Go-Ahead has confirmed it will acquire Truronian Coaches and the Truro depot from First Bus as part of First’s exit from Cornwall, with the deal completing on 15 February, a day after First ends its local bus services. While no vehicles are included, the existing work commitments are part of the sale. Go-Ahead hasn’t revealed plans for Truronian, though integrating it into Exeter-based Dartline Coaches, acquired in 2022, has been suggested. First says no FlixBus contracts are involved, and staff were told the sale wasn’t originally planned but fits broader changes in the county.
When First announced its departure in November 2025, Go South West quickly confirmed it would cover most services, though not identically. Go-Ahead has already bought Camborne and Summercourt depots and is set to run the Truro park-and-ride, soon to be served by council-owned electric buses.
First notes Truronian will keep operating from Truro depot, with all staff protected under TUPE, ensuring continuity for customers. Managing Director Simon Goff praised Truronian’s strong customer relationships and said the sale followed careful consideration, expressing confidence in its future under Go-Ahead.
Interestingly, we now have an official answer on who is running the Truro Park & Ride. Today, we saw the registration for Dealtop - Dartline to operate the service. This suggests that the 'Truronian' operation was purchased under the Dartline licence. It remains to be seen whether they will use the Truronian name or Dartline for these operations.
PH0005305/125
PR1, PR1A
Service type
Normal Stopping
Start point
Tregurra Park
Finish point
Langarth
Effective date16 Feb 2026
The existing Mercedes Citaro buses from the Park & Ride are apparently being transferred to Go Ahead, with fleet numbers 50-57 (formerly First 64050-57). I’m pretty sure I read that somewhere, but I can’t seem to find it right now.
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I’ll be away for the next couple of days, so posting will be limited, but I’ll still be able to publish any comments left on the site. With so much happening right now, any interesting sightings or comments are always welcome!
The P&R fleet is owned by the council so will always transfer to whichever operator is running the service currently.
ReplyDeleteHow are Go Cornwall running the Truro Park & Ride without the re tender of the service? This is a supported service funded by Cornwall Cornwall Council and surely must be subject to a re tendering exercise. When the service was last tendered OTS Falmouth came in second, so why are they not be given the chance to run it. Sounds a bit suspect to me..
ReplyDeleteYour comment towards the end is abit comical. How do u know that discussions between other operators for the P&R service hadnt happened? Sounds like you have jumped the gun and auto assumed that everything was given to pcb without a thought. The council would have to follow guidelines for things like this. Just give it a thought
DeleteNothing suspect here - GA are tendered to run TFC - First pulled out, and GA have taken on the majority of routes (with adjustments) in agreement with CC. I'd have been more surprised if someone like Stagecoach came in to run it.
DeleteLet's hope Cornwall Council don't pull the plug on TFC like they have just done to the PSO Newquay - Heathrow route.
DeleteJames, if they do they'll have to return the £30m funding for bus services over the next three years that they've been given by the government.
DeleteI think it was retendered to be honest
ReplyDeleteSome interesting comments on local facebook groups - appears after the millions spent on royal parade, the bus stop capacity is actually reduced not increased. A number of services will not serve royal parade, with the temporary Mayflower Street only arrangement becoming permanent. This means many elderly now have to struggle up Armada Way to get their bus.
ReplyDeleteAlso buses that do stop Royal Parade won't stop on the Viaduct and some will only stop on the Viaduct not Royal Parade
The usual Facebook armchair expert opinions and considered commentary, I see. The bus stop capacity is increased but with fewer routes serving those stops, combined these two measures will eliminate virtually all the congestion that plagued this location previously and which was unsustainable. Notably the most frequent routes, 21/21A and the 42 group which can be prone to bunching, are now split across two stops each.
DeleteReducing the number of routes serving the Viaduct, together with redistributing the other routes, will also reduce congestion at the stops here. The routes selected (21, 21A, 23, 24 and 51) stop in the easternmost section of Royal Parade closest to the Viaduct so alternative stops are not very far away.
As for 'elderly people struggling up Armada Way' - for some parts of the City Centre Mayflower Street can be just as convenient, also the buses have stopped here for some time now so passengers have had time to get used to the new arrangements and plan their journeys accordingly.
Semi correct.
DeleteNo services will only serve the viaduct, but along with changes to which bus stops where on Royal Parade, there are also changes to the stops on the Viaduct. It seems largely prevent vehicles for Ebrington St and Exeter St having to fight across two lanes just before the lights.
But yes, 8/9/27/28/30/31/35/35A will all stay on Mayflower St.
Millions spent to upgrade Royal Parade to fit more buses in and actually it cannot even accommodate the buses that used it before, never mind fit more.
If the last few months have proved anything, it is that additional stops could have been placed on Derrys Cross roundabout and not a single penny would have needed to be spent. They could also have just closed Royal Parade northbound to vehicles and make it buses only. Throw some average cameras and drop the limit to 20mph in the surrounding roads to accommodate the additional traffic and reduce congestion.
They’ve wasted millions of tax payers money, and as it hasn’t even opened yet, we don’t know if the ‘saw tooth’ design will even make any improvements or work! The curbs look awfully high for buses to be pulling out at a sharp angle, it’ll be interesting to see if the tail swings make it without damage!
Plymouth's city centre is quite frankly awful, a large area of it doesn't even get served by a bus and it's a massive walk just to get from Mayflower street to the other side at Royal Parade. It's no wonder most people stick around Drake Circus these days.
DeleteYour last bit about stopping on royal parade/viaduct....all services that are using union street/derrys cross currently will use royal parade and the viaduct apart from 21/a,23,24,51
DeleteYour comment isn't quite correct - the bus stop capacity has INCREASED - the numbers of bus routes stopping their, has decreased.
DeleteI can however understand this in certain areas with certain buses no longer stopping at the Viaduct (have you seen the bus try to get into the right hand lane to get around the roundabout down towards Cattedown Roundabout)
The issue with the 8/9 stopping at Mayflower Street isn't so much of a big deal IMO
having buses stopping in mayflower street makes it great for people wanting to connect with other services like having the bus station nowhere near most off the bus stops in Plymouth, just great for encouraging public transport travel,
DeleteOn a different subject, when are the electric buses entering service for Stagecoach South West
ReplyDelete8 BYD 75 plate electric double deckers have arrived at milehouse from Go Ahead London
ReplyDeleteYes! Something I doubt anyone would have reasonably predicted!
DeleteA direct award of a two year contract for Truro P&R was made to Plymouth Citybus. Details here:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/008416-2026
Does anyone have any details of the Truonian fleet now? Their website has obviously gone from the First site, but they are still contactable on the mobile phone number that was advertised by First.
ReplyDeleteGuessing you will need to contact Dartline now, although from my own personal previous experience they are not the best or most professional company to deal with, you have to keep chasing them as they very rarely reply.
ReplyDeleteI try not to use them now and go elsewhere