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.
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First Essex
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martin2345uk
Established Member
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.
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Exactly my experience the only time I've tried to catch a bus from Chelmsford bus station. I walked instead.
vla50
Member
Given First's ongoing efforts to standardise their fleets, will the Geminis at Hadleigh eventually bow out and leave?
aswilliamsuk
Member
- Joined
- 10 Jul 2016
- Messages
- 337
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.
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
Member
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).
www.flickr.com
First Essex 47521 SN64CMV
Freshly painted into Ultraviolet livery. First Potteries AG depot, 01.03.25
www.flickr.com
G760XRE
Member
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
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!
www.firstbus.co.uk
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...
What was the 61 and became the S1 will now become the 51! How to keep your passengers on their toes!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...
aswilliamsuk
Member
- Joined
- 10 Jul 2016
- Messages
- 337
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.
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.