Essex bus routes 542/543

'''Essex County Council routes 542/543''' are contracted bus routes in [[Essex]] on the outskirts of [[London]], [[United Kingdom]]. The service is currently contracted to [[Arriva Shires & Essex]] of [[Harlow]]. These routes will be replacing routes [[Essex CC Route 214/215/219/220|214, 215, 219 and 220]] on the 30th April 2007.

On Sundays, the Oakwood Hill section of these routes are replaced by [[Essex Buses Route 240/250|route 240]] ([[Loughton|Debden]] to [[Waltham Cross]] via [[Loughton|Loughton Oakwood Hill]]).

{{expandlist}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''Route Number'''
|'''Route'''
|'''Operated by'''
|'''Garage'''
|'''Vehicle'''
|'''Peak vehicle requirement'''
|'''Level'''
|'''Frequency'''
|'''Journey time'''
|'''Night'''
|-
|542 (clockwise)/543 (anti-clockwise)
|[[Debden, Epping Forest|Debden Broadway]] to [[Debden, Epping Forest|Debden Broadway]] via [[Loughton|Loughton ''Bushfields'' and ''Oakwood Hill'']]
|[[Arriva Shires & Essex]]
|[[Harlow]]
|[[Optare Solo]]
|2
|Daily (07:00 to 19:30)
|Monday to Saturday (every 60 minutes)
|20 minutes
|No night service
|-
{{end}}

==History==
'''Essex bus routes 542/543''' started on the 30th April 2007 to replace the [[Essex CC Route 214/215/219/220|214/215/219/220 network]].The [[Loughton]]/[[Loughton|Debden]] circulars (214/215/219/220) started in the 1980s after some London Buses routes stopped serving some of the [[Loughton]] and [[Loughton|Debden]] housing estates. The old 167 served Oakwood Hill which the 214/215 routes replaced. The route was originally operated by [[Wests Coaches]] of [[South Woodford]]. The contract then passed to [[Clintona Coaches]] of [[Brentwood, Essex|Brentwood]]. After that, it shortly contracted to [[Imperial Buses]] of [[Rainham, Essex|Rainham]]. Today, the routes are contracted with [[Arriva Shires & Essex]] operating from [[Harlow]] garage. [[Arriva]] originally used [[Mercedes-Benz]] minibuses but settled to use [[Optare Solo]]s.

==Vehicles==
*[[Optare Solo]]

==Route Information==
*Oyster cards and Travelcards are not accepted
*Revised timetables from 30th August

==Route details==

===Route 542===
[[Debden, Epping Forest|DEBDEN BROADWAY]] - [[Debden, Epping Forest|Debden ''Chigwell Lane'']] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''Oakwood Hill'']] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''Roding Road'']] - [[Loughton tube station|LOUGHTON STATION]] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''Crown'']] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''High Road'']] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''Traps Hill'']] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''Alderton Hill Lane'']] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''Bushfields'']] - [[Debden, Epping Forest|DEBDEN BROADWAY]]

===Route 543===
[[Debden, Epping Forest|DEBDEN BROADWAY]] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''Bushfields'']] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''Alderton Hall Lane'']] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''Traps Hill'']] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''High Road'']] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''Crown'']] - [[Loughton tube station|LOUGHTON STATION]] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''Roding Road'']] - [[Loughton|Loughton ''Oakwood Hill'']] - [[Debden, Epping Forest|Debden ''Chigwell Lane'']] - [[Debden, Epping Forest|DEBDEN BROADWAY]]

==See also==

* [[Essex CC Route 214/215/219/220]]
* [[Essex bus route 541]]
* [[Arriva Shires & Essex]]

==External links==

* [http://www.travelinesoutheast.org.uk Traveline South East]
* [http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/__80256E280053B5B6.nsf/vWeb/wpDOMR726JAH?Open&region=Shires%20and%20Essex&town=Loughton Arriva Route 542 & 543 Information]

[[Category:Bus routes in England]]
[[Category:Transport in Epping Forest|542/543 Essex bus routes]]