First Midland Red
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Alexander Dennis Enviro300 in September 2005
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| Parent | FirstGroup |
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| Founded | 6 September 1981 |
| Headquarters | Chelmsford |
| Service area |
Birmingham Herefordshire Worcestershire |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Website | www.firstgroup.com/ukbus |
First Midland Red is a bus company operating services in Herefordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
In September 1981 Midland Red West was formed with 183 buses operating from six depots in Gloucestershire, Hereford, Worcestershire and Powys as part of the breakup of the Midland Red bus company. In September 1983 the 20 vehicle Bromsgrove depot was closed.
The local brand names Reddibus, Severnlink, Wandaward, Wayfarer and Wendaway created by Midland Red continued to be used.
Based in Worcester, Midland Red West's main areas of operation were Worcestershire, Herefordshire, parts of Shropshire and parts of the West Midlands conurbation, including Birmingham. Birmingham was also served by the other companies formed from the break-up of Midland Red.
In November 1985 Midland Red West introduced a fleet of 60 minibuses to operate its urban network in Worcester as part of a new high-frequency service within the City, operating under the Citibus trading name. The distinctive yellow, orange and blue liveried Mercedes-Benz L608Ds displaced larger buses such as Leyland Nationals onto interurban routes. At its launch the service was the UK's largest urban bus service operated by minibuses.
In March 1986 a similar, but much smaller, minibus service was launched for the Kidderminster and Stourport area under the Wyre Forest Shuttle brand. Also operated by Mercedes L608Ds, the buses sported an almost identical livery to the Citibus fleet, with the blue colouring changed to green. A month later minibus operations were also rolled out in Redditch under the Reddilink brand, though larger buses still continued to operate throughout the town on some routes. The L608Ds used here carried a red and yellow livery similar to that of Citibus.
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