Aberdeen, United Kingdom, 2015-10-6 — /Travel PR News/ — On Wednesday 30 September, Chairman of the County Council Norman Hume officially declared First Essex’s new bus depot in Colchester open. As part of a £3.5m investment, First Essex has merged its present depots at Queen Street and Haven Road into a new purpose built facility at Quayside.
The investment has been very well received by employees. With a new office facility to work from, along with brand new workshops built to undertake all engineering functions, the working environment is greatly improved and much more efficient. New systems have been introduced to manage bus parts and other materials under one roof whereby previously we had items spread over three sites.
We have also introduced improved bus wash facilities and cleaning processes to improve the cleanliness of our buses. As part of the investment, we recently refurbished our travel shop and driver facilities at our town centre site and introduced a brand new learning centre for staff.
Alex Jones Managing Director for First Essex said: “We’re committed to delivering the best services for our customers, and providing the best operating environment for our employees. Our new centre of operations will help us improve upon our strong punctuality and reliability performance and provides us with an excellent platform to develop our business further.”
“This investment, along with a further £2m on 17 brand new buses scheduled to arrive in December, provides confidence and reassurance to our customers and stakeholders that we are committed to providing a comprehensive bus network for local communities in Colchester.”
Councillor Norman Hume, Chairman of Essex County Council, said: “First Essex is one of our important commercial bus partners and I am delighted to be here to open this brand new bus depot. Essex County Council is investing heavily in transportation in Colchester – this new depot will contribute to our aim of improving the roads in Colchester and is another boost to the transport infrastructure in the borough.”
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SOURCE: FirstGroup plc