Last update
1st January 2015

Townlink Buses (formerly SM Coaches) and Olympus Bus and Coach (including Olympian Coaches, RoadRunner Buses, Roadrunner Coaches etc.) are connected Harlow based independents.  Both are shown here, as besides ownership falling under the same family, operationally the two have been very closely linked, although a more settled and separate pattern has of late evolved between what is now Townlink Buses and the others.

The story started in a small way just post deregulation when as SM Travel, route T15, then a peak hour ECC contract linking Potter Street with the industrial area at Templefields (omitting the town centre) was taken on. The route evolved into being a commercial operation providing an all day service on Monday to Saturday serving the Town Centre, and had numerous extensions, deviations, withdrawals and reincarnations over the years. Expansion in general has been progressive for a number of years, and reached a peak in 2010 with intensive competition against Arriva and also Centrebus. Although this has retracted and settled now, they still represent a challenge to the larger and historically more dominant operators in the town. SM and Olympian have also traditionally had both private hire work and schools services, and a fair size coach fleet is also therefore maintained.

The Olympian Coaches name, after giving way to Roadrunner for bus work, re-emerged with the latest repaints of 2012, succeeding a long period of un-branded operation, but this is now once again diminished. It has always been used for coaching, contract work, and also for the London commuter services that were taken over with the Stort Valley Coaches business in 2001. Many buses do remain un-branded.

The traditional SM fleet livery was of white with maroon skirt and sign-writing, but when the SM & Olympian bus operations effectively merged a few years ago for a while, this gave way to the white with blue skirt and sign-writing livery previously carried by Olympian. By this time the name had morphed from SM Travel into SM Coaches. In November 2013 the Townlink name, once seen as more likely to have been used by the Olympian/Roadrunner operation, came to replace the branding and route and vehicle registrations almost at a stroke, practically eliminating the SM Coaches name, including on coaches. 

As far as vehicles are concerned, the volume of changes, and sometimes unusual choices, have always made for a very interesting scene. The recent building of a fleet of Dennis Dart SLF's would seen to signal a change of thinking. This may have been influenced by what would seem to have been a little difficulty in selling the more unusual fleet members.

A long-established, well equipped and fair-sized depot at Burnt Mill operates the Townlink fleet, and supports the Olympian/Roadrunner operation as well. It is packed tightly at night. An overflow parking lot at Harlow Business Park, houses much of the coach fleet, is the primary Olympian/Roadrunner operating base, and is used to store a reasonable number of non-operational vehicles of both Townlink and Olympian.

A considerable expansion in Roadrunner operations took effect from 5th November 2012 when the majority of the former Centrebus Harlow operations are assumed, adding approximately 13 vehicles to the daily run out. A progressive reduction then followed back to the 3 principal routes.

TOWNLINK ROUTES

All routes serve Harlow:
16 Harlow to Waltham Abbey - Monday to Friday commercial service. PVR 2
19/20/21 Harlow to Brentwood - major commercial trunk service, Mon to Sat. PVR = apx. 10
19A Harlow to Loughton - college and evening time commercial service PVR = 3
524/A Harlow to Hertford - Half-hourly commercial service, Mon to Sat. PVR = 2
T15/A Harlow to Potter Street circular -regular commercial town service, Mon to Sat. PVR = 2


TOWNLINK BUS FLEET

Dennis Dart SLF/Alexander ALX200 A new type to arrive in some quantity in summer 2012, 12 having entered service then, Y344FJN is a 2014 addition. Normal fleet livery and logos are carried. All are ex Stagecoach London. Front LED's have been fitted, but side and rear displays are still those inherited from the former operator, and not used.
	LX51FFW LX51FGU LX51FHA LX51FHB  LX51FHH LX51FHJ LX51FHK LX51FHL Y293FJN Y296FJN Y344FJN Y346FJN Y351FJN S461CVV S467BWC S472BWC S473BWC		LX51FFW lays over at Harlow Bus Station. This was the first in full livery, which at the time included the SM Coaches name. (R Hudson)
			Y351FJN shows the new fleet-name on the front. With neither fleet-name, or any route/destination information on the side, the vehicle does look a little bare.  (R Hudson)

