Essex bus route H1

Essex bus route H1 was a contracted bus route in Essex, United Kingdom, which served as a useful connection between Loughton, Debden, Epping, North Weald and Harlow in south-west Essex on Saturdays only. The service was last operated by Regal Busways of Chelmsford under contract to Essex County Council. Previously, it was a commercial operation on Monday to Saturday with Imperial Buses.

History
The H1 started in September 2001 to act as the only bus service linking Loughton and Debden to Harlow replacing the Harlow to Debden section on route 502 which previously operated from Harlow to Romford. The route originally served Princess Alexandra Hospital and Harlow Town Station in Harlow, but the route was soon shortened just to serve the bus station. In May 2007, the extension was re-instated and terminated at Edinburgh Way Tesco. On 17 November 2007, the route was extended from Edinburgh Way to Old Harlow Post Office, and a loop was introduced around Loughton and Debden so that it served Epping Forest College, Borders Lane and Newmans Lane. On 22 March 2008, the extension between Edinburgh Way and Old Harlow was discontinued and a revised routing around Loughton and Debden was introduced so that it served Traps Hill and Newmans Lane, with the loop no longer in operation. Following the introduction of route 55, the H1 had timetable changes with the Harlow Bus Station to Edinburgh Way section withdrawn, shortly after those changes the Loughton and Debden loop was re-instated on 10 November 2008 also due to the competition with route 55. After route 55 was withdrawn, service resumed to normal around the Loughton and Debden areas.

Imperial gave notice of cessation of the route with effect from 18 December 2009.

From 19 December 2009, Regal Busways continued to operate the Saturday service, with the Monday to Friday service replaced by route 55 (see below).

From 21 December 2009, Travel with Hunny route 55 acted as a replacement for the Monday to Friday H1 service, opertating an hourly Mon-Fri service between Loughton and Harlow via Debden, Ivy Chimneys, Epping and North Weald. The 55 has since been withdrawn and replaced by route 555 operating between Loughton and Harlow via Waltham Abbey and Waltham Cross.

On 21 September 2010, it was proposed that the remaining Saturday service on the H1 should be withdrawn due to a lack of passengers. It is still not certain if the route will be withdrawn or what date is proposed.

In February 2011, it was confirmed that the route would be withdrawn after 2 April 2011 with no direct replacement, despite a petition signed by many local residents

Vehicles
There had been quite a mixture of vehicles used on this route including Leyland Olympians, Dennis Darts, Leyland Titans and MCW Metrobus. In early days of the route, Leyland Nationals were also sometimes used. During previous Christmas periods, vintage buses such as Routemasters and RTs have been used. In December 2007, 3 Leyland Olympians (formally of Kentish Bus and Arriva ownership) replaced most of the older stock with new route branding. Towards the end of Imperial operation, most of the service was provided by Leyland Olympian, Dennis Dart and Marshall Capital buses. More recently, Regal Busways operate low-floor modern buses, such as the MCV Evolution.


 * MCV Evolution
 * Dennis Dart SLF

Route information

 * This route is no longer in operation. Alternative services are SM Coaches route 19, Arriva route 541, and TWH route X5.

Route departing Loughton

 * Loughton Station
 * Loughton ''Alderton Hill
 * Loughton Borders Lane
 * Loughton Epping Forest College
 * Debden Broadway
 * Debden Chester Road
 * Debden Hillyfields
 * Loughton Rectory Lane
 * Loughton Goldings Hill
 * Loughton Wake Arms
 * Epping New Road
 * Bell Common
 * Epping Tesco
 * Epping Station
 * Epping High Street
 * Epping St Margarets Hospital
 * North Weald Kings Head
 * North Weald The Talbot
 * Hastingwood
 * Harlow Potter Street
 * Harlow Brays Grove
 * Harlow Bus Station

Route departing Harlow

 * Harlow Bus Station
 * Harlow Brays Grove
 * Harlow Potter Street
 * Hastingwood
 * North Weald ''The Talbot
 * North Weald Kings Head
 * Epping St Margarets Hospital
 * Epping High Street
 * Epping Station
 * Epping Tesco
 * Bell Common
 * Epping New Road
 * Loughton Wake Arms
 * Loughton Goldings Hill
 * Loughton Rectory Lane
 * Debden Hillyfields
 * Debden Chester Road
 * Debden Broadway
 * Loughton Epping Forest College
 * Loughton Borders Lane
 * Loughton Traps Hill
 * Loughton High Road
 * Loughton Old Station Road
 * Loughton Station