An Ensign Easter Egg - Trip 5th April 2021, Published - 24th April 2021

As people know, we have a very good relationship over Twitter with Essex family owned operator Ensign Bus. As the Essex native, I thought it best that I go down for the review. Now, initially the plan had been to have a few rounders on the open top 68 in Southend and base my day round Southend to just do a review on that. However, the weather had other ideas and the day turned into a rounder on the 68 and the afternoon riding Ensign's commercial fleet - the first time I had done so for a good two and a half years.

The Four Seasons - AKA a rounder on the 68!

Being based out of Chelmsford, I had two options for getting to Southend. Either get First Essex's ridiculously overpriced X30 service or, this being a Sunday Service, pay for the Sunday Saver and going Via Basildon for £4.30. The latter option was of course the better option being a student. After a ride on one of the "City-Country Connection" 100 branded Volvo 7900Hs to Basildon, a Streetlite to Pitsea and a C2C service I found myself in Leigh On Sea - the terminus of Ensign Bus's open top 68. The service was introduced in 2018 by Go Ahead London and run with their commercial fleet until Ensign took the service over in 2020. Ensign initially ran the service primarily with a former Go Ahead London Volvo B7TL chassis Wright Gemini (Now with First Eastern Counties as their 37000 for their coast cabriolet open-topper to launch this summer) and a trident chassis ALX400 - both of which I have experienced before on their end of season running day Last August so this route is not new to me! 2021 sees a standardisation of the fleet with the introduction of three Ayats Bravo bodied Open-Top Volvo B7Ls used along the route - an unusual but interesting choice of vehicle. Having enquired over Twitter about whether it would be the usual hourly timetable as advertised on the website, or if it would be an increased frequency to deal with demand, I was offered the chance to ride for free by Head Honcho Steve Newman - a very generous gesture indeed! Bus "370" was the vehicle I experienced with driver Alan ("Elvis") at the wheel and was very welcoming indeed despite the weather being the complete opposite. I decided to brave the elements and sit up top for the journey from Leigh to Southend Pier experiencing Rain, Wind, a touch of hail and even some snow (YES, SNOW!). I know how busy this service can get and, considering how atrocious the weather was, predictably it was empty. However, despite all this, the views were still nice and it is always a lovely treat to ride an open-topper. We arrived into Southend Pier at about 10:50 and I was introduced to the pier controller for the day, Micky, who was as welcoming and friendly as "Elvis" had been, sharing some banter over it being the perfect day to experience an open topper. - unfortunately, nobody agreed. I took "370" back to Leigh Station on the 11:00 run with "Elvis" and we had a chat about the service. It is fantastic to see that Ensign have such dedicated staff running this service, with "Elvis" telling me "it's the best job in the world", and Southend are very lucky to have such an amazing team running an excellent service.

My verdict!

Now, I've experienced the 68 before with Ensign so I do have past to base my verdict off of. While the weather may have dampened spirits and caused to bottle it early, it does not take anything away from the fantastic service that Ensign are renowned for. Immaculate buses both inside and out, reasonable fares, along with kind, generous staff that will go above and beyond to provide a tip-top service, you can see why on a lovely, warm day this service is VERY popular. So much so they've introduced weekend services during term-time, with two feeders out of Lakeside, after such high demand. I would definitely recommend you take the trip to Southend for this service. Sure, it doesn't have the spectacular views that the likes of Needles Breezer or Atlantic Coasters have but that is not what Southend is renowned for. There are still some lovely sights and attractions between Leigh and Southend such as the Pier and Adventure Island in Southend and the lovely beach up in Leigh to name but a few. Ensign have a fantastic product here and is worth doing come rain or shine!

https://www.southendopentopbus.com/ - Link to the 68's dedicated website.

