the old cattle market bus station . their double deck fleet only consists of volvo b7tl alexander alx400 due to the height of their garage . their single deck fleet is slightly more varied though with a couple of alexander dennis enviro200s and some volvo b7rle wright eclipse urbans . first king s lynn edit first king s lynn operates one service . the x1 service runs between peterborough king s lynn norwich great yarmouth and lowestoft and is 107 miles 172 km end to end . the king s lynn depot used to operate the full service but due to delays provision was split with king s lynn operating the western side of the route from peterborough to norwich whilst great yarmouth and lowestoft depots operate the eastern side from norwich to lowestoft . 13 heritage buses edit first norfolk & suffolk celebrate their heritage with specially liveried buses in each depot . ipswich great yarmouth and lowestoft all have one volvo b7tl each in their fleet painted in the colours that buses used to be in their areas in the mid 1900s . references edit a b companies house extract company no 257815 about us norfolk & suffolk . first uk bus . retrieved 2016 04 28 . companies house extract company no 1822941 cambus limited companies house extract company no 1822939 ambassador travel anglia limited formerly ambassador travel eastern counties limited a b morris stephen autumn 1996 . nbc since nbc a history of the nbc operating subsidiaries . buses focus 43 45 . helm martin january 2009 . an incredible journey . . the first story . granta editions . p. 203 . isbn 978 185757096 0 . companies house extract company no 2001520 leathway limited formerly great yarmouth transport limited norfolk green takes over first routes king s lynn online15 april 2011 norfolk green grows as first retrenches busandcoach.com 15 april 2011 press release from first . edp first norwich article . 23 september 2012 . www.communitysites.co.uk community sites . our great yarmouth . www.ourgreatyarmouth.org.uk . retrieved 2016 04 28 . changes to first buses flagship x1 service . lowestoft journal . retrieved 2016 04 30 . external links edit company website v t e bus operators in the east of england bedfordshire arriva the shires centrebus arriva milton keynes stagecoach in bedford cambridgeshire go whippet stagecoach in cambridge stagecoach in peterborough stagecoach in the fens essex arriva east herts & essex arriva london north arriva southend arriva southern counties blue triangle carters coach services first essex hedingham omnibuses imperial buses network colchester regal busways sm coaches stephensons of essex hertfordshire arriva shires & essex arriva london centrebus excel passenger logistics metroline sm coaches stagecoach east sullivan buses uno norfolk anglian bus first norfolk & suffolk konectbus simonds of botesdale stagecoach in norfolk suffolk anglian bus carters coach services first norfolk & suffolk galloway european hc chambers & son ipswich buses simonds of botesdale national megabus national express v t e firstgroup united kingdom bus companies first aberdeen first berkshire & the thames valley first cymru first essex first glasgow first greater manchester first hampshire & dorset first midlands first leicester 94 % first midland red first potteries first norfolk & suffolk first scotland east first south west the buses of somerset first south yorkshire first west of england first bristol first somerset & avon first west yorkshire first bradford first calderdale & huddersfield first leeds first york first student uk international bus companies america first student united states first student canada first transit greyhound united states boltbus with peter pan bus lines greyhound canada greyhound mexico grey goose bus lines vancouver island coach lines voyageur colonial bus lines ireland aircoach railway companies great western railway heathrow connect with heathrow airport holdings hull trains transpennine express former divisions dsbfirst 25 % danish 30 % swedish first capital connect first chester & the wirral first great eastern first great western link first london first northampton first north western first gbrf first scotrail first transpennine express 55 % greyhound uk new world first bus 26 % future divisions east coast trains retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title first norfolk % 26 suffolk & oldid 742119463 categories bus operators in norfolkbus operators in suffolkfirst group bus operators in englandtransport in norfolktransport in suffolk1931 establishments in englandhidden categories use dmy dates from july 2015use british english from may 2013all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from february 2016 navigation menu personal 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