By Plane And Bus And Train ...

X30 Extra Thoughts

fbb is grateful to correspondent Peter for his memories of First Bus X30 via Southend Airport. His email also provoked a search for addition information which, in turn led fbb ...

... to his very own blog of 2016.

So here is correspondent Peter's pertinent paragraph.

Once upon a time, the Southend Airport bus stop was actually served by the X30 (Southend - Chelmsford - Stansted) back in the 2009-2012 era when I used it weekly to travel between home and University - not entirely sure when it stopped going into the Airport proper. Back then, it was in the hands of proper Volvo B9R / Plaxton Panther coaches and was an actual limited stop X route. 

Nowadays, it is glorified buses (Scania N250UD / E400MMC), much less express, and has two different routings in the Southend area with the same route number. 

Ah, progress.

Just for comparison purposes here is a 2016 timetable extract with all X30s running hourly via the actual airport. ...

... and today's X30 ...

... now with through journeys every 30 min, but with the hourly service via the airport no longer via the terminal; i.e. not via the airport!

As correspondent Peter says, such is progress.

But The Good News - Sort Of

Stephensons does not feature often in these blogs, but perhaps the company deserves a higher profile?

This new route is branded in the company house colours of green and white ...

... and provides for a useful link from the C2C line at Leigh-on-Sea.

The route travels via Eastwood ...

... and on to the airport.

The Monday to Saturday service is every 30 minutes with half the buses running to the burgeoning Airport business park ...

... which has burgeoned a bit more since Google (StreetView and Earth) were doing their snooping.

The other half will terminate at the currently unserved layby right next to the terminal building entrance.

The leaflet for the service is excellent ...

... with full timetables and the above route map.

The Saturday service is a generous every 30 minutes to the airport only ...

... with buses running every hour on Sundays.

The service provides some completely new links from Leigh and around Eastwood as well as serving the airport facilities.

Readers may be surprised that a small independent concern is taking a huge risk with a highly speculative service. 

Of course it isn't! 

Southend Council explains.

Southend-on-Sea City Council is pleased to announce that the new North South Bus Link (23A/23B) bus service will be operated by Stephensons of Essex, following a successful competitive tender process.

The service, funded by the Department for Transport's Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) Bus Grant, will run for an initial two years with government support, with an option of a third year and the aim of becoming a self-sustaining route in the future. The new service will be subject to the Traffic Commissioners approval.

The new route will begin on Sunday 31 August 2025 and will run at up to 30 minute intervals, serving key areas including St Laurence, Eastwood Park, Belfairs, Blenheim Park, Leigh and West Leigh. On Mondays to Fridays the route will alternate between terminating at London Southend Airport (23A) and the Airport Business Park (23B) from Leigh-on-Sea Railway Station, offering new links to schools and workplaces such as Eastwood Academy, Progress Road, Aviation Way and Southend Airport Business Park. On Saturdays and Sundays the route will operate between Leigh-on-Sea Railway Station and London Southend Airport only (23A).

To support the launch of the new service, brand-new and relocated bus stops will be installed along Progress Road and Whitehouse Road. 

Dean Robbie, Managing Director of Stephensons, commented: "We are delighted to be chosen to work in partnership with Southend City Council to operate this much-needed new local service. We will be investing in three brand new low-emission single deck buses at a cost of around £600,000, which will be especially branded for the 23A/B, and this new venture will create around seven new jobs for local people. We hope that those who have campaigned long and hard for this new service will be amongst the first to hop on board and give it a try."

Stephensons and its partner operator NIBS were previously owned by veteran bus man Bill Hirons.

He sold the companies to an Employee Buyout Company in 2016.

Well done Steiphensons for excellent pre-launch publicity!

Tomorrow we become battery powered!

 Next Record Breaking blog : Thurs 28 Aug