Chelmsford Park and Ride

Chelmsford Park and Ride is a park and ride bus service operated by Central Connect on behalf of Essex County Council. Two routes are operated serving two park and ride sites in Sandon and Chelmer Valley. The service was previously operated by First Essex for 15 years from opening until 5 March 2022. On 7 March 2022, operation resumed with Central Connect.^[1] The service was suspended on 28 March 2020^[2] due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sandon service resumed on 6 July 2020 with an every 15 minute circular service and Chelmer Valley on 3 August 2020 with an every 30 minute service.

Chelmsford Park and Ride
Overview
Operator	Central Connect
Vehicle	Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC
Former operator(s)	First Essex
Timetable	Sandon Chelmer Valley

Current Service

Two services are operated, Sandon Circular & Chelmer Valley Circular.

Site	Operating Hours	Frequency
Sandon	Monday to Friday 06:30 - 19:45	Every 10 Minutes - Peak Every 15 Minutes - Off Peak
	Saturday 07:00 - 19:15	Every 15 Minutes
Chelmer Valley	Monday to Friday 06:30 – 21:30	Every 10 Minutes - Peak Every 20 Minutes - Off Peak
	Saturday 07:00 – 20:30	Every 20 Minutes

Previous Service

A Cross City service used to operate serving both sites operated by First Essex.

Park and Ride Sites

Currently there are two park and ride sites in Chelmsford. One in Sandon^[3] southeast of the city and another in Chelmer Valley^[4] to the north of the city. During the COVID-19 pandemic Chelmer Valley Park and Ride Site was planned to be used as a temporary mortuary, but this did not happen in the end.^[5][6]

Fleet

Central Connect currently operate a fleet of Enviro200MMC buses on the Park and Ride. At peak times, a total of 8 vehicles are required across both routes.