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Arriva Southend
Arriva Southend Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine 5934, one of two non-low-floor double-decker buses still serving in Southend.
ParentArriva
Founded1998
Headquarters(Arriva Southern Counties)
Invicta House, Maidstone, Kent
Service areaEssex
Service typeBus
Routes20
Fleet62
Fuel typeDiesel
OperatorArriva Southern Counties
WebsiteArriva Buses UK company website
A now preserved Leyland National which was run by Southend Transport.

Arriva Southend is a division of Arriva Southern Counties, a subsidiary of transport group Arriva which operates bus services in and around the Southend-on-Sea, Rochford, Rayleigh, Basildon, and Thurrock areas of Essex. They operate most services east of Southend and a few services west of Southend, and compete to a limited extent with four other local operators with services in the same areas: First Essex, NIBS, Regal Busways, and Stephensons of Essex.

History

The company was founded in 1901 as Southend Corporation Transport, and was renamed Southend Transport in 1974. It began operating motorbuses in 1912, and became a limited company on October 26, 1986 due to the 1985 Transport Act.[1] Southend Transport was involved in a price war with Thamesway (now part of First Essex). Southend Transport was sold by Southend Borough Council to the British Bus group in June 1993[2][3] for a reported £1[citation needed], which in turn was taken over by the Cowie group.[1][4]

Cowie was renamed Arriva in August 1998 and Southend Transport was renamed Arriva serving Southend as part of this rebranding. Although the 'serving Southend' local identity caption has now been phased out,[5] it can still be seen on the sides of some of their buses.

On January 28, 2000, the original Southend garage at 87 London Road dating from the foundation of Southend Corporation Transport was closed and demolished shortly afterwards, with a new one constructed in Short Street, Southend-on-Sea.[6] The old London Road site is now occupied by a retail park.

Arriva Southend had continued the service X1 coach service to London inherited from Southend Transport, latterly as the Green Line 721 service.[7] In 2001 operation of route X1 was taken over by Stephensons of Essex, which withdrew it in July 2008.

A restructuring in 2002 saw overall control of Arriva Colchester and Arriva Southend pass to Arriva Southern Counties from Arriva East Herts & Essex.[5]

On 30 March 2008 both commercially run services from the Grays garage (routes 373 and 383) were withdrawn, with the buses used for these services moving to Southend garage. The Grays garage now only operates the Transport for London (TfL) contracted services.[5]

Criticisms

Arriva Southend has been criticised by users and the Southend Area Bus Users' Group for withdrawing services which it considered no longer economically viable due to low passenger numbers (even when parts of the route were profitable) when Southend Borough Council withdrew bus subsidies of up to £6 per passenger in 2005.[8] On 21 January 2008 Southend Area Bus Users' Group and Councilor Steve Aylen successfully campaigned for improvements to Service 6A[9] after having been withdrawn in 2005.[10] On 31 March 2008, service 7 was extended at the suggestion of Great Wakering Parish Council and the Rochford Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, who are subsidising the service.[11] The company trials the operation of new services to gauge service demand,[12][13] and makes services permanent if there are enough passengers to support them being run.[14]

It has also been criticised by Southend Borough Council for the age of its bus fleet, as some of its buses are nearly 20 years old and many do not have low-floor, easy-access step-free entry[15] which is important for older people, as Southend has an ageing population with the most senior citizens in the country, although most areas do not have full low-floor networks yet, and buses are built to have working lives of about 20 years.[16] Arriva Southend did introduce some new Dennis Trident 2 Alexander ALX400 low-floor double-decker buses branded for use on services 7 and 8 in 2000, but they were subseqeuently redistributed to Arriva Maidstone[17] and Arriva East Herts & Essex in 2004/5[18] as Arriva decided that they were not getting enough passengers to justify their use. However, many of the older buses have now been replaced with more modern ones, and this process will continue over the next month to replace the remainder of the older double-deckers, although a few step entrance vehicles will remain.

Further criticism came from passengers when Arriva Southend and First Essex decided to withdraw their "Day Rover" ticket, which allowed unlimited journeys on the day of purchase on buses operated by both companies regardless of which company issued the ticket, so day tickets can now only be used on the buses of the company issuing them. They replaced it with a more expensive "Octopus" ticket which is issued by and can be used on any buses operated by Arriva Southend, First Essex, NIBS, Regal Busways and Stephensons of Essex in the Southend, Rochford and Castle Point districts, covering more bus operators and a wider area of Essex.[19]

