A shake-up in bus services in Southend and Castle Point will hail a new and better era for travellers, it was claimed today.
The First bus company is bringing in a new "Metro" service which, it says, will mean an enhanced service for the majority of its customers.
Some of the route changes have been forced on the company because of "horrendous traffic congestion" faced by drivers on a daily basis in south Essex.
Improvements which will come in when the service is launched on June 15 include:
Colour-coded buses to make route planning simpler
New low-level buses to make life easier for mums, the disabled and the elderly
Changes to routes in a bid to avoid traffic snarl-ups.
News of the shake-up came in a letter to Castle Point MP Bob Spink after he wrote to the company complaining about the axing of route 3 from Canvey to Southend.
Chris McCormick, the south-east divisional manager for First, said: "We have decided to introduce a completely new Metro service for Southend and Castle Point to improve the level of service we currently supply.
"Whenever service changes take place there will always be some people that are disadvantaged but in the main the majority of people will see a better, enhanced service."
In the letter, Mr McCormick told how the Metro would start on June 15 and a door-to-door leaflet drop would take place beforehand informing the public of services changes.
The network will be officially launched on June 13 at the Cliffs Pavilion.
Published Thursday, May 22, 2003
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