First Essex is a bus company operating services in the county of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

. It is a subsidiary of

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland. First Essex arose from an amalgamation of Eastern National and Thamesway Buses. First Essex was originally part of the

Eastern National Omnibus Company Eastern National was a bus company operating in south-east England, primarily in Essex, from 1929 to the 1990s. Early history Eastern National Omnibus Company commenced operating in 1929 as a joint venture between the London and North Easter ...

, founded in 1929, nationalised in 1949 and privatised in a management buyout in October 1986.Eastern National
Thurrock Transport In 1990, Eastern National was sold to

Badgerline Badgerline was a bus operator in and around Bristol from 1985 until 2003. Its headquarters were in Weston-super-Mare. Initially a part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, it was privatised in September 1986 and sold to Badgerline Holdings in a manag ...

(who became part of

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Southend Borough Council withdrew bus subsidies as part of budget cuts in 2005. First said it was due to low passenger numbers, even when parts of the route were profitable. Further criticism came from passengers when First Essex and Arriva Southend 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 that day tickets could only be used on the buses of the company that issued them. They replaced it with a more expensive "Octopus" ticket, issued by and can be used on any buses operated by companies running in the general Southend area.

Current depots

First Essex operates four bus depots in the cities of

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...

and

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

, and the towns of

Basildon Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...

and Hadleigh. The outstation at Great Dunmow has closed, with services transferring to Chelmsford depot. Harwich depot was closed in late 2013; its services are now either run by Colchester depot or have changed operators to

Hedingham & Chambers Hedingham & Chambers is a bus operator, part of the larger Go East Anglia unit within Go-Ahead, consisting of the Hedingham and Chambers brands. The group was formed when Go-Ahead purchased the two firms in June 2012. Since the sale, the tw ...

. The Braintree depot was closed in late 2015; all of its services are now either run by Stephensons of Essex (21, 30, 131, 132 - converted to 38/38A) or by the Chelmsford depot (70, 352).

Basildon (BN)

garage operates routes B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, 100, 200, 300, 1A, 9, 16, 104, 106, 552, X10 Essex Airlink, 21 (Saturdays only), 25,251 and school services 561/A, 625, 725, 825.

History

Basildon depot is located on Cherrydown East, near to

Basildon railway station Basildon railway station is on the London, Tilbury and Southend line, serving the town of Basildon, Essex. It is down the main line from London Fenchurch Street and is situated between to the west and to the east. Its three-letter station ...

. It was opened by

Eastern National Eastern National (also known as EN) is a nonprofit Cooperating Association based in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, that partners with the National Park Service in the United States. It was created by charter in 1948 to "provide quality education ...

in 1961 to replace premises at Bull Road, Vange.''Eastern National and its Predecessors – 60 Years of Service to Essex 1930 – 1990''; edited by GWH Dodson After Brentwood depot closed in 1995, Basildon ran the Brentwood town services until 1998, when they were transferred to

Harold Wood Harold Wood is a suburban neighbourhood of Romford in the London Borough of Havering. It is situated east-northeast of Charing Cross and near to the Greater London boundary with Essex. History Toponymy The name Harold Wood was recorded in ab ...

depot. When

First London First London was a bus company operating services in east and west Greater London, England. It was a subsidiary of FirstGroup and operated buses under contract to Transport for London. It was formed in the late 1990s through the acquisition o ...

took over Harold Wood in 2004, Basildon again took on the Brentwood town services until 2012, when Chelmsford acquiredthe Brentwood services with the 351 and 73 (Basildon renumbered the 551 to service 9).

Chelmsford (CF)

depot operates routes 13/13A, 14, X30 Essex Airlink, 31/B/C/D/X, 32, 35, 36/A/B/X, 37, 40, 42/A/B, 45/A/C, 46, 47, 51, 54/A/C 56/A/B/C 57/A/B/C, 70, 71/A/B/C/D/X/, 72, 73/A, 80A/C, 94C/D, 350/351, 565 and school bus services 525, 570, 620. 37, 80A/C and 565 are Brentwood town services.

