First Essex

[TAS]

Sorry - I meant the 2A. I'd suggest First going into Horkesley with a half hourly 87 isn't quite as bold as the S8. The S8 is coming off Mersea Road onto QE Way rather than the current 67 going down Mersea Road further and then diverting off at the Silver Oyster. When I travelled on it just before Christmas, it (67) did seem a bit of a spoiler but the S8 is both more comprehensive and double the frequency.

The only difference I can see between Arriva's 8 and First's S8 is that (southbound) the S8 will run down Berechurch Hall Road, around the roundabout at William Harris Way and doubles back on itself (as the 67 does at present) to turn into Wethersfield Road, while the 8 omits this double-run and only uses Berechurch Hall Road for the short distance between Monkwick Avenue and Wethersfield Road. On the way back to Colchester they are identical. However the 8 is every 10 mins and the S8 is every 15.

Looking at the map, I've noticed that it also seems to show that the 86 into Colchester will turn right off Mersea Road, down Roberts Road and then run into the town centre via Military Road (and vice versa in return). I think this is the first service to use Roberts Road since the 66A was withdrawn a few years back and, checking Streetview, while the stops are still painted on the road, the flags appear to have gone. I wonder if they'll be reinstated in time?

First's 87 will only be every 30 mins, while Arriva's 2 is every 20 mins, so I'm not sure that bodes too well for the success of the (slightly odd) decision to extend the Brightlingsea service to Horkesley Heath. I am slightly surprised that Horkesley can justify a service every 20 mins and West Bergholt can only justify one an hour though (and I remember when Bergholt had a bus every 15 minutes!). (EDIT: Shouldn't just think about the terminus - I'm sure there's rather more passengers to be found in the new Chesterwell development on the way to Horkesley than in the prosperous suburbia of Braiswick on the way to Bergholt).

No, First has the tendered 2A, which is evening and Sunday journeys. Arriva run the daytime (Mon to Sat) 2 commercially. It diverges from the 65 at North Station and is up a different artery from the 65 (and 61 and 8). Think different spokes of a wheel.

I haven't seen enough detail for the S8 to see where it comes off Mersea Road. The maps aren't clear. For example, it looks like the S1 and S2 don't serve Bruff Close and use the old Chambers stops on the Northern Approach Road instead.

If the maps on bustimes.org are correct, the S1 and S2 (and 86) will be using Bruff Close.

 

[Alfie1014]

The lack of advance information has been woeful and given than bus stop info is not brilliant at the best of times and I believe that they've said that stop info won’t be updated until the week after the holiday it doesn’t bode well for users next week, not everyone can rely on apps and online information. It will also be interesting to see what the promises on new, nearly new and refurbished buses actually turn out to be!

 

[Adtrainsam]

The lack of advance information has been woeful and given than bus stop info is not brilliant at the best of times and I believe that they've said that stop info won’t be updated until the week after the holiday it doesn’t bode well for users next week, not everyone can rely on apps and online information. It will also be interesting to see what the promises on new, nearly new and refurbished buses actually turn out to be!

First Essex have tweeted:

Roadside Publicity Look out for the new timetables that will begin to be posted, at bus stops, from 11th April 2022.

My local bus stop has just had its timetable updated. Seemed a bit premature, but there are a lot of bus stops to do in Essex!

 

[martin2345uk]

Will the FirstBus app be updated beforehand does anyone know?

 

[SW Buses]

Has anyone seen any printed publicity surrounding this that’s available?

 

[lancededcena]

Well I live in Colchester and this is certainly new information for me..

And I am not liking the reduced frequencies, I just hope they bring back more late night buses like I remember pre-pandemic than the ones we have currently.

 

[RELL6L]

In Chelmsford it also strikes me that it’s going to be confusing with the 70/370 and 71/371 in particular as to which journeys pick up where on the way out. Especially when there is bad traffic and they are running late.

And how long before the driver of a decker tries to enter or leave the bus station via the wrong route…. Hopefully they have robust controls!

 

[SW Buses]

Any observation on how the first day has gone? Has anyone seen any leaflets for the changes?

 

[martin2345uk]

Nothing at all! I notice their own app hasn’t been updated with the new services yet either…

 

[AB93]

Nothing at all!

I have seen photos on Facebook of service change leaflets for Basildon, Chelmsford and Colchester and also them in situ on a bus.

