LOCAL MP Rachel Gilmour is claiming credit for forcing First Bus to ensure all new buses are fitted with air conditioning.

Mrs Gilmour said she had run a ‘sustained campaign’ on the issue which had now seen the company agree air conditioning would be fitted as standard on all new vehicles.

Mrs Gilmour said she had written to First Bus after constituents described conditions on buses as ‘absolutely appalling’, telling how they felt intensely hot on buses during periods of extreme heat, with some describing journeys as ‘unbearable’.

She also raised concerns from constituents about newer electric buses running without effective air conditioning in the heat, and without heating in colder weather.

Mrs Gilmour’s letter asked First Bus to confirm whether air conditioning was fitted and fully operational on its services.

She demanded an explanation as to why it has not been available on recent journeys, and asked First Bus to set out what measures were in place to protect passenger comfort and safety during periods of extreme heat.

The letter also asked the company to clarify its position on heating and cooling capability on electric buses in extreme temperatures, and to outline any plans underway to improve conditions.

First Bus replied that its strategy was to provide air conditioning for both the driver’s cab and passenger saloon across its fleet.

The company said all new vehicles were now ordered with air conditioning fitted as standard, and it was also working with a supplier to bring air conditioning to its re-powered fleet.

The changes sit alongside First Bus’s target of a fully zero-emissions fleet by 2035.

Mrs Gilmour recently visited Minehead to speak with constituents directly about their experiences of using local bus services, hearing first-hand accounts of the conditions they had endured on hot days.

Her Tiverton and Minehead constituency takes in West Somerset and much of Exmoor, along with parishes neighbouring Wellington, and some of the Culm Valley and the Blackdown Hills.

Mrs Gilmour said: “This is a great result for constituents who rely on our buses every day.

“A lot of my constituents are older and rely on public transport, and I know exactly how serious this is for them.

“In this kind of heat, with no air conditioning, buses become unbearable, and if you are elderly or have a heart condition, overheating can be life-threatening.

“It is a start, but air conditioning for passengers should always have been provided in weather like this.

“I would encourage all my constituents to share their own experiences with First Bus through the form on my website, so I can continue to hold them to account.”

Mrs Gilmour has also recently raised the issue in a Parliamentary debate of poor rural buses which meant further education students in the West Somerset part of her constituency were having to catch a bus at 6 am and travel two hours to reach college, with another two-hour journey at the end of the academic day.