Essex - Central Connect Changes 13th April

UPDATE: We're delighted to confirm that A2B Travel Group and Stephensons of Essex are stepping in to provide these services from Monday 15th April 2024. Temporary timetables can be found as follows:

Route 301:

https://travelessex-production-bucket.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/cms-assets/news/301temporary-timetable-15042024.pdf

Routes 316 and 318:

https://travelessex-production-bucket.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/cms-assets/news/316-318-temporary-timetable-15042024.pdf

Routes 319, 320 and 321:

https://travelessex-production-bucket.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/cms-assets/news/319-320-321-temporary-timetable-15042024.pdf

We are sorry to advise that from the end of service on Saturday 13th April 2024 the following services will be withdrawn:

• 301 - Bishop's Stortford > Saffron Walden
• 316/318 - Stansted Airport > Saffron Walden
• 319/320/321 - Haverhill > Saffron Walden

These services have been operated under contract to Essex County Council, who provide the financial support required to sustain the routes. Unfortunately the timetables provided for the services in question have proven unachievable. Sadly our efforts to resolve those issues with Essex County Council were unsuccessful and as a result our contracts to operate the routes will finish on Saturday 13th April. 

We apologise sincerely for the short notice announcement of the contract expiry. Normal practice would be for a bus operator to publicly announce changes or cancellations to routes once those registration changes have been confirmed by the Traffic Commissioners Office. In this instance there has been an unusually long delay in receiving that confirmation.

At this stage we are unsure on who will be operating the services from Monday 15th April and can only advise that any queries related to services 301, 316, 318, 319, 320 & 321 going forward be directed to Essex County Councils Transport team.