Invitation to Comment:

FirstGroup plc (First) / SB Holdings Limited (SBH)

Under paragraph 3(c) of the undertakings given by First and accepted by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 17 January 2002 (subsequently varied on 14 April 2008), given following First's acquisition of SBH, First is unable to change the boundary of any fare zone without the prior written consent of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

First has requested the OFT's consent to re-align the north east boundary of the middle fare zone of its FirstCard multi-use ticket. The effect of this change will be to re-designate an area of the middle zone, (roughly) to the north east of a line between Milngavie to the west and Chryston to the east, to the FirstCard outer zone. 

First's stated rationale for seeking this change is to ensure (i) that the pricing of the FirstCard more closely reflects the cost of the provision of those services, and (ii) that the FirstCard middle zone boundary will be consistent with the zones that First intends to introduce for its FirstDay and FirstWeek multi-use tickets.

A map showing the proposed change is available from the contact below.

Before taking a view on this request for consent, the OFT invites any interested third party to make comments, no later than 30 September 2009 to: 

Mrs Carole Bowley

OFT 

Fleetbank House
2-6 Salisbury Square

London EC4Y 8JX

Fax: 020 7211 8916

E-mail: carole.bowley@oft.gsi.gov.uk 

Affected sector: Bus services in Glasgow

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