First Bus ended its operations in Cornwall after service on Saturday 14 February, with work largely transferring to Go-Ahead subsidiary Go Cornwall Bus and the exiting operator quickly making a start on moving redundant vehicles to other areas.
The final journey, on route U1, terminated at Falmouth University in the small hours of Sunday 15 February. Later that morning, Go Cornwall Bus – which is part of the wider Go South West business – commenced a revised network to broadly incorporate former First Bus services.
Transport for Cornwall earlier said that the replacement provision has been “developed on the basis that the former First Bus network would not be replicated, with a strong focus on ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of all new and revised services.”
Controversial in the shift has been the route from Penzance to Mousehole. First Bus used four Ilesbus I-City minibuses to run directly to Mousehole harbour. Go-Ahead will instead terminate elsewhere and leave the harbour unserved to permit use of larger vehicles.
Locals in the village have protested the change, using the BBC to call it “catastrophic” and claiming that a 350-yard uphill walk will result.
Go South West Managing Director Richard Stevens has explained that the bigger buses are unsuitable for the harbour area, noting that when minibuses were used, passengers could be left behind.
The operator has transferred vehicles into Cornwall to take up the additional work, with no First Bus-owned stock moving to Go South West. Redundant vehicles are being reallocated to other First subsidiaries as far away as Scotland and Norfolk.
First Bus operations in Cornwall can trace their origin to one of its predecessors, Badgerline, taking a controlling stake in former National Bus Company subsidiary Western National in the late-1980s. Badgerline and GRT merged in 1995 to create what was then FirstBus.
Post-deregulation Western National operations once extended into Devon, but those were ended by First Bus in 2015. From there, under the leadership of Alex Carter, the Cornwall business was transformed, with significant investment in new vehicles and branding under multiple commercial initiatives after a long reliance on cascaded stock from elsewhere.
Later contract losses after Mr Carter’s retirement in 2021 saw the network become largely commercially-focused, but recovery from the pandemic proved difficult and the operation in Cornwall had latterly become heavily lossmaking.
In announcing its exit from Cornwall during late 2025, First Bus noted that the county had seen above inflation cost rises, falling passenger numbers, and an increasingly competitive marketplace. The undertaking had little more than 80 buses at closure, serviced from five operating centres.
Go Cornwall Bus has taken on multiple depots formerly used by First Bus. It has also purchased the Truronian Coaches business in Truro from First, although no vehicles form part of that deal. Operation of the Truro park-and-ride contract, with buses owned by Cornwall County Council, has additionally moved to the Go-Ahead subsidiary.