History

When the old Duke Street bus depot/bus station was demolished in autumn 2004, operations moved to a new site at Westway. The site was redeveloped, with a new and much reduced bus station opening in March 2007. Chelmsford had outstations at

Great Dunmow Great Dunmow is a historic market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is situated on the north of the A120 road, approximately midway between Bishop's Stortford and Braintree, five miles east of London Stans ...

and

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced ...

until 2004. Maldon had previously been a full depot until 1993, with the MN code. On 20 October 2013, Chelmsford took over the operation of route 888 Luton Airport shuttle from

First Northampton First Northampton was a bus company in Northampton. It was a subsidiary of FirstGroup and part of the First Midlands division. It ceased operating on 14 September 2013.Chelmsford Park and Ride Chelmsford Park and Ride is a park and ride bus service operated by Vectare on behalf of Essex County Council. Two routes are operated serving two park and ride sites in Sandon and Chelmer Valley. The service was previously operated by First Ess ...

service; the contract was lost to Vectare.

Colchester (CR)

depot operates routes 1A (Sundays & evenings), 2A (Sundays & evenings), 17 (school days), 61, 62/A/B, 64/A, 65, 66/B, 67, 68, 70 (some journeys), 71/X (some journeys), 75/75A, 88/A/B, 99, 100, 102, 103, 104, 106, 174 & 175.

History

The garage in Quayside is the main garage in Colchester. It was built in 2016 to replace the old garage on Queen Street, which was on the site of the Theatre Royal that burned down circa 1917. Buses were kept in the old Colchester Corporation tram shed at Magdalen Street after it was vacated by Network Colchester in 2006. This ceased in July 2009 when the yard next door was used instead, also previously occupied by Network Colchester. First had another Colchester site at Haven Road, which was mainly used for engineering. This has since been bought by a local company that is not transport orientated; in 2015, First demolished the old timber yard (its former use) and built a new bus garage. Until 1973, Eastern National had a one bus outstation at

West Mersea West Mersea is a town and electoral ward in Essex, England. It is the larger (in terms of population) of two settlements on Mersea Island, south of Colchester. History Roman buildings and tesselated pavements close to the quayside have led to ...

, acquired from Primrose Bus Service in 1935. The building there survive, but, in 1979, it was heavily modified to become part of a new leisure centre. Service buses still terminate outside and locals still refer to it as ''West Mersea bus station''. Until 1969, Eastern National also had a one bus outstation in Victoria Place,

Brightlingsea Brightlingsea is a coastal town and an electoral ward in the Tendring district of Essex, England. It is situated between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea, at the mouth of the River Colne, on Brightlingsea Creek. At the 2011 Census, it had a pop ...

. This was acquired with the business of Berry & Sons in 1937. First Essex in Colchester no longer operates the 99,100 or 106.

Hadleigh (HH)

Hadleigh garage operates routes: 20, 21/C, 22, 27/A,63, 28 and school services 820, 822 and 827.

History

Hadleigh garage is located on London Road, just west of Hadleigh shopping centre. It is a former Westcliff on Sea Motor Services depot, controlled by Eastern National from 1955. Hadleigh took on the work of Canvey (CY) depot in April 1978. Canvey has since become a transport museum. Hadleigh further expanded its operations in 1992, after Southend (Prittlewell, PL) depot was closed. The predecessor of Prittlewell, Southend (SD) depot on London Road, closed in 1987 and has now disappeared under a Sainsbury's store.

Former depots

Braintree (BE)

Braintree garage operated routes X32, 17, 21/A, 30, 70, 131, 132, 302, 306, 318, 347 and yellow school bus service 509.

History

The former depot, on Springwood Drive, opened in April 2005. It replaced the long-standing premises on Fairfield Road, in Braintree town centre, which was redeveloped for retail/residential use. Springwood Drive was originally an outstation of Chelmsford, consisting of a secure yard and

portakabin A portable, demountable or transportable building is a building designed and built to be movable rather than permanently located. Smaller version of portable buildings are also known as portable cabins. Portable cabins are prefabricated structu ...

. There were vehicle washing facilities and fuelling, but heavy maintenance was done at Chelmsford. The portakabin had previously been at the Maldon outstation (closed 2004). In 2009, First re-opened a full depot in Braintree, behind the secure yard in Springwood Drive. This contained washing/fuelling facilities and heavy maintenance facilities, while the Secure Yard now houses the 'reserve' fleet. Fairfield Road had originally been used by Hicks Brothers, a bus operator which Eastern National took over in 1949. A house adjacent to the old depot site survives, to remind us of a link with the Hicks era.

Clacton (CN)

Clacton depot operated routes 5/B, 7/X, 8, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 74, 76 and former Harwich depot routes 3, 4, 20/A & 22A/B.

