Chelmsford - 6 Dec 2019

Friday 6 December 2019 (1026) – First Essex Buses 69905 (BV13 ZBG), a Volvo 7900H hybrid integral new in March 2013, seen leaving the covered bus stands at Chelmsford Retail Market. It carries branding for service 100 which links Chelmsford with Lakeside operating via Basildon and Grays on a frequency of every 15/20 minutes with a journey time of two hours.

Friday 6 December 2019 (1026) – First Essex Buses 69905 (BV13 ZBG), a Volvo 7900H hybrid integral new in March 2013, seen turning on to Victoria Road South having just Chelmsford’s Retail Market. It carries branding for service 100 which links Chelmsford with Lakeside operating via Basildon and Grays on a frequency of every 15/20 minutes with a journey time of two hours.

Friday 6 December 2019 (1210) – First Essex Buses is the dominant bus operator in Chelmsford although there are some services provided by a small number of other companies including Arriva which operates service 59 from Harlow. Seen here in the section of Duke Street near the bus station are First Essex 66799 (MX05 CCD), a Wright Eclipse Urban bodied Volvo B7RLE that was new in April 2005, and Arriva 4239 (KX13 DHK), an Optare Versa new in March 2013. I had just travelled from the University on this bus.

Friday 6 December 2019 (1014) – Two First Essex Buses Alexander Dennis Enviro200D single deckers photographed from under the low railway arch beneath Chelmsford railway station. Left is 44543 (YX13 AHZ) and right is 44537 (YX13 AEF). They were both new in March 2013. The bus station can be seen in the background. The main railway line bisects the town centre and with a height clearance of 12 feet 6 inches (3.8 metres) the arch is an obvious impediment to the operation of double deckers on cross city bus services. For some time now access under the arch has been restricted to buses, taxis, motor cycles and cycles – with signs referring to it as a ‘bus gate’. In February 2019 following a legal challenge by a car driver regarding the confusing warning signs on the approaches to and at the arch the topic achieved BBC Television news coverage. The report stated that in the previous 18 months Essex County Council had fined 54,000 drivers and yielded £1.5 million in fines from drivers passing errantly under the arch. (That’s around £27 a time)

Friday 6 December 2019 (1001) – First Essex Buses 69910 (BV13 ZBP), a Volvo 7900H hybrid integral new in March 2013, seen in passing beneath the railway arch close to the town’s rail and bus stations. It carries branding for service 100 which links Chelmsford with Lakeside operating via Basildon and Grays on a frequency of every 15/20 minutes with a journey time of two hours. The main railway line bisects the town centre and with a height clearance of 12 feet 6 inches (3.8 metres) the arch is an obvious impediment to the operation of double deckers on cross city bus services. For some time now access under the arch has been restricted to buses, taxis, motor cycles and cycles – with signs referring to it as a ‘bus gate’. In February 2019 following a legal challenge by a car driver regarding the confusing warning signs on the approaches to and at the arch the topic achieved BBC Television news coverage. The report stated that in the previous 18 months Essex County Council had fined 54,000 drivers and yielded £1.5 million in fines from drivers passing errantly under the arch. (That’s around £27 a time)

Friday 6 December 2019 (1002) – First Essex Buses is the dominant bus operator in Chelmsford and this view shows a collection of vehicles in the bus station. Prominent are two Volvo 7900H hybrid integrals new in March 2013. The other vehicles have bodywork by Wrightbus.

Friday 6 December 2019 (1001) – First Essex Buses 69903 (BV13 ZBE), a Volvo 7900H hybrid integral new in March 2013, seen in Chelmsford bus station. It carries branding for service 100 which links Chelmsford with Lakeside operating via Basildon and Grays on a frequency of every 15/20 minutes with a journey time of two hours. Note how the second letter of each word in CITY COUNTRY CONNECTIONS on the side is highlighted to depict 100.

