A Swansea student has become the millionth passenger to board the Ftr Metro.
Kirsty Rowles, from Brynmill, uses the service most weeks to travel to university and into the city centre.
First Cymru Regional Managing Director Tony McNiff and Swansea Council Head of Transport Chris Vinestock greeted Kirsty on her latest journey and presented her with a free 12-month pass for First bus services in the city.
Kirsty said: “I use the service fairly often. The introduction of the Metro has definitely made it easier to use public transport in the city. You can just hop on really quickly which is especially useful when I’m catching the Metro at the university.”
Tony McNiff, Managing Director of First Cymru, said: “The Ftr has performed incredibly well since it was launched in Swansea. Passenger numbers and customer feedback is good; people seem to like the internal layout and the quicker journey times.
“The improved integration between bus and rail services has also been well-received with people using Service 4 to travel onwards from the railway station- particularly to get to and from the university and the Liberty Stadium.”
The Ftr Metro service was launched in Swansea in September 2009 and is going from strength to strength with First already claiming it’s the best performing First bus service in Swansea.
Swansea’s Ftr Metro was developed as part of a £16million package run in partnership between First and Swansea Council.
The infrastructure work, costing approximately £12million, was funded by the Welsh Assembly Government’s Transport Grant.
First also spent £4million purchasing 10 Ftr metro vehicles and upgrading the engineering and parking facilities at its First Cymru head office in Swansea.
Chris Vinestock, Head of Transportation in Swansea Council, said: “Improving public transport is a vital part of Swansea’s integrated transport plan.
“The Welsh Assembly Government’s substantial investment in infrastructure for bus services in Swansea has contributed significantly to the success of the Ftr Metro. We are delighted that so many people are using the service.”
In October 2009 First Cymru and the City and County of Swansea were named joint runners-up in the infrastructure category at the UK Bus Awards for the Ftr Metro scheme.
