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The major "big group"
operator in the town and the largest player,
the local Arriva operation has its roots in the old
London Transport country
bus network. Its garage lies close to the town centre and is one of only
two original former London Country garages remaining operational. After being London
Country North East, County Bus was formed where Harlow was the head office.
A short spell under West Midlands Travel ownership, then onto being part of the Cowie group, which transformed into
Arriva. In 2010 management responsibility within Arriva changed to the TGM group,
which was accompanied by the and introduction of the Network Harlow
name and dark blue livery for local services together with the SX Connect name for out of town services 59 and 509/510 (along with the 133 at Stansted).
In 2016 this reversed with the transfer of management responsibility to
the Arriva Kent Thameside part of the business and the Network Harlow and SX
Connect names
have been dropped and more usual Arriva liveries have returned once
again with only a single exception remaining.
The services operated, much reduced from their peak, include
a mixture of both town and country routes. Most services are operated commercially
during Monday to Saturday daytime,
although most evening journeys and Sunday services operate under contract to Essex County Council
or receive other financial support. Good efforts have always been made to market the
network. Service leaflets are available from the travel office in the
bus station and a website with route diagrams and local timetable
information is available at www.arrivabus.co.uk/harlow/
After a long period where there was a wide-range of fleet types and some fluidity almost each
month, in 2016 this became much more settled with just 4 types remaining
in service. This as grown again a little with some of the other types which
are typical in the Arriva Kent Thameside fleet coming and going, for the
short or long term, as needed.
The most recent development to take
place, effective 3rd August 2018, was the assumption of three commercial
routes formerly operated by EOS, being the 66, 86 and 87. Seven vehicles
were corralled for the start and no EOS vehicles were borrowed or bought. As
soon as September though, the 66 was transferred to Ware and with that most
of the acquisitions moved on.
Fleet
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 45
An attempt was made in late 2017 to reintroduce
minibuses in a number of areas where Arriva Kent Thameside operate. By
all accounts these were not popular and in many cases they have quite
quickly been stood down or scattered elsewhere around the fleet. Two
arrived in Harlow in Spring 2018 and took up service on the 6/8 town
services, often 1 of the 2 vehicles allocated. One (1015) remained operational
throughout the summer whilst the other (1010) has now returned following
a period of operation elsewhere. |
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BF67WGE BF67WGN
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Operating with a route card in the
window, 1015 is seen at Harlow Bus Station. (R Hudson) |
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Identical twin 1010 is also seen at
Harlow Bus Station and shows the nearside aspect. (R Hudson) |
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T |
Alexander-Dennis Enviro200MMC
A fleet of brand new vehicles took over routes 508/509/510
in 2017. The first vehicles were noted in the area in mid-June with the first
noted entry into service being Monday 19th June with all 12 (4076-4087) in service by
28th June. They are B45F and carry route branding. 4084/5/7 were
unbranded for around 1 year from entry into service but were dealt with
earlier in 2018. They regularly stray onto other routes, especially the 9, 10 and
724.
Two additional
vehicles of this type arrived concurrent with the EOS commercial
route take-up in summer 2018 but both have since left. |
4076 |
4077 |
4078 |
4079 |
4080 |
4081 |
4082 |
4083 |
4084 |
4085 |
4086 |
4087
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YX17NGJ |
YX17NGN |
YX17NGO |
YX17NGU |
YX17NGV |
YX17NGY |
YX17NGZ |
YX17NHA |
YX17NHB |
YX17NHC |
YX17NHD |
YX17NHE
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Just prior to entry into service, 4078
shows the updated lighter blue livery, WIFI/USB charging capability
and route branding with rather limited detail. (R Hudson) |
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In service is 4081, with branding but
with LED display not functioning when captured. (R Hudson) |
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Optare Versa
An upgrade for the 59 in November 2008
brought 2 brand new vehicles to a service that was hitherto run using
a pair of Solos that were just 4 years old. Both examples, 4198/9
(YJ58PFY/Z) left the fleet in 2018.
In January 2015 6 further
examples arrived from the Medway area (4230/1/6/7/8/9) to replace the remaining fleet of Volvo B6LE's.
These becaame the primary allocation on town services 2 and 3.
During
summer 2015 a number of loans appeared including 4203, 4204, 4210 and
4213. None remained operational into October 2015.
The fleet strength
was expanded to its maximum, 10, by the addition of 4228 and 4232, also from within
the Kent Thameside fleet. Some have since left. |
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4228 |
4230 |
4231 4232
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4237 |
4238 4239
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KX62JTV |
KX62JVW |
KX62JWF KX62JWG |
KX13DHG |
KX13DHJ KX13DHK
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Recently arrived at Harlow is
a pair including 4232, showing Maidstone to Faversham route 333 branding
(since removed). (R Hudson) |
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The new
intake in service on town route 4 just ahead of the full conversion of
the 2 and 3 routes. The arrival of these vehicles heralded the rebirth
of the full Arriva branding for the Harlow network. (StevoJ3026) |
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Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse
Urban
These were the fleet that was essentially dedicated to the
508/509/510, the 510 having been converted to the type on 6th December
2004 in a dedicated branded livery. Gradual frequency increases saw more vehicles joining the fleet, some new, others not. For a while
the original livery was replaced by SX Connect deep blue but standard
inter-urban without branding became the norm in 2016. The most recent vehicles
to join the fleet were 12 examples of the "11" registered batch which transferred
from Ware in August 2016 where they had previously operated on the 310
(Herford to Waltham Cross). These entered service with 310 branding
(3883 still has it, August 18!).
