The major "big group" operator in the town, and far and away the dominant player "Arriva The Shires & Essex", has it's roots in the old London Transport country bus network. Its' garage lies close to the town centre, and is one of only two 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 ownership, then onto being part of the Cowie group, which transformed into today's Arriva. 

The services page gives details of the comprehensive route network which includes a mixture of both town and country routes. Most services are operated commercially, although some journeys operate under contract to Essex County Council, particularly evening journeys and Sunday services. Good efforts are made to market the network, and there is a clear emphasis on running advertised services in accordance with timetables.

There is a solid core of vehicles which have had Harlow as their home since new or for many years, although there is some fluidity almost each month. These changes, combined with the variety of vehicle types, provide for quite an interesting picture for the enthusiast. Although little could truly be considered a "strange visitor", admirably, some efforts are made with consistency of vehicle type allocation to particular routes (see table below). All vehicles are now in corporate livery, and some have the addition of route specific promotional branding, as can be seen below.

Vehicles from Ware are often seen in the garage for maintenance; and through this some of them do see service locally on occasions during the week. The Sunday town network is operated by Ware.

A corporate website with route diagrams and much local timetable information is available. WWW.ARRIVABUS.CO.UK

Please click on the thumbnail images for the full size view.

Fleet

FULL SIZE BUS FLEET

MINIBUS FLEET

ROUTE ALLOCATIONS

Optare Versa A surprising 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. The arrival of this new class of vehicle means that brand new fleet investment has taken place at Arriva in Harlow in each of the last 5 years.
2406 2407	YJ58PFY YJ58PFZ		A little ghost-running preceded the introduction of the Versas at Harlow. Here 2407 waits in the bus station on test, whist the Solo immediately behind is the actual service bus. (R Hudson)
			Full route branding is carried on both sides of the vehicle, as illustrated by this off-side shot at the bus station. (R Hudson)
			And for completeness, the rear view. (R Hudson)

Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse Urban Five years on from the purchase of the previous batch of new full size single deck vehicles in 1999 (see below), the Volvo/Wright combination features again. Both chassis and body have been upgraded, and LED displays now feature. The vehicles are principally dedicated to the 510, which was essentially converted to the type on 6th December 2004. Two further additions, to support a frequency increase on the 510, were added in late 2007.
3856 3857 3858 3859 3860 3873 3874	KE54LNR KE54LPC KE54LPF KE54LPJ KE54HHF KE57EPA KE57EPC		On its' first day in service, 3859 clearly illustrates the route branding and LED displays as it pulls into the stop at Old Harlow Post Office. (R Hudson)
			An interior shot shows the modern and bright traveling environment provided on these vehicles. High standards of interior cleaning and maintenance also enhance the experience (R Hudson)
			A range of logos and brand messages adorn the rear of the vehicle. (R Hudson)

Volvo B6LE/Wright Crusader Purchased by Sovereign for the 300/1 cross-Hertfordshire services, following a 2009 upgrade, two (so far) surplus vehicle have been moved to Harlow.
3241 3249	R602WMJ R606WMJ			Fitting in well alongside the later Crusader-2's that have been operating the 500 for 10 years 3249 is seen leaving the bus station. (R Hudson)
				3241 carries the smarter and refreshing inter-urban livery. (R Hudson)

Dennis Dart/Plaxton Pointer The Dart story at Harlow started when nine 9.8m long examples were purchased new to Harlow under County Bus, and numbered DPL406-414 (later 3356-64). The last of these has just recently ceased service. A similar batch of 9m long examples (formerly DP318-DP322, later 3368-72) were purchased new for LT route 256 at Grays and later moved to Harlow; 3100 and 3413/4 are more recent additions.
3413 3414	P833HVX P334HVX		Darts with Plaxton Pointer bodies have long been part of the Harlow scene. Sign-writing was carried on 3356 for route 251 (since removed) when seen here, however, the vehicle is seen on this occasion on the Sumners and Katherines service 1. (R Hudson)
3368 3369 3371 3372	K318CVX K319CVX K321CVX K322CVX		3371 has morphed into being the Arriva cool bus. This travel around local schools promoting responsible bus travel but no longer sees revenue-earning service. (R Hudson)

Dennis Dart 9m/Northern Counties This vehicle started life when Kentish Bus were being particularly successful in winning contracts in South East London. It is actually a Ware-based bus, but turns up on regular loan. Reported as sold, it is sitting out of use in Harlow garage.
3399	L119YVK		3399 out at play on Arriva's 333 service.   (R Hudson)

Dennis Dart/Wright Handybus A regular collection of Wright bodied Darts has come and gone in Harlow. Survivors 3366 and 3367 were purchased with the Wests of Woodford bus operation, with the former being another 9.8m example and the latter a 9m. Route 505 is the regular haunt for 3366, whilst 3367 has been parked out of use for some time.
3366 3367	J64BJN J65BJN		The longer of the two vehicles is seen on its regular stamping ground. High-backed seating and soft-furnished interiors make for an comfortable ride down to Waltham Abbey and Chingford, even on a 17 year old bus.  (R Hudson)

Mercedes Citaro A fleet of vehicles dedicated to Green Line 724, and which carry an appropriate livery. These vehicles, newly introduced in August 2006, are partly allocated to Ware depot for the same purpose. All can be seen at Harlow, and so the whole class is shown for completeness. A further additional vehicle was added in 2008.
3901 3902 3903 3904 3905	BU06HSD BU06HSE BU06HSF BU06HSG BU06HSJ	3906 3907 3908 3909 3910	BU06HSK BU06HSL BU06HSN BU06HSO BK58URL
Two images taken during the first week of service, and showing all four aspects of the vehicles. (R Hudson)

VDL SB120/Wright  Based at Ware, but featuring not infrequently on the 724 are examples of this small batch of vehicles.
3830 3831 3832	KE04CZF KE04CZG KE04CZH		The driver of 3831 chooses to focus on the photographer rather than the road ahead as he sets off on the long haul to Heathrow. (R Hudson)

Minibus Fleet

Optare Solo It's taken from the very earliest intake until November 2009 for Harlow to have a fully standard minibus, but the Optare Solo has at last conquered all. A number batches have entered service progressively since June 2004, and there is variety in vehicle length. Town presence is mainly on the 6, 7, 8 and 333, and also on evening services. Out of town, services 541/2/3 and 251 are also from HA by Solos. It is noteworthy that Harlow's Sunday services are operated by similar vehicles, but from Ware depot, shown here with a 'w'.
2453 2454 2455 2456 2457 2458 2459 2460 2465 2466 2467 2464w 2462w 2461w 2463w 2473 2474 2483 2484 2485 2486 2487 2488	YJ06FXS YJ06FXT YJ06FXU YJ06FXV KE04PZF KE04PZG KE54OSU KE54OSV KE55KTJ KE55KTD KE55KTC KE55KPG KE55FDF KE55FDG KE55KPJ YJ56ATY YJ56ATZ YK07BCZ YK07BEO YK07BEU YJ57EJF YJ57EJG YJ57EJK		Fresh into service, 2459 illustrates the then new order on the 59, including a limited amount of route branding.   (R Hudson) A number of vehicles have recently had "block" side adverts applied, such as 2456 for Subway restaurants. 2457 carries a similar advert. (R Hudson)

Routes

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