Orbital (bus service)

Orbital is a circular bus route in Leicester, UK. It is operated by Centrebus.

History

Centrebus have operated the 40 service since around 2003 but the history can be traced back to the early 1980s.

As part of the Leicester bus partnership, Centrebus and Leicester City Council successfully applied for ZEBRA funding for electric vehicles to operate on service 40, these were launched on 24 October 2022.[1]

Route

The route is 30 miles (48 kilometres) long and forms a circle around Leicester.[2]

Orbital currently provides journeys in clockwise and anticlockwise directions up to every hour Monday to Saturday. When funding has been secured additional electric buses will (eventually) allow frequency increase to every 15 minutes and the introduction of (less frequent) evening and Sunday services.[3]

orbital (clockwise)
Overview
OperatorCentrebus
Route
StartLeicester General Hospital
ViaOadby, Wigston Magna,Eyres Monsell, Aylestone, Fosse Park, Thorpe Astley, Braunstone Frith, Glenfield, Glenfield Hospital, Beaumont Shopping Centre, Mowmacre Hill, Gipsy Lane, Hamilton, Netherhall Road, Thurnby Lodge and Goodwood Road.
EndLeicester General Hospital
orbital (anti-clockwise)
Route
StartLeicester General Hospital
ViaGoodwood Road, Thurnby Lodge, Netherhall Road, Hamilton, Rushey Mead, Gipsy Lane, Mowmacre Hill, Beaumont Shopping Centre, Glenfield Hospital, Glenfield, Braunstone Frith, Thorpe Astley, Fosse Park, Aylestone, Eyres Monsell, Wigston Magna, Oadby and Goodwood Road
EndLeicester General Hospital

Vehicles

Orbital is currently operated by six Yutong E10 buses in a distinctive bright green livery with Orbital branding.[4][5]

Centrebus originally operated a number of Dennis Darts on the service. In 2007 Optare Esteem buses were launched onto the route and these were replaced by Optare Solo SRs in 2016.

References
  1. Moorhouse, Sam (2022-10-17). "New £2.1m Orbital electric bus service for Leicester to start". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  2. "Longest electric circular bus route launches in Leicester". BBC News. 2022-10-17. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  3. "Orbital". Leicester Buses. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  4. "UK's longest electric circular bus route launching". Bus & Coach Buyer. 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  5. "Leicester and Centrebus win ZEBRA first delivery race". routeone. 2022-10-14. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
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