Friday 6 December 2019 (1242) – The bus stops in New London Road, Chelmsford serve the High Chelmer Shopping Centre together with streetside shops along this street and the adjacent High Street. First Essex Buses is the dominant bus operator in the city and this view shows three of their Alexander Dennis built buses passing through. 42941 (WA56 OAO), a Pointer bodied Dart new in January 2007 to First Devon & Cornwall; 67167 (YY67 PBV), an Enviro200D MMC new in November 2016 (working service 42 to Galleywood despite its livery branding for the X30); and 44541 (YX13 AHU), an Enviro200D new in March 2013.

Friday 6 December 2019 (1231) – First Essex Buses 67195 (SN66 WKM), an Alexander Dennis Enviro200D MMC new in February 2017, wears the livery for the Chelmsford Park & Ride services. It was seen traversing Tindal Square bound for the Sandon Park & Ride site. The square is named for Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal (1776-1846), a celebrated lawyer who defended Queen Caroline of Brunswick at her trial for adultery in 1820. The square is surrounded by old and new buildings, the Shire Hall is on the extreme left.

Friday 6 December 2019 (1009) – First Essex Buses seen in Chelmsford bus station. 44915 (YX09 AHA) is an Alexander Dennis Enviro200 new in March 2009 to First Glasgow. Standing behind is 69903 (BV13 ZBE), a Volvo 7900H hybrid integral new in March 2013, that carries branding for service 100 which links Chelmsford with Lakeside operating via Basildon and Grays on a frequency of every 15/20 minutes with a journey time of two hours.

Friday 6 December 2019 (1028) – The Retail Market site in Chelmsford features a small bus loading area beneath a multi storey car park. First Essex Buses 42927 (SN05 EAF), an Alexander Pointer bodied Dennis Dart new to First Devon & Cornwall in April 2005, is seen passing through on service 51.

Friday 6 December 2019 (1003) – First Essex Buses 42934 (SN05 DZP), an Alexander Pointer bodied Dennis Dart new to First Devon & Cornwall in April 2005, is seen in the bus pull in lay-by defined as ‘Railway Station, Stand 12’, in Duke Street, Chelmsford. The bay is used for setting down only and is therefore devoid of a shelter or signage. Behind the bus is the Grade II listed ‘Anne Knight Building’ which is now the Mojo Games Bar and Restaurant. Built in 1824 as a Quaker Meeting House it was later named for the Quaker, Feminist and Suffrage Pioneer who was a native of Chelmsford.

Friday 6 December 2019 – First Essex Buses 67193 (SN66 WKP) is an Alexander Dennis Enviro200D MMC new in February 2017 which is employed on the Chelmsford Park & Ride services. It was seen here on Alan Cherry Drive on the Anglia Ruskin University Campus, a gate controlled road along which the buses travel to and from the Chelmer Valley Park & Ride site.

Friday 6 December 2019 – First Essex Buses 44661 (YX66 WBF), an Alexander Dennis Enviro200D MMC new in September 2016, seen here on Alan Cherry Drive on the Anglia Ruskin University Campus, a gate controlled bus road.

Friday 6 December 2019 – First Essex Buses 44661 (YX66 WBF) , an Alexander Dennis Enviro200D MMC new in September 2016, seen here on Alan Cherry Drive on the Anglia Ruskin University Campus, a gate controlled bus road.

Friday 6 December 2019 – First Essex Buses 67197 (SN66 WKU), an Alexander Dennis Enviro200D MMC new in February 2017, which is employed on the cross city Chelmsford Park & Ride services. It was seen here on Alan Cherry Drive on the Anglia Ruskin University Campus, a gate controlled road, when working from the Chelmer Valley Park & Ride site to the Sandon Park & Ride site.

Friday 6 December 2019 – First Essex Buses 44661 (YX66 WBF), an Alexander Dennis Enviro200D MMC new in September 2016, seen here on Alan Cherry Drive on the Anglia Ruskin University Campus, a gate controlled bus road.

Friday 6 December 2019 – First Essex Buses 67192 (SN66 WKO) is an Alexander Dennis Enviro200D MMC new in February 2017 which is employed on the cross city Chelmsford Park & Ride services. It was seen here on Bishop Hall Lane on the Anglia Ruskin University Campus working from the Chelmer Valley Park & Ride site to the Sandon Park & Ride site.