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| Parent | Arriva |
|---|---|
| Founded | April 2013 |
| Service type | Luxury bus |
| Routes | 32 (November 2022) |
| Operator | Arriva Buses Wales Arriva Midlands Arriva North East Arriva North West Arriva Shires & Essex Arriva Southern Counties Arriva Yorkshire |
| Website | Website |
Arriva Sapphire is a luxury brand used by various Arriva bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.
In February 2013, Arriva UK Bus announced that it would launch a Luxury service under the Sapphire brand for its bus services in the United Kingdom.[1] It is similar to the Stagecoach Gold brand launched by Stagecoach Group in 2007.
Arriva initially launched the Sapphire brand on four pilot routes:[2]
In 2014, the brand was extended to 11 more routes with another six scheduled for conversion in late 2015.[7][8][9]
In 2017, Arriva Sapphire was rebranded with a new logo and livery, in line with the switchover to the new Arriva brand. In 2018, the Arriva Sapphire logo was updated again, to reflect the new brand.[10]
In 2019, Arriva Midlands routes 1, 2, 2E running between Walsall and Cannock/Huntington were downgraded to regular buses after six years of Sapphire. Further routes across the country have since been withdrawn or removed from the Sapphire brand.
In 2022, Arriva started to phase out the Sapphire brand nationally, with the majority of buses being repainted into the standard Arriva livery or replaced with new buses.
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As of November 2022, there were 32 Arriva Sapphire routes.
| Service no. | Route start | Route end |
|---|---|---|
| Arriva Buses Wales | ||
| 1 | Wrexham | Chester[3] |
| 12/X12 | Rhyl | Llandudno |
| 10/10A | Connah's Quay / Flint | Chester |
| Arriva North East | ||
| 1/5/5A/X1 | Darlington | Bishop Auckland, Crook and Tow Law |
| 3/X3/X3A/X4 | Middlesbrough | Lingdale, Skelton, Loftus and Whitby |
| 7 | Darlington | Durham[5] |
| Arriva Shires & Essex | ||
| 5/6 | Lakes Estate | Wolverton |
| 133 | Colchester & Braintree | Stansted Airport |
| 280 | Aylesbury | Oxford[6] |
| Arriva Southern Counties | ||
| 470/480/480A/490/490A | Dartford or Bluewater | Valley Drive or Riverview Park[11] |
| Arriva Yorkshire | ||
| 110 | Leeds | Wakefield[12] |
| 163 | Leeds | Castleford via Garforth and Kippax |
| 168 | Leeds | Castleford via Woodlesford |
| 229 | Leeds | Huddersfield via Birstall and Heckmondwike |
| 231/232 | Wakefield | Huddersfield via Lepton, Flockton, Overton and Horbury |
| 415 | York | Selby via York Designer Outlet |
| Service no. | Route start | Route end | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arriva North East | ||||
| 5/5A | Middlesbrough | Easington | Route removed from the Sapphire brand in 2022, with the repaint of existing buses into standard livery. | |
| 6 | Durham | Bishop Auckland and Cockfield | Route removed from the Sapphire brand in 2022, with the repaint of existing buses into standard livery. | |
| 22 | Durham | Sunderland | Route removed from the Sapphire brand in 2022, with the repaint of existing buses into standard livery. | |
| 23 | Sunderland | Hartlepool | Route removed from the Sapphire brand in 2022, with the repaint of existing buses into standard livery. | |
| 24 | Durham | Hartlepool | Route removed from the Sapphire brand in 2022, with the repaint of existing buses into standard livery. | |
| X21/X22 | Newbiggin and Ashington | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | Routes removed from the Sapphire brand in 2022, with the introduction of new buses and repaint of existing buses into standard livery. | |
| 43 | Morpeth | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | Route removed from the Sapphire brand, with the allocation now formed of buses in various liveries and specifications. | |
| 44/45 | Dinnington | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | Routes removed from the Sapphire brand, with the allocation now formed of buses in various liveries and specifications. | |
| Arriva North West | ||||
| 38 | Crewe | Macclesfield | Arriva North West ceased operating service in April 2023, route now operated by D&G Bus | |
| 362 | Chorley | Wigan | Arriva North West ceased operating the route in September 2023, now operated by Go North West under the Bee Network franchising system. Buses branded for this route were transferred to Wythenshawe Depot and Hemel Hempstead, and can be seen operating various Arriva routes in South Manchester and Hertfordshire. | |
| 575 | Wigan | Bolton | Arriva North West ceased operating the route in September 2023, now operated by Go North West under the Bee Network franchising system. Buses branded for this route were transferred to Wythenshawe Depot and Hemel Hempstead, and can be seen operating various Arriva routes in South Manchester and Hertfordshire. | |
| 263 | Manchester | Altrincham | Route effectively removed from the Sapphire brand in September 2023, with existing buses being withdrawn from service and replaced by a variety of Sapphire and non-Sapphire buses cascaded from Bolton Depot, which has been shut down due to the introduction of the Bee Network. | |
| Arriva Yorkshire | ||||
| 166 | Leeds | Castleford | Route withdrawn and replaced in part by revised routes 163 and 164. | |
| 167 | Leeds | Castleford | Route withdrawn and replaced in part by revised route 168. | |
| Arriva Midlands | ||||
| 31/31A/31E | Haymarket Bus Station, Leicester | Oadby Grange & Coombe Rise | Services 31/31E now operated by standard buses. Service 31A was ceased in March 2020 until January 2023 when it was reinstated | |
| X3 | Leicester City Centre | Market Harborough | Frequency reduced and Sapphire buses moved elsewhere in 2021. | |
| X84 | St Margaret's Bus Station | Rugby via Lutterworth | Mainly being used on normal buses, however sometimes Sapphire branded buses are used. | |
| 38 | Derby Bus Station | Sinfin | Vehicles repainted into standard Arriva livery in early 2022. | |
| 110 | Tamworth | Birmingham[13] | Route removed from the Sapphire brand in 2022, with the repaint of existing buses into standard livery. | |
| 158 | Leicester | Hinckley-Nuneaton via Earl Shilton & Barwell | Vehicles are being repainted from January 2023. | |
| Arriva The Shires | ||||
| 320 | Hemel Hempstead | Rickmansworth | Withdrawn on 17 April 2022 and replaced by new route 20 and extended route 321. | |
| 321 | Luton | Watford | Buses repainted into Arriva Standard Livery throughout 2021 and route declassified. | |
| X8 | Aylesbury | Oxford | Route reduced to once a day service, no longer Sapphire standard. | |
| Arriva Southern Counties | ||||
| 101 | Gillingham | Maidstone | Buses repainted into Arriva Journey Mark. | |
| 700 | Bluewater | Chatham | Buses repainted into Arriva Journey Mark, route now uses any suitable vehicle. | |
Buses have leather seats, free WiFi, power ports, and a modified two tone blue livery. The initial pilot routes commenced with a mix of refurbished double deck buses and new Wright Pulsar bodied VDL SB200s.[1][14] Mostly since then, new buses have been purchased, primarily Alexander Dennis Enviro400s, Wright StreetLites and Wright StreetDecks.[9] A number of Wright Pulsar/Pulsar 2 vehicles have been refurbished to operate Sapphire routes.[15] In 2020 a selection of Optare Versas in Yorkshire were repainted into the new Arriva Sapphire livery.