 

[martin2345uk]

I’ve not seen anything and I live 300 yards from a bus stop on an affected route.

 

[Adtrainsam]

Any observation on how the first day has gone? Has anyone seen any leaflets for the changes?

Not good. Passengers confused (especially the elderly) and none of the app/Google maps/bustimes.org timetables are up for the new Chelmsford routes. Real time displays showing old times. They’re lucky they have this Bank Holiday to get their act together otherwise it’ll be carnage on Tuesday when the schools go back

 

[martin2345uk]

I think today will be the big test, I notice their app is still not updated to show the new services and routes which is a bit disappointing.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Apr 2022 ==

5 days on and their app is still not updated with the new buses, nor are any of the display screens around town (I assume they all use the same data).

 

[Alfie1014]

The apps been working for me (Colchester area) since Tuesday at least when I’ve checked it, can’t comment on the bus stop displays as we don’t have any where I live.

 

[martin2345uk]

In Chelmsford the app still shows the old non-C numbers for the buses

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Apr 2022 ==



Edit:

The app is now fully updated, but the various info signs in town still show the old numbers, according to First on Twitter they are operated by the council so we should contact them... I feel First should contact them personally!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Apr 2022 ==


Next edit:

Tried using the service properly today by getting a bus home from town.

My bus, the 40, is now the C12. And for some reason it no longer calls at the railway station, so I had to go to the bus station.

The app said stand 3; neither the static sign nor the PID at stand 3 mentioned the C12, but a small paper timetable nearby did so I waited. 5 mins after the time it was supposed to leave, a C12 arrived that was terminating there (it's the end and the start of the route now). There were so many buses in the small bus station that it coudn't get to stand 3, so it went around the loop and stopped not at a stand on the other side of the station, and the driver got out and shut it down.

10 mins later me and the by now small group of people wanting the C12 were getting a bit confused, asked one of the dozen drivers who were hanging around near the stand, none of them know if/when the bus would go.

Suddenly the C12 started moving, an unseen driver had got in it and started up, we assumed it would swing round the bus station and come to stand 3 to pick us up; it did not, it just drove straight out of the bus station, empty, leaving us all standing there rather irritated.

This is why I tend to drive into town!

 

[SW Buses]

Now the new network has been in for around 4 weeks, any observations on how it’s gone thus far? Has any printed publicity materialised?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Now the new network has been in for around 4 weeks, any observations on how it’s gone thus far? Has any printed publicity materialised?

Sure I've seen people posting pics of the printed material

 

[buslad1988]

Does anyone know how things are progressing since these service changes?

Arriva Colchester amended the timetables of services 1/8 and reduced the 2 to half hourly on 5th June.

 

[THC]

Anecdotally - the Chelmsford shuttle network appears to have bedded down well. The 300 however still appears to be subject to the same performance issues that bedevilled the 100, the service split at Basildon notwithstanding.

THC

 

[Alfie1014]

Does anyone know how things are progressing since these service changes?

Arriva Colchester amended the timetables of services 1/8 and reduced the 2 to half hourly on 5th June.

Anecdotally, as I‘m not a regular user but more an observer of matters in Colchester reliability does seem to have improved (on the town services), that said the town (city) centre seems to have been free of any major roadworks recently, which helps. Doesn’t seem to have been much progress on the much lauded new and refurbished vehicles promised though, plenty of 15+ year old deckers still rumbling about!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Anecdotally, as I‘m not a regular user but more an observer of matters in Colchester reliability does seem to have improved (on the town services), that said the town (city) centre seems to have been free of any major roadworks recently, which helps. Doesn’t seem to have been much progress on the much lauded new and refurbished vehicles promised though, plenty of 15+ year old deckers still rumbling about!

The new and refurbished fleet is something that they are dealing with but it's not going to be transformed just yet. Think the priority is to sweep away the Darts in Chelmsford and the Tridents in Basildon/Hadleigh. Think it was said that 11 e200s were coming from Ensign and not certain how many are in service, but that should wipe away most Darts, and there are a few cascades in from Glasgow and Southampton.

However, fair to say that there are a lot of very old deckers working very hard and drafting in a few newer deckers and some 2006 ones from Weston super Mare ain't really going to have a massive impact.

 

[Volvodart]

34454 - LJ59 LXT is the first of the replacement double deckers.

 

[90sWereBetter]

34454 - LJ59 LXT is the first of the replacement double deckers.

