An Ensign Optare Spectra at the London Bus Preservation Trust's Cobham bus museum in 2008. |
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| Founded | Various |
| Service area | Essex Kent |
| Service type | Bus |
| Routes | 13 |
| Fleet | Volvo Olympian Dennis Trident 2 Dennis Dart SLF MCW Metrobus Volvo B9TL |
| Web site | www.ensignbus.co.uk |
Ensignbus is a Purfleet-based bus and coach dealer, open top bus tour operator and bus service operator. 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. 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". Ensignbus also hires out an unusual range of buses from service buses, open top buses and vintage vehicles.
Ensignbus has twice previously been a former London tendered service operator, and developed London Pride Sightseeing. It retains a small bus service network centred on Lakeside Shopping Centre and Grays Bus station.
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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. Ensignbus has a blue and silver livery, with buses carrying the Ensignbus company name.
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. 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'. 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 (e.g. 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. 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.
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).
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. In May 2002 City Sightseeing bought out its main rival, Guide Friday.
Also as a result of deregulation, Ensignbus expanded into tendered London Bus service market in east London. Starting from one or two routes, Ensignbus gained a network of routes, using several second hand vehicles and batches of new vehicles:
Ensignbus also inherited a batch of 1991-built Frontrunner South East sold to Ensign Bus Services in 1989.
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).
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.
Ensignbus currently operate a number of routes in the Thurrock area, which are listed below.
| Route Number | Route | Operation |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | Aveley Usk Road - Derent Parade - Belhus - Lakeside Shopping Centre - Grays - Stifford Clays | Mon-Sat |
| 22A | Aveley Usk Road - Derent Parade - Belhus - Lakeside Shopping Centre - Grays - Tilbury | Sunday |
| 33 | Lakeside Shopping Centre - Chafford Hundred - Grays | Mon-Sat |
| 44 | Lakeside Shopping Centre - Purfleet - Grays | Daily |
| 66 | Lakeside Shopping Centre - Grays - Tilbury (Journeys continue to Chadwell-St-Mary on weekdays) | Mon-Sat |
| 73 | Lakeside Shopping Centre - Grays - Tilbury (Evenings and Sundays operates as 73a additionally serving Chadwell-St-Mary) | Daily |
| X80 | Chafford Hundred Station - Lakeside Shopping Centre - Bluewater Shopping Centre | Mon-Sat |
| 81 | Hutton, Essex - Shenfield - Brentwood (Mon- Fri - One return journey continuing to Lakeside Shopping Centre as X81) | Mon-Sat |
| 83 | Lakeside Shopping Centre - Grays - Chadwell-St-Mary | Mon-Sat |