- Number 9 cut again — Saturday buses every 40 minutes despite a 549-signature petition; east Shoebury keeps losing services.
- Greens warn of isolation and more traffic/emissions — buses are a lifeline, especially with more housing coming.
- Arriva blames funding/usage; First Essex’s 26 runs hourly but ends at 2pm, use and log bus trips to protect services.
Southend Green Party is speaking out against further cuts to bus services in the east of the city.
People living between Asda and East Beach in Shoeburyness have been told that the Number 9 bus will be reduced again, despite a local campaign calling for more frequent buses.
Last summer, Arriva Herts & Essex cut the number of buses running between East Beach and Asda in half. They redirected the deleted buses to Great Wakering on a new 9a route.
Now, the Saturday service is being cut too, with buses only running every 40 minutes.
Green Party campaigner Tricia Cowdrey handed over a petition last year to Arriva and Southend City Council, signed by 549 residents, asking for the full service to be brought back. But that call has been ignored, and more cuts are now going ahead.
Tricia said:
“Bus services in the east of Shoebury have been stripped away over the years. We used to have four different routes, and now we’re left with a patchy and unreliable service from Arriva. I’m deeply worried about people becoming isolated. These buses help residents stay connected to friends, family, and essential services.
“With more homes being built in the area, and the need to cut traffic and emissions, now is the time to improve public transport, not make it worse. For many people, buses are a lifeline to work, school, healthcare and support.”
Arriva says the changes are due to government funding cuts and changing passenger habits.
A new service, the Number 26, has been launched by First Essex, running from East Beach to Leigh every hour, but it finishes early in the afternoon.
Green Group Leader Cllr Stuart Allen said:
“We’ve seen some welcome improvements to bus services in the west of Southend, but the east is being left behind. If we want fewer cars on the road and cleaner air, we need reliable public transport people can count on. Otherwise, more people will turn to driving, and that means more congestion and more pollution across the city.”
The Greens are urging residents to keep using the buses as much as possible, and to make sure their journeys are recorded, to help protect what’s left of the service.
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