First Essex

[Canary73]

As ever the poor quality of service from First Essex in Chelmsford continues - same story: bus bay blocked so went from different stand but no comms made to passengers or any attempt to swing round to collect passengers. Drivers view was 'blame the council' or 'that driver is from Colchester depot, not our problem'. Complained via Twitter and their view was 'be vigilant as buses can go from other stands'. The service on Chelmer Village routes is poor and wont help passengers numbers with that attitude as theya re unreliable.

 

[martin2345uk]

As ever the poor quality of service from First Essex in Chelmsford continues - same story: bus bay blocked so went from different stand but no comms made to passengers or any attempt to swing round to collect passengers. Drivers view was 'blame the council' or 'that driver is from Colchester depot, not our problem'. Complained via Twitter and their view was 'be vigilant as buses can go from other stands'. The service on Chelmer Village routes is poor and wont help passengers numbers with that attitude as theya re unreliable.

Yep this happened to me on more than one occasion and is pretty much why I now just don't bother with buses, I drive.

 

[TAS]

As ever the poor quality of service from First Essex in Chelmsford continues - same story: bus bay blocked so went from different stand but no comms made to passengers or any attempt to swing round to collect passengers. Drivers view was 'blame the council' or 'that driver is from Colchester depot, not our problem'. Complained via Twitter and their view was 'be vigilant as buses can go from other stands'. The service on Chelmer Village routes is poor and wont help passengers numbers with that attitude as theya re unreliable.

Exactly my experience the only time I've tried to catch a bus from Chelmsford bus station. I walked instead.

 

[vla50]

Given First's ongoing efforts to standardise their fleets, will the Geminis at Hadleigh eventually bow out and leave?

 

[aswilliamsuk]

Given First's ongoing efforts to standardise their fleets, will the Geminis at Hadleigh eventually bow out and leave?

I cannot imagine they will remain long-term - but something has to replace them.

Current standardisation efforts are concentrated (mostly) on South West, West & Wales and Worcester - Worcester and Wales are swapping Euro 6 StreetLites for Euro 5 Enviro 200/300s (StreetLites to Wales, Enviros the other way), while South West are gaining B9TLs from elsewhere (East Anglia, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire) to rid themselves of their remaining elderly B7TLs (most of the B9TLs being released by the arrival of ex-Hampshire, 22-reg StreetLites themselves replaced by the electric fleet at Hoeford). As for West, there is a big shuffle going on there to put Enviro 400 MMCs at Wells, Scanias/B9TLs move to Bristol and Bath gains "classic" Enviro 400s. That said, Colchester are also getting Enviro 400s from within the group to replace their remaining B7TLs too.

I suspect any remaining Hadleigh standardisation will happen next year, when the new Yutong fleet arrives at Basildon and releases a lot of Enviro 400s.

 

[Canary73]

Been pretty poor travelling on First Essex in and around Chelmsford of late. Several no shows for one reason or another especially in the evening. Its around a year to go before Beaulieu Park station opens. It will be interesting to see what if any new routes open up and what their frequency is, especially to places further afield. If they want to ensure people are using public transport and avoiding the main station, it requires sensible planning. in some cases, people will still need to use the main station as places further north are better served.

 

[G760XRE]

Noticed today while walking past Frist Potteries Adderley Green depot First Essex 47521 was on site freshly painted into ultraviolet livery. Picture linked below (mine).

First Essex 47521 SN64CMV

Freshly painted into Ultraviolet livery. First Potteries AG depot, 01.03.25

www.flickr.com

 

[JamesC357]

Good to see, those Streetlites definitely need a repaint.

Strange that it went all the way to Stoke for it though, when there are multiple paint shops in Essex that are regularly used by First.

 

[G760XRE]

Good to see, those Streetlites definitely need a repaint.

Strange that it went all the way to Stoke for it though, when there are multiple paint shops in Essex that are regularly used by First.

We seem to get repaints from all over the south of England here in Stoke at the moment. Theres a repainted Wessex E400 currently here, and we also had a Berkshire Streetlite last month.