History

Clacton depot has been at Telford Road, on the Gorse Lane industrial estate, since 1988 at premises previously occupied by Coastal Red, a one-time competitor on the Tendring peninsular later bought by Eastern National. Telford Road replaced the garage at Castle Road, near Clacton town centre, which was redeveloped as flats. There was an outstation of Clacton at

Walton-on-the-Naze Walton-on-the-Naze is a seaside town on the North Sea coast and (as Walton le Soken) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district in Essex, England. It is north of Clacton and south of the port of H ...

, until May 1996. This was a small garage at Kino Road, just off the seafront, and housed 4 vehicles. Walton had the depot code of WN and was demolished in 1998, with bungalows built on the site. However, the enquiry office survives as a gift shop. The predecessor of Walton garage was Warners Iron Foundry at Naze Park Road, a building stands to this day. This had its origins with Silver Queen. The depot closed on Saturday 28 July 2018.

Great Dunmow (DW)

This outstation operated route 33.

History

Dunmow was an outstation of Braintree. It reopened in 2008, having been closed in 2004, after the new Chelmsford depot opened. It is located on the premises of Dons Coaches.

Harwich (DT)

Harwich Garage - First Essex 32810 (T810LLC), 32818 (T818LLC) and 44517 (YX09ACY)

Harwich garage formerly ran routes 3, 4, 20/A, 22A/B, 103, 104 and school services 193 & C30. The depot closed in December 2013; services 3, 4, 20/A, 22A/B were transferred to Clacton depot and services 103, 104 are now operated from Colchester. First previously continued to use the site to park buses overnight for the early morning 103/104 services, however buses now return to Colchester depot at night.

History

The depot at Harwich Bus Station, off Main Road, was opened by Eastern National in 1974. It replaced the old

Dovercourt Dovercourt is a small seaside town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Harwich, in the Tendring district, in the county of Essex, England. It is older than its smaller but better-known neighbour, the port of Harwich, and appears in ...

depot at Kingsway, whose building is now used as a public library. The DT depot code (for Dovercourt) was retained for the new premises.

Fleet

As at December 2020, the fleet consisted of 334 buses Current fleet: *Transbus Trident ALX400 *

Dennis Trident 2 The Dennis Trident 2 is a 2-axle low-floor double-decker bus chassis originally manufactured by Dennis, which was unveiled in 1997 and replaced the Dennis Arrow. It was built by TransBus after Dennis was incorporated into the group in 2001, t ...

Plaxton President The Plaxton President was a low floor double-decker bus body built at Northern Counties plant in Wigan, England and branded as a Plaxton product for its main production run. It was first unveiled in 1997 on the longitudinal Volvo B7L chas ...

* Volvo B7TL/ ALX400 * Volvo B7TL/

Wright Eclipse Gemini The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a Low-floor bus, low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus since 2001, based on the single-deck Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the ...

* Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 * Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC *

Volvo B9TL The Volvo B9TL is a low-floor double-decker bus built by Volvo from 2002 until 2018. It superseded the Volvo Super Olympian and the Volvo B7TL. The 2-axle version has been superseded by the Volvo B5TL in 2014 and the 3-axle version has been su ...

Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus since 2001, based on the single-deck Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the third-generat ...

* Scania N250UD/ Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC *

Dennis Dart SLF The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, England in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a high-floor design, In 1996 the low-floor se ...

Plaxton Pointer 2 The Plaxton Pointer (originally known as the Reeve Burgess Pointer, and later as the TransBus Pointer and Alexander Dennis Pointer) was a single-decker bus body manufactured during the 1990s by Reeve Burgess, Plaxton and latterly built by Al ...

Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro200) is a midibus that was manufactured by TransBus International and later Alexander Dennis between 2003 and 2018. The original TransBus Enviro200 design was innovative but ...

* Alexander Dennis Enviro 300 *

Alexander Dennis Enviro350H The Alexander Dennis Enviro350H was a hybrid-electric powered single-decker bus manufactured by Alexander Dennis between 2010 and 2013.Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 MMC The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC (sold as the Alexander Dennis Enviro200) is a single-decker city bus produced by Alexander Dennis since 2014, as the successor to the Enviro200 midibus and Enviro300 full-size bus. The first Enviro200 MMCs ...

Volvo B7RLE The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013. Specifications The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the B10BLE. In essence the B7RLE is the front section of t ...

/ Wright Eclipse Urban *

/ Wright Eclipse 2 * Volvo 7900 Hybrid * Wright StreetLite DF * Wright StreetLite Max

References

External links

*
Company websiteHarlowRide – Harlow Travel Information
{{Bus companies in East England FirstGroup bus operators in England Transport in the City of Chelmsford Transport in Harlow Bus operators in Essex