A former Arriva London E400 from Norwood garage, not sure how many have been bought but the batch is destined for Hadleigh to sweep away the last few Tridents, which have already been reduced in numbers due to accident damage and failures. Should be interesting to see First using ex-Arriva deckers against Arriva Southend.

Chelmsford have eight former First London/Tower Transit E200s on their Shuttle network, which have been beautifully refurbished inside and out. Basildon have also sent one of their Volvo hybrids away for refurbishment into Shuttle livery. No sign of anything in Colchester yet. There's also apparently some ex-Halton E200s due in Essex Green livery, though two of these have optimistically sat on BusTimes for the best part of three months and still haven't emerged

Some of Colchester's B7TL/Geminis have been going around with new unpainted panels recently, which may suggest the best examples might see a repaint to see out their last few years. Personally I'm hoping Basildon start painting and refurbishing their SN58-reg E400s, most these haven't seen a paintbrush in nearly a decade.

 

[Adtrainsam]

Chelmsford have eight former First London/Tower Transit E200s on their Shuttle network, which have been beautifully refurbished inside and out. Basildon have also sent one of their Volvo hybrids away for refurbishment into Shuttle livery. No sign of anything in Colchester yet. There's also apparently some ex-Halton E200s due in Essex Green livery, though two of these have optimistically sat on BusTimes for the best part of three months and still haven't emerged

It's nice to see these re-painted buses out but I firmly believe there's little benefit of simply repainting buses if the interiors are left untouched. It would be better if some of the earlier repaints also had seat moquette and flooring replaced (wood-effect perhaps), similar to what they've done for the 8 Chelmsford E200s. Smaller touches such as vinyl covers or information graphics inside also make the interior look more appealing.

 

[TAS]

Now that the changes have been bedded in for six months, First have announced a further round of alterations. Looking at them, these mostly seem to be further reductions - only two routes going in their entirety, but cuts to frequency and route length, with a few enhancements scattered in too.

Full details for Basildon and South Essex

Shuttles

Route B1 Basildon to Laindon: Has minor reductions to frequency, in the early evening and early morning, on all days of the week.

The changes to Route B2 Basildon to Laindon broadly mirror those made to route B1 above.

Route B3 Basildon to Pitsea Tesco: Is increased in frequency towards Basildon in the morning on Mondays to Fridays but reduced in the mid evening.

Route B4 Basildon to Pitsea Tesco: Retains its 20-minute frequency in the morning and late afternoon, but then reduces to every 30 minutes for the remainder of the day and also throughout the day on Saturdays, with an hourly evening and Sunday service.

The changes to Route B5 Basildon to Pitsea Broadway broadly mirror those made to route B4 above.

Essex Bus

Route 9 Basildon to Brentwood: Sees a slight reduction in service levels as we seek to match the costs to the revenue received.

Route 20 Southend to Hullbridge: Has some timing changes for reliability and some less well used journeys are withdrawn.

Route 21 Southend to Canvey: Is reduced to an hourly service with some school day extra journeys and additional daytime journeys between Southend-on-Sea and Leigh-on-Sea. The journeys which run via Elmsleigh Drive and Blenheim Chase, on schooldays, are re-numbered as Route 21S.

Route 22 Basildon to Canvey: Has a minor change to the timetable in the afternoon, on Monday to Friday, and on Saturday mornings. The route has been changed to omit Cherrydown in Basildon and instead continue along Clay Hill Road and then turn left into Southernhay to access the bus station.

Route 25 Basildon to Southend: Sees a minor adjustment to running times and frequencies at the start and end of the day to match customer demand.

Route 27 Southend to Canvey: Has a minor change to the timetable in the afternoon on Monday to Friday and on Saturday mornings.

Route 28 Basildon to Southend: Has a minor change to the timetable on schooldays in the morning. The route has been changed to omit Cherrydown in Basildon and instead continue along Clay Hill Road and then turn left into Southernhay to access the bus station.

Route 100 Basildon to Lakeside: Has a small number of changes to the early morning timetable on Monday to Friday. The Monday to Saturday evening frequency reduces to an hourly service earlier in the evening than at present.

Route 200 Basildon to Grays: Has a few less well used journeys removed from the timetable.

Route 300 Basildon to Chelmsford: Has a small number of changes to the early morning timetable on Monday to Friday. The Monday to Saturday evening frequency reduces to an hourly service earlier in the evening than at present.