Fleet examples visited the 10 and 724 services frequently.
Following
the arrival of the E200MMCs in June 2017, the majority of the fleet
moved out to Stevenage with just 4 remaining, the 10 being their
residual mainstay. This was boosted in December 2017 for the expansion of
route 9 and the fleet size increased with some of the originals
returning. In Spring 2018, 3815 and 3820 joined the fleet from Kent. The
latter is the
only vehicle in the fleet to carry Arriva MAX livery. |
3815 3820 3856 3857 3859 3874 |
3881 |
3882 3883 |
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GN07AVB GN07AVG KE54LNR KE54LPC KE54LPJ KE57EPC |
KX11PZY |
KX11PVD KX11PVE |
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A dedicated livery for the 510 was
introduced many years ago when two Optare Deltas and two standard
(high-floor) Darts
were the dedicated fleet. This was elaborated with the arrival of this
fleet in 2004, but has now been swept away with the repaints of 2016.
3874 sits in the bus station showing the present livery offering, including the
warning about falling prices. (R Hudson) |
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The 2016 intake of 2011 former 310 batch is represented here by 3876
(since left).
The 310 branding was still in place when seen here on the 510. (R Hudson). |
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A recent addition, once a fastway-liveried vehicle used at
Bluewater, but latterly on other local services in Kent, 3820
demonstrates MAX livery. It's seen here standing
in for an MMC on the Stansted-Harlow group of routes. (R Hudson). |
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3815 is seen at Harlow Town Station on the recently-introduced
extension of hourly journeys on the 10 to Hertford. (R. Hudson) |
Optare Solo
It took from the very earliest intake until November 2009
for Harlow to have a fully standard minibus, but the Optare Solo
finally conquered all, even if there area lot less minibuses than there
once were. A
number of batches entered service progressively from June 2004. A reduction in the number of
Solos in the fleet took place with the transfer of the 251 (and 250) to Ware in
September 2009.
In May 2011 the first two vehicles received
Network Harlow livery, completion of this exercise taking until
September 2012. This process started to be reversed in June 2015 with
1474 and then 1453 in August returning to Arriva livery. The pace of
this change stepped up in 2016 and now just one vehicle, 1454, remains operating with this livery.
All of the Harlow-based
Solos had their
fleet numbers changed from the equivalent number in the 2xxx series
during December 2013 or January 2014. A former deserter, 2488, which
returned in December 2017, escaped the renumbering.
1453/4/6/7/8
and 1466/7 are
M880's, whilst the others are M950's except 1517 which is an M920.
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1453 1454
1456
1457
1458
1459
1460
1466
1467 1507 1517 |
YJ06FXS YJ06FXT
YJ06FXV
KE04PZF
KE04PZG
KE54OSU
KE54OSV
KE55KTD
KE55KTC YJ57EJN YJ07VPY |

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Freshly repainted back to Arriva
livery, 1474 is seen on a version of route 6 which operated until 10th
April 2016.
(R Hudson)
1454 is the last remaining Solo
operating in Network Harlow livery. It is seen here on route 8. (R
Hudson) |
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The nearside aspect is shown on
1453 at the bus station. (R
Hudson) |
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T15 replacement route 9 is illustrated
by relatively recent incoming vehicle 1507. (R
Hudson) |
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Routes
Route |
Principal vehicle type |
Vehicle requirement
(Mon-Fri) |
Vehicle requirement
(Saturday) |
1 |
Optare
Solos |
2 |
2 |
2 and 3 |
Optare
Versas |
6 |
5 |
4 |
Optare
Solos or Volvo/Wright Eclipse Urbans. |
2 |
2 |
6 |
Optare
Solos. |
0 (interworked with route 8) |
0 (interworked with route 8) |
8 |
Optare Solos. |
2 |
2 |
9 |
Volvo/Wright Eclipse Urban
vehicles. |
3 |
3 |
10 |
Volvo/Wright Eclipse Urban
vehicles. |
3 |
3 |
59 |
Optare Versa's. |
2 |
2 |
86 |
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1 |
- |
87 |
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2 |
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308/9 |
. |
1 |
1 |
508/9/10 |
Alexander-Dennis E200MMCs. |
12 |
12 |
724 |
Mercedes Citaros. |
7 |
7 |
Please note that this is an unofficial site, and whilst
every effort has been made to ensure the information is accurate and up to date, no claims
can be entertained for losses caused by any errors or omissions here, or through any
shortcomings on the part of the operators themselves. We would be grateful if any errors
could be notified to us, in order that we can make a prompt correction. Any suggestions,
comments or other forms of feedback are most welcome by
e-mail. This site
acknowledges the support provided by local operators, but is not directly
linked with any operator.
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