UK transport operator First Group has clinched a £20 million contract to provide the buses and coaches that will transport spectators to the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The companyÔÇÖs bid beat 76 other tenders and was chosen from an eventual shortlist of seven, which is understood to have included Stage Coach, National Express and Go-Ahead.
The deal will see Aberdeen, Scotland-based FirstGroup provide nearly 1,000 buses and coaches for the Games, to be held in Stratford, East London.
Around 590 buses and coaches will be provided to shuttle spectators to the Games, as well as connecting them to park-and-ride locations surrounding the M25. A further fleet of 300 buses will take spectators to Stratford, as well as Weymouth and Portland in Dorset, where the Olympic sailing events will be held.
First Group will manage the direct coach operations and a bus and coach reservation system, as well as providing support staff at bus and coach locations to manage the fleet.
The company, which runs nearly 9,000 buses and four rail franchises in the UK, as well as Greyhound coaches in North America, was the provider of transport for athletes, officials and media at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002. This is thought to have been a key factor in the success of its bid this time around.
Hugh Sumner, transport director of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the public body which awards contracts for the Games, said: ÔÇ£We are aiming for the first public transport Games in 2012 with spectators arriving at venues by rail, walking, cycling and coach services. About 10 per cent of spectators will use direct coach services, and a further 11 per cent will use park and ride services to get to events and venues across the country.┬á
ÔÇ£As such, this is a significant contract which will help ensure the ODA meets spectatorsÔÇÖ travel requirements in 2012.ÔÇØ
Tessa Jowell, the minister for the Olympics, said: ÔÇ£Hundreds of thousands of spectators will be using buses and coaches to get to Olympic venues in 2012, making this a very important contract. I congratulate First GroupÔÇöthey are now as much a part of the 2012 team as the construction firms across the country building the park.
ÔÇ£As a company based in Aberdeen, this is yet another example of how businesses from in Scotland benefitting from the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.ÔÇØ
First Group currently serves three million passengers in the UK every day and employs 26,500 staff. It also runs the First Capital Connect, First Great Western, First ScotRail and First TransPennine Express rail franchises, as well as an open-access operator, First Hull Trains.
The 2012 bidding process started in August last year.
Contracts to carry athletes, officials and VIPs in a further 1,500 buses and coaches are still to be awarded by the ODA.
First Group is also likely to provide buses and coaches for the paralympic games, which follow the main games.
