On Monday, 17 February 2020, seven brand new buses were introduced into the First Essex fleet in a £1.9m investment to further improve public transport provision in the city and county.
The buses turned heads when they appeared for the first time on Monday at an official launch with their striking blue, silver and white brand, innovative and ultra-modern design and technical specifications, taking bus travel to another level.
The buses have been rebranded as ‘Essex Airlink’ and are destined for First Essex’s popular X30 and X10 routes, providing an interurban link from Southend and Basildon to Chelmsford and onto London Stansted Airport.
The service runs up to every 30 minutes between Stansted Airport and Chelmsford, linking Basildon and Southend a frequently as hourly. The service has become very popular with holiday makers travelling to the airport, employees working at the terminal and with commuters, students and people regularly travelling between the city of Chelmsford and the towns and villages along the length and breadth of the route.
In partnership with leading businesses and manufacturers including; Scania and Alexander Dennis Ltd, Best Impressions, Lazzerini, McKenna Brothers, Manchester Air Group (MAG) and First Essex, the new buses will go into public service from Wednesday 19 February 2020.
All seven buses are fitted with euro VI engines which have the cleanest diesel technology available helping to improve air quality across the city and county.
Steve Wickers, Managing Director at First Essex said: “I am delighted to be introducing our latest investment of £1.9m in seven brand new buses that will run on our very popular ‘Airlink’ service, running between Southend, Basildon, Chelmsford and onto Stansted Airport.
“It is exciting to see how technology, design and innovation can be used to transform bus travel and these new vehicles will certainly set a new benchmark in bus travel in terms of comfort, access, connectivity and design, combined with the current highest environmental standards”.
Marie Connell, Business Development Manager at Alexander Dennis, says: “We’re delighted to be working with First Essex on this upgrade of the X30 service. Our new Enviro400 buses will be adding extra capacity on this popular route, delivering comfortable journeys for passengers with their high specification interior, while First will be sure to enjoy the operational benefits of Britain’s favourite double deck bus.”