Dennis/Plaxton Mini Pointer Dart SLF A batch of these vehicles started arriving with both the SM and Roadrunner fleets from November 2011, which reached 10 in total. Eight are from Go North-East, including the 3 initial SM examples. Initially three appeared in the all-over yellow of their former owner. The vehicles are now all in fleet livery, the SM examples having been completed since early after entry into service. A serious accident occurred in November 2013, V189ERG was involved and has not returned to service.
	V191ERG V193ERG		The first into fleet livery was V193ERG, seen on the 19 at Harlow Bus Station. (R Hudson).
			A rear shot of V193ERG shows the less common strip rear destination display. This is not back in use with SM at this time. (R Hudson).
			The Townlink name has now been applied, as seen on V191ERG, also on the 19 at Harlow Bus Station. (R Hudson).

Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 2 In the SM/Townlink fleet, a number of these vehicles have come and gone. Three examples moved in from Olympian in 2013. The latest arrivals in May 2014 are former Arriva vehicles.
	V808KAG Y553XAG Y554XAG S307JUA S309JUA S316JUA		V808KAG is one of the 3 moved in from Olympian/Roadrunner. It displays the new fleet-name here at Harlow Bus Station  (R. Hudson)
			Former Arriva vehicle S316JUA, one of 3 obtained in 2014, seen without fleet name at Harlow Bus Station  (R. Hudson)

OLYMPIAN COACHES & ROADRUNNER ROUTES

Within Harlow:
511/512 Harlow to Bishops Stortford & Thorley Park - significant commercial trunk service, Mon to Sat. PVR = apx. 5
R1 Harlow to Sumners & Katherines -regular commercial town service, Mon to Sat. PVR = 3
741 Bishops Stortford to London - Peak hour commuter coach service, Mon to Fri. PVR = 4
Outside Harlow:
254 Waltham Abbey - Debden Park School. School service, Schooldays, PVR = 1
255 Waltham Cross to Debden via Loughton, Mon to Sat regular commercial service. PVR = apx. 6.
311 & 312 - Waltham Cross to Hertford, HCC Sunday contract services (plus one evening journey on 311).
 


OLYMPIAN COACHES & ROADRUNNER BUSES BUS FLEET

Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer II The plentiful supply of this type of vehicle, many cascaded from London, has meant that there has been a reasonably significant throughput of examples coming and going over the years, with most of those shown below having been in the fleet for less than a year. The Olympian/Roadrunner vehicles have generally carried no fleet name for a lot of that time, but last year a number gained OlympianCoaches.co.uk branding.  The "NLK" and "NLO" batches were obtained for the assumption of the former Centrebus Harlow operations since largely discontinued, and have been observed with smart custom blinds and also retain their centre exit doors, although these are not used in service.
	Y161NLK Y237NLK Y653NLO Y662NLO Y664NLO Y667NLO Y669NLO Y862TGH  Y907TGH Y971TGH Y542XAG V787FKH		P301AYJ (since departed) sits at Harlow bus station demonstrating the new branding.  (R. Hudson)
			From the newer batches, Y161NLK and Y669NLO are in service on the C3, a route now operated by Trustybus. Note the dual-doors. (R. Hudson)

Dennis/Plaxton Mini Pointer Dart SLF The Mini Pointer Dart effectively become the standard RoadRunner bus until the fleet increase that came about following the Centrebus takeover, with no less than 8 in service in 2012. Six originated with Go North East and entered service in yellow, all since repainted. The next 2 started with Arriva Northumbria whilst the final addition came from TWH. Blue and white livery and the OlympianCoaches.co.uk fleet-name is carried on all but the latest acquisitions. There are two similar vehicles in the Townlink fleet.
	V188ERG V196ERG V729DNL V749ECU X507WRG		Showing full fleet livery with dot matrix displays retained and working in all 3 positions. The vehicle is pictured on SM's route 20. (R Hudson)
			Former TWH bus X507WRG sits at the dreary Debden terminus of the 255, with sister vehicle, Trustybus' X501WRG in the background. (R Hudson)

 
SM COACHES COACH FLEET

OLYMPIAN COACHES COACH FLEET
 

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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