On 8 February 2009, Arriva reduced the frequency of services 7 and 8 to some areas, which angered some residents in Hockley and Hawkwell, as it made it very difficult for them to get to and from Southend Hospital and Clements Hall Leisure Centre on time due to the 7 and 8 either running very late in the Shoebury area, or buses turning back before reaching their terminating point.[20][21] The move also dismayed Rochford councillors.[22] The Hockley Residents' Association also said that the figures for low customer numbers used to justify the frequency reduction were flawed.[23] After receiving numerous complaints from Hockley residents, on June 7, 2009 Arriva Southend extended some service 7 buses to Hockley Spa instead of terminating at Ashingdon Schools. It is likely that this extra service is now going to stay after a review in December 2009.[24] Hawkwell residents then sent further complaints to the Essex County Council about service 8 not having evening services after 6:30pm since 2002. They demanded that one of the service 7 evening buses to become an 8 and divert to Hawkwell. Essex County Council said it would not be possible to add an evening service to service 8.[25] Arriva Southend have also been criticised for running all of their services in the Shoeburyness area via Asda, after they changed the route of Service 1 to run through Asda instead of Elm Road.[26]

Arriva Southend has started using an "undercover passenger" scheme to attempt to better understand problems and complaints with the changes they have made to their services, encouraging passengers to participate by offering them a week's free bus travel for rating the services they use.[27]

From 2 May 2010, with the help and funding of Essex County Council, all Arriva service 7 buses extended to run to Hockley Spa instead of Ashingdon Schools every 10 minutes. Service 8 has returned to running twice an hour (one to Hockley Spa, the other to Rayleigh Station) instead of the previous one bus an hour.[28]

There has been crictism from passengers frequently using Service 29, which was merged with Service 13 to provide a through service from Belfairs to Temple Sutton since March 27 2011. The route merger resulted in drivers not given sufficient time to complete the whole route, which has caused buses to turn back before reaching their terminating point, missing out certain bus stops and leaving passengers stranded from over 45 to 90 minutes to wait for the next Service 29.[29]

Current services

For a list of all bus services in Essex please see List of bus routes in Essex.

A majority of services on most routes are operated using low-floor easy-access buses, as indicated by the access icon Disabled access.