All other services are unchanged.

Full details for Chelmsford:

Shuttles

Route C3 Chelmsford to North Melbourne: Has some minor changes to the early morning timetable on Monday to Saturday.

Routes C4 Chelmsford to Writtle and C5 Chelmsford to Moulsham Lodge: Both routes have revised timetables. The peak service will be broadly unchanged but both routes will run every 30 minutes during the middle of the day, on weekdays, and throughout the day on Saturdays. Route C5 will run via Lady Lane and Lynmouth Avenue, when running towards Chelmsford, to improve the reliability of the service.

Route C6 Chelmsford to Great Baddow: Will no longer operate on Saturdays.

Route C8 Chelmsford to Beaulieu Park: Has a revised timetable with a half hourly daytime frequency on Monday to Saturday.

Route C9 Chelmsford to Beaulieu: Route is extended within Beaulieu. The route is revised to run via Centenary Way, Armistice Avenue and Regiment Gate in both directions, then extending to Commonwealth Link and a new section of route along Remembrance Avenue. Also, most journeys will not serve the bus station (except early morning or late evening).

Route C11 Chelmsford to Springfield: Will no longer run between Beaulieu Park and Springfield Sainsburys. Instead, Route C11 terminate at Goldenacres, during the daytime, and at Beaulieu Park in the evening.

Due to low numbers of customers using the service, Route C12 Chelmsford to Springfield is withdrawn. Route 47 Oaklands Park to Broomfield Hospital is diverted via Beeleigh Link to cover some of the roads which would otherwise be unserved.

There are no changes to shuttle routes C1, C2, C7 and C10.

Essex Bus

Route 31/331/332 Chelmsford to Maldon & Burnham-on-Crouch: Some changes to the timetable with a minor reduction in the number of early morning, off-peak and early evening journeys.

Route 37 Warley to Bishops Hall: Is revised to run every 20 minutes, during the daytime, between Bishops Hall and Brentwood, extending every hour through to Warley. The peak service will run to a similar frequency but start slightly later in the morning and finish earlier in the evening than it does at present.

Route 70/370 Chelmsford to Braintree & Colchester: Minor changes to the timetable; with a minor reduction in the number of early morning and early evening journeys.

Route 71/371 Chelmsford to Witham & Colchester: Has some changes to the timetable with a minor reduction in the number of early morning and early evening journeys. A small number of journeys will run as route 372 and leave Chelmsford via Coval Lane.

Route 336 Chelmsford to South Woodham Ferrers and Route 351 Chelmsford to Brentwood & Warley: Both routes see a slight reduction in service levels overall on Monday to Saturday.

The Airlink X30 between Southend, Chelmsford and Stansted is rerouted via the new Wolsey Park development to the west of Rayleigh. Additional short journeys will be introduced on Mondays to Fridays between Wolsey Park and Rayleigh, with some extending through to Chelmsford.

All other services are unchanged.

Full details for Colchester:

Shuttles

Routes S1 Highwoods to Wivenhoe and S2 Highwoods to Stanway: Minor adjustments to running times and frequencies at the start and end of the day to match customer demand.

Route S3 Colchester to West Bergholt: Will run every hour, for most of the day, on Monday to Saturday; running as a continuous loop around Colchester before returning to West Bergholt.

Route S4 Colchester to Greenstead: Has some minor timing changes to improve punctuality on Monday to Friday.

Routes S6 Colchester to Shrub End and S7 Colchester to St. Michaels: Both routes have some minor changes, to the timetable, in the early morning and early evening.

Route S8 Colchester to Monkwick: Route is extended to Colchester Station in the peak periods.

Route S9 Colchester to Rowhedge: Now operates as a continuous loop around Colchester, including stopping at St Johns Street (Wilko) with customers able to travel across the City Centre. Recovery time is to be taken at Rowhedge to compensate and the timetable has been adjusted following customer feedback.

Route S10 Colchester to University of Essex: Which currently runs when the University is open, will no longer run and will be replaced by additional journeys on route 87 between the City Centre and University at the busiest times.

Essex Bus

Route 70/370 Chelmsford to Braintree & Colchester: There are some minor changes to the timetable with a minor reduction in the number of early morning and early evening journeys.

Route 71/371 Chelmsford to Witham & Colchester: Has some changes to the timetable with a minor reduction in the number of early morning and early evening journeys. A small number of journeys will run as route 372 and leave Chelmsford via Coval Lane.

