Supported bus services in Essex

Essex County Council is a significant investor in local bus services which support safer, greener and healthier alternatives to the car but only around 15% of the services in Essex are supported by the taxpayer – the remaining are commercially operated.

In 2025 Essex County Council consulted on 41 local bus services to enhance or make changes to services. Below is the outcome of the recent Procurement round. These changes will come into affect on Sunday 26 July 2026.

Service number	Origin	Destination	Days of operation	District	Current operator	New Operator	Service changes
2 / 2A	Clacton	Mistley	Monday to Saturday Except Public Holidays	Tendring	Konectbuses	No Change
4 / 1B	Jaywick/ Clacton	Great Clacton / Holland on Sea	Monday to Saturday Evenings	Tendring	Konectbuses	No Change
6 / 6A	Clacton	Point Clear	Monday to Saturday Evenings	Tendring	Konectbuses	No Change
7	Hockley	Rayleigh	Monday to Saturday Evenings	Rochford	First Essex	Arriva Kent Thameside	Revised timetable
7 / 7A	Bishops Stortford	Stansted Airport	Monday to Saturday	Uttlesford	Stephensons of Essex	Central Connect	Revised timetable
9	Basildon	Brentwood	Monday to Saturday	Basildon / Brentwood	First Essex	NIBSbuses
10	Shotgate / Wickford	Basildon	Monday to Saturday Except Public Holidays	Basildon	Central Connect	No Change
12	Wickford	Billericay	Monday to Saturday	Basildon	Central Connect	NIBSbuses
14	Southend	Great Wakering	Monday to Saturday Except Public Holidays	Rochford	Stephensons of Essex	No Change
14	Harlow	Pinnacles	Monday to Saturday	Harlow	First Essex	Stephensons of Essex	Revised timetable & Days of operation Monday to Friday
15	Marks Tey	Marks Tey	Monday to Friday Only	Colchester	First Essex	Stephensons of Essex	Revised timetable
15 / 15A	Harlow	Waltham Cross Abbey	Monday to Saturday Except Public Holidays	Harlow	Central Connect	No Change
16	Wethersfield	Chelmsford	Monday to Saturday	Chelmsford / Uttlesford / Braintree	Konectbuses	No Change
17	Debden	Loughton	Monday to Saturday	Epping Forest	Central Connect	Stephensons of Essex
17 / 18	Great Dunmow	Chelmsford	Thursday, Friday & Saturday	Chelmsford / Braintree	J W Lodge	No Change
21	Ongar	Brentwood	Saturday Only	Brentwood	NIBSbuses	No Change
28	Harlow	Harlow	Monday to Saturday Evenings	Harlow	Central Connect	No Change	Revised timetable & Days of operation Monday to Friday evenings
31	Harlow	Coopersale	Monday to Saturday Except Public Holidays	Harlow	Central Connect	No Change
34	Saffron Walden	Saffron Walden	Tuesday and Thursday Only	Uttlesford	Stephensons of Essex	No Change
40	Witham, Ebenezer Way	Witham, Town service	Monday, Wednesday, Saturday	Braintree	Konectbuses	No Change	Revised timetable & extended route to Aldi
45	Bradwell	South Woodham Ferrers	Monday to Friday	Chelmsford / Maldon	Central Connect	Stephensons of Essex	Revised timetable
48	Temple Grove	Pleshey	Monday to Friday Only	Chelmsford	Stephensons of Essex	No Change	Revised timetable
50B	Colchester	Colchester	Monday Only	Colchester	First Essex	No Change
53A	Colchester	West Bergholt	Monday to Saturday Evenings	Colchester	First Essex	No Change
60/60A	Southend	Paglesham	Monday to Saturday Except Public Holidays	Rochford	Stephensons of Essex	No Change
63	Rayleigh	Great Wakering / Landwick	Monday, Wednesday & Friday	Rochford	First Essex	Stephensons of Essex	Revised timetable & Days of operation Monday, Wednesday & Friday only
69	Colchester	East Mersea	Tuesday Only	Colchester	First Essex	No Change
74B	Clacton	Colchester	Monday to Saturday Evenings	Colchester	Konectbuses	No Change
79	Colchester	Tiptree	Friday Only	Colchester	First Essex	No Change
85 / 92	Colchester	Tollesbury / Layer Breton	Wednesday Only	Colchester	First Essex	No Change	Revised timetable and route, service 92 will be merged with 85
90	Maldon	Witham	Monday to Saturday	Braintree / Maldon	Stephensons of Essex	No Change