Route From To Via Notes
1 Disabled access Shoeburyness, Blackgate Road Rayleigh Rail Station North Shoebury, Thorpe Bay, Bournes Green, Southchurch, Southend, Leigh, Hadleigh, Thundersley
4 Disabled access Southend Travel Centre Landwick Police Lodge Southchurch, Bournes Green, North Shoebury, Great Wakering The 4 does not run on Sundays as service 4A runs instead (see below).
4A Disabled access Southend Travel Centre Landwick Police Lodge or Shoeburyness East Beach Southchurch, Bournes Green, Great Wakering The last journey Monday to Saturday, and all Sunday journeys, go to Shoeburyness East Beach as a 4A service instead of Landwick.
5 Disabled access Southend Travel Centre Basildon Bus Station Leigh-on-Sea, Hadleigh, Thundersley, New Thundersley, Pitsea
6A Disabled access Belfairs, Woodcutters Leigh Rail Station North Leigh Service operated during peak hours and Tuesdays only.
7 Disabled access Shoeburyness, Renown Rayleigh Rail Station North Shoebury, Thorpe Bay, Southchurch, Southend, Prittlewell, Southend Hospital, Southend Airport, Rochford, Golden Cross, Ashingdon, Hockley Runs past Shoeburyness Renown to Great Wakering Church and Little Wakering Corner on Mondays to Saturdays. Evening service run by Stephensons of Essex from 31 August 2010 with a revised timetable. Serves Southend Airport.
8 Disabled access Shoeburyness, Renown Rayleigh Rail Station North Shoebury, Thorpe Bay, Southchurch, Southend, Prittlewell, Southend Hospital, Southend Airport, Rochford, Golden Cross, Hawkwell, Hockley Evening service run by Stephensons of Essex from 31 August 2010 with a revised timetable. Serves Southend Airport. R
9 Disabled access Shoeburyness, East Beach Rayleigh Rail Station North Shoebury, Cambridge Town, Thorpe Esplanade, Southend, Prittlewell, Southend Airport, Nobles Green, Eastwood Serves Southend Airport.
10 Disabled access Paglesham Eastend, Plough and Sail Pub Rayleigh High Street Canewdon, Ashingdon, Lower Hockley, Hullbridge Service runs on Wednesdays only. (Hail and ride throughout.)
18 Disabled access Eastwood Woodcutters Pub Eastwood Woodcutters Pub Stroud Green, Hawkwell, Hockley, Ashingdon, Golden Cross, Stroud Green Circular service, runs on Fridays only.
29 Belgrave Road Temple Sutton Belfairs, North Leigh, Westcliff, Fairfax Drive, Southend Travel Centre, Sutton Road, Cluny Square
44 Disabled access Lakeside Bus Station Grays Bus Station Uplands Estate, Garrison Estate, Purfleet, West Thurrock Service runs on Sundays only, weekday and Saturday service provided by Ensignbus. Operated under contract to Thurrock Council.
66Disabled access Romford Station Leytonstone Station Little Heath, Newbury Park, Gants Hill, Redbridge, Wanstead Service operated under contract to Transport for London using buses from Grays garage.
200 Disabled access Lakeside Bus Station Basildon Bus Station West Thurrock, South Stifford, Grays, Socketts Heath, Stifford Clays, Orsett Hospital, Stanford-le-Hope, Corringham Service runs on Sundays only. Operated under contract to Thurrock Council.
256 Disabled access Noak Hill, Tees Drive Hornchurch, St. George's Hospital Harold Wood, Ardleigh Green Service operated under contract to Transport for London using buses from Grays garage.
346 Disabled access Upminster Station Upminster Park Estate, Waycross Road Cranham Service operated under contract to Transport for London using buses from Grays garage.
370 Disabled access Lakeside Bus Station Romford Rail Station Chafford Hundred, South Ockendon, North Ockendon, Corbets Tay, Upminster, Hornchurch, Gidea Park Service operated under contract to Transport for London using buses from Grays garage.
375 Disabled access Romford Passingford Bridge Stapleford Abbotts, Havering-atte-Bower, Collier Row Service operated under contract to Transport for London using buses from Grays garage.
401 Hullbridge, The Anchor Pub Southend Travel Centre Rayleigh Rail Station, Thundersley Woodman's Arms Pub, SEEVIC College, Hadleigh Church School bus service, runs along part of route 1 once a day in the morning on college days only.
407 Disabled access Greensward College, Hockley Shoeburyness, East Beach Ashingdon Schools, Golden Cross Post Office, Rochford East Street, Southend Airport Warners Bridge, Hobleythick Lane (for Southend Hospital), Civic Centre Victoria Avenue, Southend Travel Centre, Shoeburyness High School, Asda North Shoebury, Shoeburyness Renown School bus service, runs along part of route 7 once a day in the afternoon on schooldays only.
408 Disabled access Thorpe Bay Rail Station Shoeburyness, East Beach Morning: Bournes Green, Southchurch White Horse, Woodgrange Drive Lifstan Way, Southend Travel Centre. Afternoon: Shoeburyness High School, Asda North Shoebury, Shoeburyness Renown School bus service, runs along part of route 7/8 once a day in the morning (first half) and afternoon (second half) on schooldays only.
499 Disabled access Gallows Corner, Tesco Rush Green, Dagenham Road Harold Hill, Noak Hill, Romford, Becontree Heath Service operated under contract to Transport for London using buses from Grays garage.

Service branding

From September 2010, the main services have been colour-coded on route maps, with Service 1 dark green, Service 4 red, Service 4A light blue, Service 5 maroon, Service 6A lilac, Service 7 orange, Service 8 light green, Service 9 light pink, Service 10 dashed grey, Service 13 dark pink, Service 17 dashed dark blue, Service 18 dashed dark purple, and Service 29 sea green. In 2008, Arriva Southend began branding some of its low-floor Dennis Dart buses for specific services with red and yellow vinyl stickers, beginning with Service 29 as "the twenty-nine", then Service 13 as "…the sutton shuttle…" and Service 5 as "Basildon direct", with associated dedicated web sites for the 5 and 29. Some buses had previously been colour-coded, with Service 1 red, Service 5 dark blue and Service 9 light green. This colour-coding was retained on the timetables for these services, with Service 13 and 29 dark green, and Service 17 purple, until the new colour codes replaced them. The four Service 29 branded Darts were named by students at the Fairways Primary School in Belfairs in conjunction with the launch of the branding.[30] Service 5 branding has now been removed following the withdrawal of services to Grays and Lakeside. Services 13 and 29 have now had their branding removed, as they will be combined from Monday 28th March 2011, with Service 29 being extended to Temple Sutton to replace Service 13. Service 9 was branded "The Wave" and supplied with new, named, buses in November 2011.

Fleet

Arriva Southend currently has a fleet of 63 buses in service, including 61 single-deckers. They also have one Ford Transit staff shuttle van, one Ford Transit mechanics' van, and one forklift truck. Beginning in July 2008, some buses at the Southend depot had CCTV fitted, their roller blind destination displays replaced with scrolling LED displays, and a repaint, similar to previous mid-life refurbishments performed for Operation Overdrive. Low-floor easy-access buses are used on services on routes 1, 4, 4A, 5, 6A, 7, 8, 9, 10, 18, 407, 408, and all Transport for London services. 12 new low-emission (Euro 5-compliant), CCTV-fitted Optare Versa V1110 midibuses were bought at a cost of £1.8 million for Service 9 and entered public service on 12 November 2011, after a press launch on the previous day.[1] The two Volvo Olympian step entrance double-deckers will be replaced with low-floor double deckers during 2012 in time for the olympics. Most of the current fleet are due to be replaced with newer vehicles during 2012.