First Potteries AG Depot 01.03.25

Left to right 63349 SM65WMV Potteries Streetlite 33967 SN65ZDD Wessex E400MMC 63179 SN64CGY Potteries Streetlite 63348 SM65WMU Potteries Streetlite 63362 SM65WMF Potteries Streetlite

www.flickr.com

47692 SL15RWO

First Berkshire Streetlite, seen freshly repainted at First Potteries Adderley Green depot, 15.2.25

www.flickr.com

 

[stuart81]

A re-jig of all Essex services from 20 April but interestingly Colchester is ditching the Sx route numbers and going back to numbers but now in the 5x series!

Service Changes from 20th April 2025 - North Essex

North Essex We are making some changes to the Essex bus network from Sunday 20th April 2025. Many of our changes are intended to improve the punctuality of the bus services that we provide. In Colchester, we are combining some services together to provide new connections and in doing this we...

www.firstbus.co.uk

 

[Alfie1014]

A re-jig of all Essex services from 20 April but interestingly Colchester is ditching the Sx route numbers and going back to numbers but now in the 5x series!

Service Changes from 20th April 2025 - North Essex

North Essex We are making some changes to the Essex bus network from Sunday 20th April 2025. Many of our changes are intended to improve the punctuality of the bus services that we provide. In Colchester, we are combining some services together to provide new connections and in doing this we...

www.firstbus.co.uk

What was the 61 and became the S1 will now become the 51! How to keep your passengers on their toes!

 

[aswilliamsuk]

Moving them to the 5x series from Sx certainly means a fairly sensible change - now the Shuttles concept is dead there's no need for the letter prefixes.

I also note a revision of the Greenstead services so that it's just the 54 (S4) every 7-8 minutes, with the (S5) canned, leaving Arriva to the Harwich Road/Greenstead service.

 

[Canary73]

Essex County Council plans to end funding for nine bus routes

A councillor acknowledges buses can be "lifeline" and urges people to take part in a consultation.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[buslad1988]

Appears to have gone unnoticed here but First Essex’s most recent service change on the 31st August appeared to have included a number of cut backs/retrenchments in the ongoing battles with Arriva in Colchester and (albeit not so directly) Southend.

In Colchester the Monkwick 55 now down to an hourly service just passing through!

>>> Service Changes from Sunday 31st August 2025

21/08/2025 - An update has been added regarding the operation of the 37 service - Monday to Saturday - from 1st September 2025. We are making changes to the Essex bus network from Sunday 31st August 2025. Key details: Ahead of the start of the new school term, beginning next month, we’ll be...

www.firstbus.co.uk

 

[Whiteway215]

Will the electrics at Basildon enter service gradually as they did at Hengrove, West of England?

 

[Cowley]

Thread reopened for @Adtrainsam to update

 

[Canary73]

First Essex have made several changes across their network. The Chelmsford changes see several amendments including improvements to and from Beaulieu Park station and changes to city centre stops to make room for longer distance services from the bus station. More details here https://www.firstbus.co.uk/essex/news-and-service-updates/updates/service-changes-26th-july-2026

 

[Southend Rider]

The big surprise is route B1 being extended to Harold Wood Stn from Laindon.

 

[Cambus731]

Most of those are improvement, but unless I’ve misread the forthcoming changes, North Springfield will lose its fast service to the city centre via the Chelmer Valley Road and ARU.
Also I do think FE should amalgamate the C1 and 170 given the large overlap that the routes have.

 

[christopher]

Do wonder where they are planning to stand at Harold Wood. The stop directly outside the station doesn't have room for buses to stand and the 496 stand won't have room as only takes two buses or which their usually is.

 

[Canary73]

Its taken local pressure to get First to recognise that services to and from Beaulieu Park needed vast improvements. Linking Chelmer Village which is poorly served compared to other areas is a start.

 

[Cambus731]

Its taken local pressure to get First to recognise that services to and from Beaulieu Park needed vast improvements. Linking Chelmer Village which is poorly served compared to other areas is a start.

Its actually going to help me out as I’ll have a direct bus pretty much from my doorstep to Bealieu Park station

 

[Gareth1990]

The big surprise is route B1 being extended to Harold Wood Stn from Laindon.

I don’t see the point of this, fares on C2C are already reasonable, are you really going to sit on a bus for at least 45 minutes just to end up in Harold Wood?

 

[Canary73]

The new services start today and whilst an improvement, it would be better to have services starting earlier and finishing later. Most buses tend to wind down from 1900.