94 / A / B	South Woodham	Basildon	Monday to Saturday	Basildon / Chelmsford	NIBSbuses	No Change	Revised timetable
99	Chelmsford	Woodham Walter	Monday to Friday Only	Chelmsford / Maldon	Konectbuses	Stephensons of Essex	Revised timetable
102	Harwich	Colchester	Monday to Saturday Evenings	Colchester / Tendring	First Essex	Central Connect
104	Colchester	Harwich	Monday to Friday Only Except Public Holidays	Colchester/Tendring	First Essex Ltd	No Change
104	Colchester	Harwich	Saturday Only	Colchester/Tendring	First Essex Ltd	No Change
104/106	Langdon Hills	Basildon	Monday to Friday Only Except Public Holidays	Basildon	NIBSbuses	No Change
118	Parkeston	Ramsey	Schooldays	Tendring	Konectbuses	Central Connect
132	Saffron Walden	Cambridge	Sunday & Public Holidays	Uttlesford	A2B Travel Group	No Change
251	Warley	Wickford	Sunday & Public Holidays	Basildon / Brentwood	First Essex	Central Connect
305 / 315 / 325	Bishops Stortford	Stansted Airport	Monday to Saturday	Uttlesford	Central Connect	Stephensons of Essex	Services 315 & 325 will be removed
313 / 314	Great Dunmow	Saffron Walden	Monday to Saturday Except Public Holidays	Uttlesford	Stephensons of Essex	No Change
316 / 318	Stansted Airport	Saffron Walden	Monday to Saturday Except Public Holidays	Uttlesford	Stephensons of Essex	No Change
319 / 320 / 321 / 59 / 590	Haverhill	Saffron Walden/Newport	Monday to Saturday	Uttlesford	Stephensons of Essex	No Change
322 / 323 / 324	Great Dunmow	Saffron Walden	Monday to Saturday	Uttlesford	Central Connect	Stephensons of Essex
407 / 417	Harlow	Harlow	Monday to Saturday	Harlow	First Essex	Stephensons of Essex
B3	Felmores	Basildon	Monday to Saturday Evenings	Basildon	First Essex	No Change
B3	Felmores	Basildon	Sunday & Public Holidays	Basildon	First Essex	No Change
C1	Galleywood	Great Waltham	Monday to Saturday Evenings	Chelmsford	First Essex	No Change
C6	Chelmsford	Great Baddow	Monday to Friday Only Except Public Holidays	Chelmsford	First Essex Ltd	No Change
C7 / C57	Chelmsford	Galleywood	Monday to Saturday Evenings	Chelmsford	First Essex	No Change	Services will be renumbered C57 / C7E
Citi 7	Cambridge	Saffron Walden	Monday to Saturday	Uttlesford	Stagecoach	No Change
D1 / D2	Maldon	Bradwell-On-Sea	Monday to Saturday Except Public Holidays	Maldon	Konectbuses	No Change
SB28	Stisted	Braintree	Wednesday Only Except Public Holidays	Braintree	Braintree Community Transport	No Change

Whilst passenger numbers dropped significantly during the pandemic, it remains that good bus networks help people live all aspects of their lives, support the renewal of the local economy, jobs, the environment and communities by enabling people to access a wide range of services.  Bus services support equality, as they disproportionately support the travel of those on lower incomes, women, older and younger people and people with a disability.  This includes supporting access to jobs, education, training, healthcare and leisure.

Essex County Council’s Getting around Essex Strategy sets out our long‑term vision for transport across the county. It focuses on improving access to jobs, education and services, supporting greener travel, and helping communities thrive. Supported bus services play a key role in delivering this vision, particularly in areas where services may not be commercially viable.

Find out more about the Getting around Essex Strategy.

To see if your service is supported by Essex Council County please download the document here.

The Traffic Commissioner is responsible for the licensing and regulation of bus operators. Most bus services in Essex are operated by commercial transport providers without subsidy from Essex County Council. These services operate on a ‘commercial basis and may be operated by small, family-run businesses or big multi-national companies.

If you need to contact your Transport Provider you can find all there details on this page.