An afternoon with Ensign

My next stop from Leigh, with a C2C train getting me there, was Grays to experience Ensign's commercial fleet for the first time in a long while. 2021 has also seen Ensign invest in their fleet in Thurrock with the introduction of Seven new Streetdeck vehicles from a cancelled Arriva Yorkshire order. The plan for the afternoon was to attempt to ride as many of these as possible alongside trying to get one of the ex YourBus Enviro 200 MMCs that was on the X80 service that was purchased a couple of years back. Streetdeck 161 was the first one I sampled on a 73A to Lakeside after purchasing a Thurrock + X80 Day Ticket for £6.50 - which may sound expensive for a Sunday Service however is good value for money especially on a weekday. With these Streetdecks being intended for Arriva Yorkshire, they are laden with E-Leather in Arriva Sapphire colours and also have USB Ports fitted to allow for phone charging - very handy for customers on a low charge. The only bit of criticism I do have on these vehicles is how much they rattle already for "new" vehicles - however that is a normal trend with Cheaply built Wright Bus products. Another thing I did note on this day was the eagerness of the majority of the drivers' driving in order to stay in line with the timetables - most of which looked very tight on paper when you consider passengers boarding and alighting. Once I arrived at Lakeside, and made use of the facilities at my disposal, I then boarded "164" back to Grays via Purfleet on Route 44 to see how one would cope on a faster route. I am not a huge fan of Streetdecks or Streetlites like many enthusiasts, however I do have to say these ones did half shift sufficiently with this driver making it into Grays in no time at all. After a quick jaunt on Olympus 120 to Lakeside Tesco, it was then time to get MMC 710 across to Greenhithe on Route X80 - the runner up of our most recent competition. These YY18 MMCs have the more superior Allison gearbox instead of Voith and made the jaunt over to Greenhithe a breeze. Although the route is better in a decker than a saloon, especially across the QE2 Bridge, this bus was perfect to meet the passenger demand for the day. Once I arrived in Greenhithe, a quick jaunt on Rail Rep up to Dartford on a Go Ahead London B9TL and then on the 96 down to Bluewater on an Enviro 400 Hybrid, it was then time to head back to Lakeside on the same MMC but this time going via the Dartford Tunnel - not as glamourous. Once I arrived into Lakeside I then had about 90 Minutes until my 100 back to Chelmsford which gave me time to ride another 2 Streetdecks on Route 73A up towards Grays (162/165) and an Olympus back to Lakeside on Route 22 (118). In between 162 and 165 however, I managed to time it right to catch something extremely rare to see in passenger service in Thurrock (that's not a "Z" Amazon route) - a ride on Tri-Axle BCI 404 just before it went on to do Amazon services for the evening. I had experienced one at the Canvey Island Rally back in 2016 when they were new however not in commercial service and, while this run wasn't busy enough to justify using a tri-axle vehicle nor could the driver get it to fit into the Uplands Estate in Purfleet, I can see why these 98-seater vehicles are perfect for the Amazon contracts and, from an enthusiasts point of view, are proper modern beasts! A perfect way to end a productive day before a two-hour slog on a Streetlite back to Chelmsford.

My verdict!

We have a very good relationship with Ensign on this page - one that I am very happy we have being an Essex local myself - and it is great to see Ensign's product in the Grays/Lakeside area still being tip-top. Sure, from an enthusiasts perspective, Wright Streetdecks are nothing compared to the likes of the old Tridents that used to roam the area however, for passengers, the product has definitiely improved. 2020 has definitely been a hard year for many bus firms and, I can't speak for them but can assume that, no doubt it has been for Ensign as well. It is fantastic to see yet more investment in the area in 2021 by Ensign when the other alternatives (not provided by Transport for London) either use knackered vehicles transferred in or bought second-hand or alternatively have not seen investment for nearly a decade. As I've constantly said to the Ensign team over Twitter, they have a fantastic product that Essex should be proud of. Also, for the enthusiasts among us, we are very lucky that they embrace the enthusiasm we give the bus industry through going above and beyond for us all (enthusiasts and normal passengers alike) or through their fantastic running days they run with their heritage fleet every year. Ensign are truly the best that the South East of England has to offer!