Coronavirus Bus Service FAQ's

Our website has up to date PDF versions of all timetables, with any updated versions posted as soon as they are available on our dedicated Coronavirus webpage. 

We’ll use Twitter to announce any changes to our services, with dedicated channels for each area in which we operate: Network Norwich services - @FirstNorwich;  Norfolk & North Suffolk Coast, including services to & from Norwich - @FirstYar_Low;  Excel services between Norwich – Kings Lynn – Peterborough - @First_excel;  Ipswich Reds - @FirstIpswich

We’ve set up an online feedback form for you to provide us with feedback on our changed timetables because you’re concerned they don’t meet your needs, or you have comments about our buses as a result of revised services and we promise that we will read and consider all feedback. You can find the form here.

At the moment, with much lighter traffic than usual and fewer people travelling, our buses are making better progress along their routes than they sometimes can and are sometimes having to sit at our main timing points until it is time to depart; these points can be seen on our timetables.  As bus times at all other stops not listed in the timetables (as well as some that are shown with a dot next to their name) are only estimated and offered as a guide, we would recommend that you arrive at least 5 minutes before the expected departure time of your bus.

Our bus timetables include both estimated and fixed timing points along the route. Whilst estimated times are included as a guide to when the bus is expected to pass the stop, buses must depart from all fixed timing points at the time shown and this means that they will sometimes have to wait a couple of minutes before they can move on from these points. Our drivers always follow the GPS-linked clock on our ticket machines to know when to depart, but the time on this may be different to the time on your watch.

As far as possible, we have tried to plan our temporary timetables so that there are options for key workers starting and ending shifts at common times throughout the day e.g. for shifts that start on the hour we would aim to have an arrival between 5 and 20 minutes prior to that time. Whilst we realise that this will not suit everyone who needs to use the bus for work, as you can imagine, planning bus timetables that are both operationally achievable and as widely useful as possible is extremely complex and we are sorry if our timings don’t suit your individual circumstances. If you’d like to give us feedback on our temporary timetables you can find our online form here.

At the moment, we would encourage all passengers to use either contactless payment or mTickets on the First Bus App to buy their ticket in order to reduce any cash handling by our drivers. If cash is your only payment option then we would ask you to use the exact fare whenever possible. Contactless payment (including Apple Pay and Google Pay) can be used for any ticket up to the value of £30, with no minimum spend. All tickets from a day upwards are available at a reduced price as an mTicket on the First Bus App. You can find out more information about mTickets here.

The health, safety and wellbeing of our staff and customers is always at the forefront of our bus operation and to help keep people safe we are undertaking additional deep cleans on buses, ensuring bell pushes, window ledges, hand rails and other touchpoints are sanitised every day and providing our drivers with hand sanitiser and gloves. You can find out more about what we're doing to make travel safer for everyone here.

In order to make it easier for vulnerable and elderly people to access essential services at this difficult time, from Monday 23rd March 2020 we are accepting concessionary passes for travel at any time of the day on any of our services. This change has been made working in partnership with all of our local county councils and will be effective until further notice. The arrangements will be subject to review on at least a monthly basis.

Whilst the temporary timetables in place for the Covid 19 pandemic situation are in operation, if you hold a valid return, day, week or longer season ticket issued by Konectbus or First Eastern Counties, you can use this on either operators' bus service over common sections of route without charge (e.g. Wymondham/Wroxham/Dereham to & from Norwich). This is a temporary arrangement and will cease when the emergency timetable arrangements come to an end. We will provide you with as much advance notice as possible of that event. Please do not make unnecessary journeys and consider whether your bus trip is essential. If you must travel, please observe social distancing guidance and sit two metres (six feet) away from other passengers.

We are working hard to update all of our information sources as quickly as possible when we make a change to our temporary timetables . This means that information in digital form should be up to date almost immediately after any change, with maybe a minor delay to some information being correct where we have had to make a change to a timetable at very short notice. The PDF timetables on our dedicated Coronavirus webpage will always be kept up to date so these are normally the best way to ensure you have the most accurate information on the times of our buses.

Yes. Although the Government has advised against the use of public transport unless it is necessary this is to try and ensure sufficient capacity for those making essential journeys whilst maintaining social distancing. They have made it clear that neither members of the public nor transport staff are at greater risk of infection from coronavirus when using rail or bus services than in other public spaces.  You can find out more about what we're doing to make travel safer for everyone here.

We are sorry but due to the social distancing policy to limit the spread of Covid 19, we cannot accommodate more than one buggy on any bus, and cannot accept a buggy if we have a passenger in a wheelchair on board.