Lanarkshire’s principal bus operator, First in Glasgow, have today announced major expansion plans that will not only see new and improved services introduced on its Lanarkshire network, but will also lead to a jobs boost in the Motherwell and Wishaw area.

The first stage of these plans will see the opening in July of a dedicated travel information and sales centre situated in Motherwell Town Centre. This outlet will provide a full range of facilities including timetable information and travel ticket sales. A dedicated customer services team will receive customers at the travel centre 7 days a week.

Over the summer a major expansion of the bus network will be introduced in stages. This will see some existing services improved and several areas not currently served added to the network. The first part of this expansion will see new buses introduced on some existing routes and a new service 266 introduced between Shotts and Hamilton.

Once complete, this expansion will see a significant number of additional buses added to the network including some 2008 brand new models. To accommodate this growth, a new depot in the Wishaw area will be opened shortly and in the next few weeks, a recruitment drive is being launched to recruit additional experienced and trainee bus drivers to work from this depot. Amongst the benefits on offer are earnings in excess of £25,000 per annum, an industry leading pension scheme and free family bus travel.

Commenting on these moves, Mark Savelli, First’s Managing Director, said: “This announcement underlines our continued commitment to our customers in Lanarkshire. Over the last 14 months we have opened a new £6 million depot in Blantyre, expanded the network with the addition of over 30 buses, improved overall reliability markedly and introduced a new bargain £8.50 weekly travel ticket exclusive to Lanarkshire”.

“Lanarkshire is a key part of our network and we are delighted to announce these new plans for the area today. Many of the initiatives are being introduced as a direct result of customer requests facilitated by our Route Development Plan consultation process and it is especially pleasing to be able to meet these requests whilst at the same time bringing extra jobs to the area to add to our existing 600 strong Lanarkshire workforce.” 

Full route and service change information will be available later in the Summer in advance of any changes.