Connections: First 9

Here's a quick guide to our area's newest bus route and what you can use it to connect to.

First 9 runs from Warley (Eagle Way) via Brentwood and Billericay to Basildon. You can find the full timetable here.

Eagle Way bus stop on The Drive in Warley.

Here's the 9's route in Brentwood:

Discover all there is to do in Brentwood on Essex County Council's tourism website.

At Brentwood railway station (live train departures), it connects with the frequent Greater Anglia train service between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield (timetable here).

Opposite Brentwood Railway Station on Warley Road.

At Brentwood High Street, First 9 (calling at stop C) connects with several useful bus routes including TfL 498 to Romford (stop E), SM 21 to Ongar (stop B), and First 351 to Chelmsford (stop A).

Brentwood High Street stops A, B and C from right to left.

Onwards to Billericay (live train departures), from where you can catch trains (timetables) on these lines:

There are some useful bus routes from Billericay Station too. First 100 to Chelmsford leaves from stand A (as does the 9 back to Brentwood) and NIBS 222 to Wickford leaves from stand D.

The bus stops just outside Billericay Station.

Discover things to see and do in Billericay here.

After Billericay, First 9 makes its way to Basildon:

See what there is to do in Basildon here.

Basildon Railway Station (live departures) has direct trains on this route (timetable):

Basildon Bus Station has connections to many destinations, including:
Arriva 5 to Southend from stop P
First 22 to Canvey from stop Q
First 25 to Southend from stop N
First 28 to Southend from stop Q
First 100 to Lakeside from stop D
First 200 to Grays from stop E

First 9 back to Brentwood departs from stop F.

Basildon Bus Station.

If you're only going to be travelling on First buses, then use one of their own tickets. The Basildon Outer zone (for which an adult FirstDay is £6) covers the whole of route 9 and also extends to Lakeside and Southend.

If you need to use other companies' buses too, then use an £8 Essex Saver. It's valid on all buses in Essex regardless of operator (excluding Ensign X81 and journeys wholly within either Thurrock or Southend).

Plusbus tickets are valid on sections of route 9 when bought with rail tickets to/from Brentwood/Shenfield, Billericay or Basildon. Click the links to see the Plusbus zone maps.

You can explore an interactive map of all bus services in Essex here.

Click here to explore other Great British Bus Routes across Greater London and the East

Plusbus price cut for June & July

Buy a Plusbus ticket online (from participating websites only, including Greater Anglia's) for travel during June or July and it will cost just £2.

The Brentwood and Shenfield Plusbus zone is included, as are the zones of most towns and cities around the country.

Plusbus is a bus add-on ticket that you buy with rail tickets to certain stations.

Full details here.

Days out on the 21

There are several major attractions along the route of Ensign 21, not just in Brentwood. If you fancy a day out, why not consider one of these?:

Secret Nuclear Bunker. Take the 21 to Kelvedon Hatch, The Priors.

Epping Ongar Railway. Take the 21 to Ongar Station.

Find out all there is to do in Ongar here and here.

The 21 now only goes as far as Ongar. Change there to other buses to see the following:

North Weald Airfield Museum.

There are also things to discover in Epping (more here) and Harlow (more here), so what are you waiting for?

The 21 runs from opposite Brentwood Railway Station and at stops K and B on Brentwood High Street.

Opposite Brentwood Railway Station on Warley Road.

Brentwood High Street, stops A, B and C from right to left.

Two Brewers on High Street, Ongar. Buses to Brentwood on the right.

The timetable and a route map for the 21 can be found at Traveline.

If you need to use another bus to connect with the 21, then you could save money by asking for an Essex Saver ticket, which allows you to use almost all buses in Essex for a whole day for just £8.

Do bear in mind though that the 21 does not run on Saturdays, Sundays or bank holidays.

Click here to discover more Great British Bus Routes across the South East.

81, 82, 265, 498 new timetables live / First changes this weekend

Ensign Bus have finally got the details of the new timetable on the 81 and new route 82, which started today, on their website.

Just a quick reminder that First 265 to Lakeside and TfL 498 to Romford started new timetables this Saturday just gone. The 265 now goes via Grays and the 498 now extends all the way to Queens Hospital. Timetable links are in the post below.

The big changes to most First routes happen this coming Sunday. Full details in the post below. To make it easier to understand how Brentwood's buses will look after the change, here is a doctored version of Essex County Council's town map showing only those routes that will run at least hourly Mon-Sat daytimes from Tuesday 7th May:

And here is the same map showing only those routes that now run on Sundays:

BCT 228 has been left off because it won't run after the end of May.

The wonders of Warley

With changes to many First routes coming up on 5th May, many Warley residents had been worried about the planned withdrawal of routes 73A and 73B. From that date, First will be running just the 9 along the current 73 route, with only Mon-Sat evening services still being numbered 73:

The cut to the 73A will affect the following stops apart from Albert Street, which will be served by First 9 (the daytime replacement for the 73) and SM Coaches 21:

The rest of this part of the route is currently served on weekdays only by the 73A and on Saturdays by Stephensons 71 and 72. These are the current times from Uplands Road:

Brentwood Liberal Democrats today announced that the 71 and 72 will be diverted on weekdays to serve the areas that would have been stranded by the cutting of the 73A and 73B. Stephensons have already released the new timetables for the 71 and 72, which take effect from 7th May.

Talking of the 73B, here are the stops affected on the other side of Warley Hill:

and the current level of service from Warley Hill towards Brentwood:

The main First route through Warley, along Warley Hill and The Drive remains unchanged, apart from a Mon-Sat daytime route number switch from 73 to 9 and of course the accompanying timetable changes. SM Coaches 21 uses the same route and remains unchanged.

The Warley extensions to First 351 will be cut to just one bus each evening Mon-Sats.

All of the above changes are from Sunday 5th May.

The First 251 Sunday service (on which you can travel to Southend for just £2.80 return - ask for a Sunday Saver ticket!) is unchanged, but Sunday riders should take note that Brentwood Community Transport 228 will no longer run after 26th May.