Weekdays, the first 62A/62B leaves Southend Travel Centre at 5.45am and the last at 7.45pm, every 30 minutes to the airport. Free week over, fares unpublished.

Updated 2 November: the free first week ended on Saturday 31 October. Arriva’s registered weekday timetable, read on bustimes.org on 2 November, has the first bus leaving Southend Travel Centre (stop Y) at 05:45 and the last at 19:45, every 30 minutes, alternating 62B and 62A. The 05:45 reaches London Southend Airport at 06:10. The first bus back from the airport leaves at 06:15. Neither the council nor Arriva had published 62A or 62B fares when we checked on 2 November; Arriva’s own launch notice gives the route but no prices.

Updated 26 October: both routes were due to start on Sunday 25 October, and the council has announced no change to that or to free travel until Saturday 31 October. The council had still not published fares from 1 November when we checked on 26 October.

Southend’s new 62A and 62B buses started on Sunday 25 October, and nobody pays for the first week. Southend-on-Sea City Council named Arriva as the operator on Thursday and said it will fund free travel on both routes from 25 to 31 October (Southend-on-Sea City Council, 24 September).

When we first reported the routes on 12 September, the council’s bus forum papers gave no start date, no operator and no timetable. Two of the three gaps are now filled. The timetable and fares are still to come. The council says they “will be published ahead of the launch date”.

Updated 24 October: the timetables have still not appeared on the council’s news pages, but Arriva’s registered times for both routes are now in the government’s Bus Open Data Service and can be read on bustimes.org (62A, 62B). On the first day, Sunday 25 October, the 62A leaves Southend Travel Centre (stop Y) every 30 minutes from 08:45 to 17:45 and reaches London Southend Airport 22 minutes later. The council has not published fares, which do not matter until 1 November because travel is free until 31 October.

Where the buses go

The council’s announcement sets out the two routes:

  • 62A runs seven days a week between Southend Travel Centre and the London Southend Airport terminal, via Sutton Road, North and Central Avenue, Hamstel Road, Eastern Avenue, Fossetts Retail Park, Priory Crescent and Manners Way.
  • 62B runs in weekday peak periods only, on the same corridor with an extra loop through the Stock Road area, which serves Temple Farm Industrial Estate.
  • Together they give a bus every 30 minutes along the key sections of the corridor.

Arriva has committed to “modern route branded buses” for the two services, according to Councillor Paul Collins, the cabinet member for finance and transport. He said the routes “restore bus connectivity to parts of St. Luke’s ward that have been without a direct service for several years”.

Key facts panel: the 62A and 62B buses start on Sunday 25 October 2026, run free from 25 to 31 October, give a bus every 30 minutes between Southend Travel Centre and London Southend Airport, and the 62B adds a weekday peak loop via Stock Road. Timetable and fares are not yet published.
Graphic by Southend Today
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Who pays, and for how long

The routes are paid for from the Government’s Local Authority Bus Grant. The council was awarded £10,433,543 of Bus Service Improvement Plan money for April 2026 to March 2030, of which £2,920,971 is revenue, the part that pays an operator to run a service. That revenue is £973,657 a year for three years and nothing in 2029/30 (Local Bus Forum, agenda item 5). We set out what that cliff edge means for every council-supported route in our first report.

The council has not said how much of the revenue pot the 62A and 62B take, nor the length of Arriva’s contract. The closest comparison is the 23A and 23B from Leigh-on-Sea station to the airport, which started in August 2025 with Stephensons of Essex on a two-year contract with an option of a third year (council announcement, 28 July 2025).

One detail from the forum papers is worth restating. The existing route 62, the Heygate Avenue circular the new numbers build on, is run by Stephensons, not Arriva (Stephensons of Essex). The council’s announcement does not say what happens to the 62 when the 62A and 62B start.

The bigger transport question is open until 17 November

The same announcement points to a consultation on the council’s fourth Local Transport Plan, covering 2027 to 2045. It opened on 23 September and closes on 17 November. There is an online survey, which closes at 5pm on 17 November (Your Say Southend, LTP4).

Michael Jennings, commercial director of Arriva Southern Counties, said the company looks forward “to providing a reliable and high-quality service that supports local communities and improves access to key destinations across the city”.

What it means for you

  • From Sunday 25 October you can get a bus from the Travel Centre to the airport through Sutton Road, Hamstel Road and Eastern Avenue, seven days a week.
  • The free week is over. It ran from 25 to 31 October. On weekdays the first bus leaves the Travel Centre at 5.45am and the last at 7.45pm.
  • Weekday peaks only for the 62B and its Stock Road loop. Outside those hours it is the 62A or nothing on that stretch.
  • Fares are not published yet. Ask the driver or check the Arriva app before you travel.
  • Have a say on the next 18 years of transport before 17 November at the Your Say link above. Our trains and travel page covers what runs now.

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