Route 75 Colchester to Maldon: Will be shortened to run between Colchester City Centre and Maldon Leisure Centre and will no longer serve Colchester General Hospital or Morrisons, Maldon. The route, in Maldon, has been changed so that buses run in loop via Mill Road, Mundon Road and Park Drive, terminating at the Leisure Centre stop. There are no changes to the Sunday route and timetable.

Route 80/80A/81/81A Colchester to Boxted & Dedham: Revised timetable to improve the punctuality.

Route 82/82A/82B Colchester to Colne Engaine: has some minor changes, including an earlier journey into Colchester, in the morning peak on weekdays.

Route 86 Colchester to West Mersea: Will be shortened to run between Colchester City Centre and West Mersea and will no longer serve Colchester General Hospital. There are no changes to the Sunday route and timetable, nor to the route of the school journey serving Norman Way Schools.

Route 87 Horkesley Heath to Brightlingsea: Has a new timetable, with some off-peak and Saturday journeys terminating at the University of Essex instead of continuing to Brightlingsea. There will be some additional journeys between Colchester and the University at the busiest times on weekdays (when the University is open), replacing the current service S10. The route in Brightlingsea is standardised so that all journeys run the same way.

Route 88 Colchester to Halstead: Has one round trip removed from the timetable on Monday to Saturday.

Route 103/104 Colchester to Harwich: Has two journeys, in each direction, removed on Monday to Saturday.

All other services are unchanged.

 

[martin2345uk]

My service (C12) totally withdrawn. Well that'll be me driving into town from now on!

 

[pjnathanail]

My service (C12) totally withdrawn. Well that'll be me driving into town from now on!

Is the C12 a busy route? Looks to run through some quite industrial territory and some fairly suburban housing, without the density usually required to make urban buses viable. But Springfield Sainsbury’s at the end could / should have led to some two-way patronage flows.

 

[Adtrainsam]

Is the C12 a busy route? Looks to run through some quite industrial territory and some fairly suburban housing, without the density usually required to make urban buses viable. But Springfield Sainsbury’s at the end could / should have led to some two-way patronage flows.

With the C12 also being my local route, it’s not the busiest of routes but it does have a commuter flow from Chelmer Village, as well as workers for the Industrial Estate on New Dukes Way.

Average numbers are usually 6 to 10 per trip. Highest was 21(!) one afternoon.

 

[Canary73]

With the C12 also being my local route, it’s not the busiest of routes but it does have a commuter flow from Chelmer Village, as well as workers for the Industrial Estate on New Dukes Way.

Average numbers are usually 6 to 10 per trip. Highest was 21(!) one afternoon.

The C12 had a pretty much 30 min frequency between 0600-1900 and was fairly direct to and from the City Centre to Chelmer Village, connecting school children, commuters, shoppers etc. However, driver shortages, vehicle failures and timing close to other services at peak times didn't help its use alongside changes to use through working from home. It also didn't help that it was connected to the C11 and C8 so could get delayed. It is the only First service to be withdrawn and had been replaced by the 47 but only with two morning and evening peak services and on a meandering route to and from the Hospital and Moulsham, straight into traffic queues, taking three times as long as it used to. We wrote to the MP and the response from First Essex is basically it costs us too much money so we run next to nothing. So much for the City and county council try to encourage public transport use. Services are on average 90 mins in the peak and the last bus is at 1900. Chelmer Village is a built up area and there are always queues of people waiting for cabs from late night trains. However, First decide not to run anything late, there is no competition and no one holds them to account for their time keeping or poor service. Even the drivers themselves say the changes and new routes make no sense.

 

[90sWereBetter]

It seems the 13-plate single deck hybrids at both Basildon and Slough are not long for this world. Basildon sent one of their Volvo 9500Hs away for refurbishment into Essex Shuttles livery in May 2022, what should have been a refit lasting a couple of weeks apparently turned into a saga, with 69905 not returning until December 2022 and then not re-entering service until a couple of weeks ago. No others have been sent away, 69913 has been withdrawn, and the influx of ex-Southampton Streetlites will cause a cascade in Essex to replace the rest of them. In addition, one of the four Enviro350Hs has been painted all white, as a prelude to going off-lease.

Slough's batch are apparently being replaced with ex-Glasgow E400s.