Ensignbus is a Purfleet-based bus and coach dealer, open top bus tour operator and bus service operator. Purfleet is a place in the Thurrock unitary authority in England. Ensignbus has amassed 20 ex-London vehicles of various ages and conditions in a transport museum.
Ensignbus owns parts of the City Sightseeing worldwide sightseeing tour operator. City Sightseeing is a global sightseeing bus brand started by Ensignbus and the spanish Hispalense de Tranvíaswhich operates Tour bus rides around various Ensignbus sells used buses from several major UK operators, and boasts "the largest stock of used double-deck buses in the world, with anywhere from 100-500 buses in stock". [1] Ensignbus also hires out an unusual range of buses from service buses, open top buses and vintage vehicles.
Ensignbus was a former London tendered service operator twice in its history, and developed London Pride Sightseeing. London Pride Sightseeing was an open top sightseeing bus operator in London. It retains a small bus service network centred on Lakeside Shopping Centre and Grays Bus station. The Lakeside Shopping Centre is a large out-of-town shopping centre located in West Thurrock, in the borough of Thurrock, Essex just beyond the
Contents |
Origin
Ensignbus was formed in 1972, with a small number of bus contracts. It went on to establish commercial services in Essex, and providing buses for specialist contracts such as rail replacement and temporary hire. Essex is a county in the East of England. The County town is Chelmsford, and the highest point of the county is Chrishall Common Ensignbus has a blue and silver livery, with buses carrying the Ensignbus company name. [1][2][3] [4]
Bus sales
The company came to prominence in the UK bus scene when London Transport decided to dispose of its unpopular and poor performing Daimler Fleetline DM and DMS class buses from 1979. See also History of transport in London (1933-2003 The Daimler Fleetline (known as the Leyland Fleetline from c1975 was a rear-engined Double-decker bus Chassis built between 1960 and 1973 Ensignbus was the only company willing to bid for all these buses as one batch, numbering over 2000 buses, as preferred by London Transport.
As the vehicles arrived, Ensignbus moved to new premises in Purfleet, which became known as the 'DMS graveyards'. Purfleet is a place in the Thurrock unitary authority in England. While the sheer numbers involved meant several vehicles just rotted away, Ensign made a success of selling on many of these buses to operators around the country and abroad, with many ex-municipal companies and new operators requiring cheap re-inforcements for enhanced competition due to deregulation of bus services in 1986. The standard London specification (eg. centre exit doors) was modified to various degrees to suit each buyer's needs, for regular bus work or open top tours.
During the London Pride operation Ensignbus continued selling buses in smaller numbers from a site in Rainham. Rainham may refer to Rainham London, England Rainham Kent, England See also Raynham With the sale of London Pride, Ensignbus moved to a new site in Purfleet, a short distance from the DMS graveyard, and accelerated its sales business.
Open top tour operations
Ensignbus operated several open top tour buses in London. Originally the tour buses ran in their standard blue/silver livery, with buses frequently passing between the tours, services and hires allocations. Ensignbus later expanded this operation (see London Pride Sightseeing). London Pride Sightseeing was an open top sightseeing bus operator in London.
Through links gained through selling open top buses to other operators around the world, Ensignbus, through London Pride, expanded the concept to other cities setting up new tours.
Starting in 1998 with an operation in Seville, Ensignbus launched a global sightseeing bus brand City Sightseeing at the World Travel Market in 1999 along a worldwide franchise model, and proceeded to rapidly expand into several cities. Seville ( Spanish: Sevilla, see also different names) is the artistic cultural and financial capital of southern Spain. City Sightseeing is a global sightseeing bus brand started by Ensignbus and the spanish Hispalense de Tranvíaswhich operates Tour bus rides around various In May 2002 City Sightseeing bought out its main rival, Guide Friday. Guide Friday was a company specialising in Open top bus tours
London tendered services
Also as a result of deregulation, Ensignbus expanded into tendered London Bus service market in East London. This article is a general one on buses in London For a specific article on the organization responsible for running most buses in London see London Buses. East London is the name commonly given to the north eastern part of London, England on the north side of the River Thames. Starting from one or two routes, Ensignbus gained a network of routes, using several second hand vehicles and batches of new vehicles:
- 8[2] 1989-built Alexander-bodied Leyland Olympian double-deckers[5]
- 5[3] 1989-built Northern Counties-bodied Leyland Olympian double-deckers [6]
- 16[4] 1988-built MCW Metrobus double-deckers [7]
Ensignbus also inherited a batch of 1991-built Frontrunner South East sold to Ensign Bus Services in 1989. Walter Alexander is also the name of participant in the OJ Simpson Robbery Case Walter Alexander Coachbuilders was a Scottish The Leyland Olympian was a Double-decker bus built by British Leyland / Leyland Bus in the United Kingdom from 1980 Northern Counties Motor and Engineering Company was a manufacturer of bus bodywork located in Wigan Lane Wigan, in North West England. The Leyland Olympian was a Double-decker bus built by British Leyland / Leyland Bus in the United Kingdom from 1980 The MCW Metrobus is a Double decker bus model manufactured by MCW ( Metro Cammell Weymann) from 1977 until 1989 with over 4000 examples built [8]
In 1990 Ensignbus sold its London tendered bus services to Hong Kong company Citybus, which rebranded the operations as Ensign Citybus and then Capital Citybus (now part of First London). Citybus Limited ( is one of the three major bus operators in Hong Kong. Capital Citybus was a major bus operator for London Buses in North and East London First London is one of many operators of London Buses and owned by First Group.
Ensignbus briefly re-entered London tendered service, taking over some of its original routes from First Capital who had bought Capital Citybus, before once again selling its London services in December 1999, this time to Town and Country buses.
Current bus services
Ensignbus currently operate a number of routes in the Thurrock area, which are listed below. The routes changed on Saturday 29 March 2008, with a new route 22 replacing routes 66 and 73 between Lakeside Shopping Centre and Aveley Usk Road. Events 1461 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton - Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common The Lakeside Shopping Centre is a large out-of-town shopping centre located in West Thurrock, in the borough of Thurrock, Essex just beyond the Aveley is a place in the Thurrock unitary authority in the East of England. Full details and timetables can be found on the Ensignbus website.
| Route Number | Route |
|---|---|
| 22 | Grays - Lakeside Shopping Centre - Derwent Parade - Belhus - Aveley Usk Road (Peak journeys continue to Upminster) |
 |
Lakeside Shopping Centre - Chafford Hundred - Grays |
 |
Lakeside Shopping Centre - Purfleet - Grays (Journeys continue to Orsett Hospital on weekdays) |
 |
Lakeside Shopping Centre - Belhus - Lakeside Shopping Centre |
 |
Lakeside Shopping Centre - Grays - Tilbury |
| 73 | Lakeside Shopping Centre - Grays - Tilbury (Monday to Saturday service) |
| 80 | Tilbury - Chafford Hundred Station - Lakeside Shopping Centre |
| X80 | Chafford Hundred Station - Bluewater Shopping Centre |
See also
Notes
- ^ About Ensignbus
- ^ G121-8YEV, 121-128
- ^ G129/30YEV, G131/2YWC, G133ATW, 129-133
- ^ F279-94NHJ, 279-294
External links
- Ensignbus website
- Ensignbus Transport Museum - history of Ensignbus
- Ensign Citybus Fotopic collection
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic