Christmas shopping on 2nd December with Ensign

Ensign have registered a new route, the X81H, which will run on Saturday 2nd December only, giving Shenfield and Brentwood a more frequent than usual direct bus to Lakeside and Grays. Timetable here.

Also on 2nd December, running that day only, is Ensign route X21 between Ongar and Upminster via Brentwood. It'll be every half hour on that day. Timetable here.

Both routes will run half-hourly throughout the day.

Blackmore to be cut off again

Ensign 61 picked up the slack in connecting Brentwood with Blackmore after Amber 261 was withdrawn at the end of last year.

Ensign stepped in from 3rd January, but have announced that the 61 is to be withdrawn from 21st July.

We'll let you know if any replacement is announced.

With a general election next week, don't forget that more cuts are guaranteed if you vote for the current shower.

261 to go: Blackmore cut off

Amber 261 is being withdrawn from 16th December, which will cut Doddinghurst and Blackmore off from Brentwood.

If there's no replacement, then Doddinghurst will have just a couple of buses a day on route 898. Blackmore fares a little better in that it has a direct link to Chelmsford with Stephenson's 32.

We'll let you if there is to be any replacement for the 261.

10th April changes

Many of our local bus routes change from Sunday 10th April. Here's a quick rundown:


Ensign 21 Brentwood-Ongar
Additional weekday early evening journey added.

Stephensons 71/72 Brentwood-Stondon Massey
Timetable changes.

First 73 Warley-Bishops Hall
Renumbered 37, with a change of route and timetable.

First 251 Warley-Southend
Curtailed to only run between Warley and Wickford. Connections available in Wickford for Southend.

First 351 Brentwood-Chelmsford
New Mon-Sat timetable.

BCT 898 Blackmore-Romford
Curtailed to only run between Blackmore and Brentwood Community Hospital. New timetable.


Most of these changes are down to cuts being imposed by Essex County Council on routes which they subsidise. The bus operators have been sluggish to publicise these changes, but you can see the new timetables on Traveline and via the Interactive Essex Bus Map

County Council revives Saturday buses to Ongar

Following Townlink's demise, the 21 from Brentwood was taken over by Ensign as a weekday shuttle service to Ongar only.

Now, Essex County Council have stepped in to maintain the Ongar link on Saturdays. A timetable should be available soon for the Saturday service, which will be operated by Ensign Bus. This will be on a trial basis, so use it or lose it if you want Brentwood to have a Saturday link to Ongar.

It's Ensign to Ongar

Townlink's license to operate has been revoked with effect from 26th February but they've chosen to leave passengers in the lurch and have already stopped running the 21.

But Ensign Bus have come to the rescue and are running a replacement 21 service between Brentwood and Ongar on weekdays only. Here's the timetable:

Updated timetable from 20th January:

Other buses are available for journeys beyond Ongar. See Traveline to plan a journey.

Townlink license revoked

Townlink Buses Ltd, which runs the 21 from Brentwood (Warley) to Ongar, Epping and Harlow, has had its license to operate revoked by the Traffic Commissioner for the East of England.

The Harlow Star has more details, but it isn't clear whether Townlink will stop running immediately or if there is a way to keep their routes, including the 21, running, perhaps by another operator.

We'll let you know as soon as we know more.

If you were planning to head to Ongar by bus tomorrow, it might be worth phoning Townlink on 01279 426266 before setting off, just to make sure they are still running.

Evening, Sunday & rural routes under threat

The Brentwood Gazette reports that Essex County Council are looking to wield their bus axe again.

This time, late evening journeys on the 73 are under threat, but all routes funded by the council will be being reviewed to see where a cut can be made. This means all evening, Sunday and rural routes in Essex are under threat.

The County Council are still consulting on what their bus priorities should be, so make sure you take part in their survey before 21st October.

The changes currently proposed for Brentwood are:
21A: Essex wants to withdraw this route leaving Brentwood with no link to Ongar after late afternoons.
73: The last bus of the evening is to be withdrawn Mon-Sats. Here's the proposed timetable for subsidised journeys on Mon-Sat evenings:

251: No more Sunday trips to Southend, as this route will be curtailed to run between Warley and Wickford only. Here's the proposed timetable:

898: It is proposed to withdraw this route from Blackmore via Doddinghurst and Brentwood to Romford.

New 9 timetable / TfL Rail lowers fares

First have released the new timetable for the 9, which will apply from 5th July. Only a few morning journeys have been retimed.

Not quite bus related, but you may have noticed that the trains from Brentwood station are now operated by TfL Rail rather then Abellio Greater Anglia. This is the first step of the transition to Crossrail.

For now, it means lower rail fares for some journeys as train travel from Greater London to Brentwood now uses the same fare scale as the tube, rather than a premium being charged for what was a National Rail service.

The line is still technically part of National Rail however, meaning a through rail ticket to or from any other railway station in the UK is still available to/from Brentwood. A paper rail ticket is still needed in order to buy a Brentwood/Shenfield Plusbus ticket.

