Here’s the lowdown on those brand new Arriva buses you may have seen running through Deeside today.

News and Info from Deeside, Flintshire, North Wales

This article is old - Published: Monday, Mar 16th, 2015

You may have noticed over the last day or so shiny new double decker Arriva Buses along the Connah’s Quay to Chester route.

Arriva has introduced the high quality Sapphire brand to the No:10 route bringing along with it a host of top end features the kind of which you would expect to see first class train carriages, they include free Wi-Fi, spacious legroom, e-leather covered seating as well as 240v and USB charging points and audio-visual displays.

Picture: YouTube/Video47

The Sapphire concept is a product of Arriva’s extensive customer research and is aimed at those who wouldn’t normally use a bus or public transport.
The new service which started on Sunday 15th March, is recognisable by the striking two-tone blue ‘Sapphire’ livery on the side of the buses.
Arriva has invested £2 million in nine brand new ‘high spec’ Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 double decks buses for the route.

High specification lower saloon complete with Sapphire branded e-leather seating.
The high specification lower saloon complete with Sapphire branded e-leather seating | picture: thenorthwestbusblog.co.uk

The No 10 service which runs between *Connah’s Quay and Chester every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes, has now been extended and runs to Chester Railway Station, it previously only ran to Chester Bus Exchange.

A new half-hourly 10A bus has been introduced running from Chester Railway Station to Holywell via Connah’s Quay.
The journey time from Chester bus exchange to Wepre Quay shopping centre takes around 50 minutes in the daytime

*Check the timetable for buses stopping at Morrisons: Click here for the new timetable

The upper The upper saloon showing the spacious 2+1 layout with coach-style seating | Picture: thenorthwestbusblog.co.uk

As well as the new features, Sapphire offers passengers a ‘no quibble’ money back guarantee centred around Arriva’s customer charter which guarantees your money back if reliability, punctuality, frequency and cleanliness are not up to scratch.

For a more detailed run down of the buses and specifications visit: thenorthwestbusblog.co.uk who supplied the images and info….

Had a little ride out to Holywell this afternoon to use the new @arrivabuswales Sapphire service. pic.twitter.com/0xcEiwv2X6

— Tom Harrison (@tommingtons) March 16, 2015