In August 2009, the last two Leyland Olympian double deckers with coach seats, 5404/5, which first entered service with Southend Transport in 1990, retired from service with Arriva Southend. Their retirement concided with a special event on Southend seafront with several vintage open-top buses running from Shoeburyness to Chalkwell. An Arriva Southend driver and bus enthusiast said: “The withdrawal of the last municipally-owned buses from the area is the end of another chapter in the history of Southend’s bus services. The Olympians have served us well and I’ll be sorry to see them go.” The Olympians were transferred to Tonbridge in Kent for use on school contract services, but were later withdrawn and sold.

Single deckers:

Double Decker:

  • 2 Volvo Olympian (due to be replaced with low-floor double deckers in 2012)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Peter Gould (1999–2005). "Southend Corporation Transport History 1901-1986". Retrieved 2008-07-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  2. ^ Shepperton. Buses: Focus on British Bus Fleets Today.
  3. ^ Mr. Freeman (July 2, 1993). "Hansard - House of Commons Daily Debates for 2 July 1993, Written Answers Column 635". Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  4. ^ Thurrock Transport (June 19, 2008). "Thurrock Transport - Southend Transport". Retrieved 2008-07-10.
  5. ^ a b c Thurrock Transport (March 2008). "Thurrock Transport - Arriva". Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  6. ^ Richard Delahoy (March 2000). "'Goodbye, London Road' - Essex Bus News, Essex Bus Enthusiasts Group". Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  7. ^ SCT'61 and Richard Delahoy (January 2, 2004). "Southend Transport - The X1 Story". Retrieved 2008-07-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Laura Smith (January 17, 2008). "Echo News: 'Pensioners want better bus services'". Retrieved 2010-02-02. [dead link]
  9. ^ Echo News (January 16, 2008). "Echo News: 'Bus group wins fight for off-peak service'". Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  10. ^ Echo News (January 23, 2008). "Echo News: 'Continue to use it, or lose it'". Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  11. ^ Michelle Archard (March 25, 2008). "Echo News: 'New late-night bus service to Wakering'". Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  12. ^ Mike Miners (May 9, 2008). "Echo News: 'New hospital bus service for patients'". Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  13. ^ Geoff Percival (April 28, 2008). "Echo News: 'New bus services for town'". Retrieved 2009-07-27.
  14. ^ "Echo News: 'Shoppers' bus has first birthday'". January 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
  15. ^ Geoff Percival (August 2, 2007). "Echo News: 'Buses are too old for town'". Retrieved 2010-02-02. [dead link]
  16. ^ Geoff Percival (November 20, 2006). "Thurrock Gazette: New bill won't help town's bus service". Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  17. ^ "BusSpotter.com: Arriva Kent & Sussex". July 21, 2005. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  18. ^ "BusSpotter.com: Arriva East Herts & Essex". July 21, 2005. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  19. ^ Laura Smith (July 15, 2008). "Echo News: 'Bus-users hit in the pocket by ticket axe'". Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  20. ^ Michelle Archard (December 11, 2008). "Echo News: 'Fury at plans to cut bus services to two an hour'". Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  21. ^ Michelle Archard (December 24, 2008). "Echo News: 'Protesters lose battle to save 2 bus routes'". Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  22. ^ "Echo News: 'Rochford councillors annoyed by cuts in no. 7 and 8 bus routes'". December 30, 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
  23. ^ John Geoghegan (February 2, 2009). "Echo News: 'Residents say bus figures are flawed'". Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  24. ^ Geoff Percival (April 4, 2009). "Echo News: 'Villagers' victory as council funds extra bus service'". Retrieved 2009-07-27.
  25. ^ John Geoghegan (April 20, 2009). "Echo News: 'Give us back our evening buses, villagers demand'". Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  26. ^ "Echo News: 'Passenger fears over Arriva shakeup'". August 6, 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
  27. ^ Geoff Percival (February 24, 2009). "Echo News: 'Bus firm seeking people to test ride services'". Retrieved 2009-07-27.
  28. ^ Arriva Southend - Services 7 and 8 timetable
  29. ^ "New bus timetable leaves us stranded (From Echo)". Echo-news.co.uk. 2011-05-02. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
  30. ^ "Echo News: Buses are easier to use". November 30, 2007. Retrieved 2010-06-06. [dead link]
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