Sunday Saver price rise

The Essex County Standard is reporting that the County Council are soon to increase the price of the Sunday Saver ticket from £2.80 to £4 for an adult.

The ticket is valid on all buses that run across Essex every Sunday and even with the price rise is one of the best value bus tickets in the whole country.

Please note that the Sunday Saver is not valid on some TfL routes that run into Essex, including the 498 to Brentwood.

The price rise takes place on Sunday 14th June. See the official announcement here.

Early evening Ongar journeys reinstated: 21A

The two weekday early evening journeys on the 21 that no longer serve Brentwood have now been reinstated, with a catch: they are subsidised by the county council and are operated by EOS. Townlink still run the commercial daytime service and it looks like EOS do not accept Townlink tickets, so if you're not a pensioner you'll have to either pay again or use an Essex Saver ticket, which is valid on both.

The reinstated journeys are numbered 21A and you can see the timetable here.

The main 21 timetable is here.

First fares to rise in January

First are putting some of their fares up from 5th January. Details here.

For us in Brentwood, it means that a FirstDay Brentwood goes up to £3.60.

FirstWeek Brentwood will be £15.

First4Week Brentwood will be £50.

A day return to Billericay on the 9 goes up to £4.40.

There's no change to FirstDay Essex, which remains at £8 - the same price as an Essex Saver which can also be used on other bus companies.

FirstDay Basildon Outer, which includes Brentwood, goes up to £6.40.

Cuts to early evening buses to Ongar

Townlink have brought in a very poorly publicised new timetable on the 21, with the last two journeys to and from Brentwood on weekdays axed. The Gazette mentioned it last month.

The last 21 towards Brentwood on weekdays now departs Harlow at 1600, Epping Station at 1629 and Ongar Four Wantz at 1650. The last weekday 21 towards Ongar and Harlow leaves Warley at 1730 and Brentwood High Street at 1742.

The Saturday timetable looks like it is unchanged.

See the full new timetable here.

Vintage buses to Upminster

Brentwood is to regain a direct bus route to Upminster... for one day only.

Ensign Bus are running some special Christmas shoppers' routes with vintage buses on Saturday 6th December. One of them is a half-hourly service on the X81 between Shenfield, Brentwood and Lakeside. The other is route X86 between Brentwood and Upminster.

See the full timetable for these one-day-only special routes here.

Gazette slams poor service from First

The Brentwood Gazette has published this article highlighting several problems with the services provided by First in our town. Route 9 is singled out as being particularly unreliable.

How do you find service levels on the routes you use regularly? Leave a comment and let us know.

Formal warning for First over punctuality

First Essex has been issued with a formal warning by the Deputy Traffic Commissioner for the East of England, Marcia Davis, for running too many services behind schedule or not at all.

The Harlow Star tells how bosses were summonsed to explain themselves after passengers complained to the Traffic Commissioner about buses not running to time. A bus is officially classed as not running to time if it:

• is more than one minute early
• is more than five minutes late
• doesn't run at all

First have pledged to improve services in Essex. The Traffic Commissioner's full written report will be out in a few days time.

Tour de France stops route 21 on 7th July

The Tour de France comes to Essex on 7th July. While it won't run through Brentwood, it will run through Epping, meaning that Townlink 21 will not be able to run on that day.

All of Brentwood's other buses will be running as normal, but there could be some disruption due to traffic caused by road closures elsewhere in the county.

Check the Twitter feeds on the right for updates on the day. More details about the Tour de France in Essex can be found here.

No cash payments on the 498 from 6th July

If you use the 498 to Romford, then please note that from 6th July, you will no longer be able to pay your bus fares using cash. This applies to all bus routes operated on behalf of Transport for London. Full details here.

Passengers needing to use the 498 and other London buses after 6th July will need to either pay using a contactless bank card or get an Oyster card. Here in Brentwood, Oyster cards can be obtained from the Nisa Metro shop at 96A High Street:

...or from Newstime at 145 Kings Road:

You can't get a new Oyster card at Brentwood railway station, but you can top up an existing Oyster card there.

In Brentwood this only affects the 498 bus. All other buses serving our town will continue to accept cash as usual.

Vintage buses from Shenfield to Ongar and Epping

The heritage Epping and Ongar Railway is running a vintage bus service from Shenfield Station to its main stations at Ongar and Epping every Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday over the summer until early October.

Travel is free for visitors to the heritage railway, but anyone can use the bus for a single fare of £2 to Ongar or £3 to Epping.

A more frequent link to Ongar runs from Brentwood in the form of Townlink 21. It doesn't however run on Sundays, so the vintage bus is definitely filling a gap in provision there.

FirstWeek Essex price cut for Catch The Bus Week

First have a special offer to celebrate Catch The Bus Week, which occurs from Monday 28th April until Sunday 4th May.

During that period, you will be able to buy a FirstWeek Essex valid on all First buses throughout the county for just £24 instead of the usual price of £30.

This will make it temporarily even cheaper than the FirstWeek Basildon Outer, valid in Brentwood, which is £25.