Every route 99. 4 of 24.

Tuesday 10th March 2026

I’m pretty sure this route 99 will be one of the least used to be featured in this year’s fortnightly series looking at all Britain’s 24 bus services bearing that route number. And it’s not as though it’s a rural bus route either. More the case the original reason for its existence has disappeared.

After last time’s wander across south east London I’m now north of the Thames, in Essex, enjoying a journey on Ensignbus operated route 99 in Tilbury.

It’ll probably also turn out to be one of the shortest route 99s to be featured too. It only takes half an hour to complete a full circuit of the route and 15 minutes of that goes in stand time.

As you can see from the maps above and below, it’s a one-way anti-clockwise of a circular route.

The route’s origins can be traced back to 1992 when Tilbury Riverside station closed. As its name implies, the station was located on the north bank of the River Thames providing convenient connections to the ferry across to Gravesend and other activities at the ferry terminal including arriving and departing cruise liners. It was particularly important in past decades before the Dartford Tunnel opened as a convenient downstream way to cross the River.

The railway tracks formed a triangular shape so trains from London’s Fenchurch Street could continue eastwards towards Southend after calling at Tilbury Riveside or avoid the dog leg completely…

… but in later years the service was reduced to a shuttle between Upminster and Stanford-le-Hope via Tilbury Riverside.

The relevance of all this to bus route 99, as was kindly explained to me by blog reader and industry veteran, John Pope who latterly worked for Thurrock Council, is when the section of line from Tilbury Town down to Tilbury Riverside closed in 1992 a legal requirement was added that a rail replacement shuttle bus must be provided to run at the frequency of the erstwhile rail service as a minimum and furthermore it was made a legal obligation that in the event of a desire to withdraw the bus route at any time in the future then a full closure procedure must be gone through as if it was a rail service.

Thus this route 99 is therefore Britain’s original quirky Rail Replacement Parliamentary Bus Service. And because that requirement is enshrined under law, the funding for the route has been a financial liability for the contracting Train Operating Company, latterly c2c, although now DfT Operator Ltd following last July’s nationalisation of c2c. It’s why the c2c brand is prominently displayed on the bus – it’s that company paying for the service.

But even more bizarre, as these things often become, the whole raison d’être for the service – to provide a link from Tilbury Town station to the Gravesend ferry became completely superfluous when the ferry ceased operating in April 2024 and access to the jetty is now closed and abandoned as I found on my recent visit…

So, we now have the crazy situation of Government (ie us taxpayers) paying for a bus route to replace a train service withdrawn 34 years ago to a ferry that ceased almost two years ago. And this one doesn’t run just one nominal journey a week. It runs every half hour, six days a week.

To make the service be of some use to the community it was extended from being a short shuttle between the station and ferry to also serve a large Asda supermarket, and in more recent times a huge Amazon warehouse, but, in what must be a relatively recent change, the route no longer serves Tilbury’s Civic Square where there’s a small neighbourhood retail centre (albeit rather down at heel) but instead skirts down south from Brennan Road via Hume Avenue to Dock Road as shown in the network map earlier.

I say “relatively recent” as last time I travelled on the route a few years ago the bus definitely went via Civic Square, and just to confuse potential passengers using the Ensignbus website to access the timetable, as you can see below, it’s still showing a timing point at Tilbury Civic Square at 14 and 44 minutes past the hour.

Thankfully, bustimes.org has the correct timetable with up to date journey times.

Having provided that background, it’s now time to take a journey on the 99.

My journey was one day last month and I planned to catch the bus on its way to the former ferry terminal by using the bus stop on the busy St Andrew’s Road (A1089) down to the docks on the south side of the station as shown on the map above and the Google Map image below.

However, having alighted from the Shoeburyness bound train on the eastbound platform, I had to cross over to the exit alongside the westbound platform which is helpfully connected by a footbridge and lifts. Except I felt sorry for those wanting to use the lift including young mothers with buggies as both the lifts were out of action…

… and the stairs were quite steep to negotiate (I did help the mum in the photograph).

The next problem as you might just make out from the above photograph is roadworks immediately outside the station…

… and temporary traffic lights had meant the bus stop had disappeared.

I looked on Google maps and saw the bus stop prior to the station was a short walk westwards so set off to find it, but wasn’t very encouraged to come across a tatty old timetable case and a notice that “This bus stop is no longer in use” which looked as though it had been in situ for some time.

I decided to give up and make my way back via the footbridge to the north side of the station by the eastbound platform and catch the bus there after it had been to the closed down ferry, and sure enough while on the footbridge I saw the bus I’d hoped to catch speed by through the roadworks without stopping – by the very station that is the whole reason the bus exists to serve.

The timetable case display outside the station on the northern side of the tracks showed departure times for route 66 (I think it said 66) which no longer stops there or even runs and route 200 which does. There were no departure times for route 99.

But, spot on time the bus arrived…

… with three passengers on board and we set off towards Asda…

… noting the internal display confirmed the bus will terminate at the withdrawn Tilbury Ferry and LIC Terminal (which Google tells me stands for London International Cruise Terminal).

I had to smile at the idea International Cruise passengers commencing their expensive holidays struggling with suitcases up and down a footbridge having arrived by train at Tilbury Town station and travelling via an Asda supermarket on a bus to catch their luxury cruise liner. And not forgetting that Amazon warehouse too…

… and then pausing at Asda for ten minutes before the bus continues to the LIC Terminal…

… with time to stretch their legs and admire the bus shelter with substantial seating.

Two of our three passengers alighted at Asda and after our 10 minute stand time we set off towards the Ferry Terminal and as we sped along St Andrew’s Road approaching the roadworks I noticed a Temporary Bus Stop sign annoyingly placed just beyond the extent that I’d walked seeking the bus stop out. From the reverse I just thought it was just another roadworks sign.

We then arrived at the closed Ferry Terminal with a bus shelter for the non waiting passengers and another five minute pause giving time to take a few photographs…

… and study the timetable case which I noticed was advertising a wonderful opportunity to travel on heritage buses complete with colourful route map…

… and timetable promoting the Ensignbus Running Day in ….. December 2023.

After that we continued around the eastern circuit of the route where the third passenger alighted and another boarded as we avoided Civic Square…

.. and then arrived back at Tilbury Town station half an hour after I boarded and where I and the other passenger alighted.

And that’s Tilbury’s route 99.

A unique and quirky bus route that’s guaranteed to run for ever since the DfT will never get round to going through the closure process.

But it’s not the end of the story for Ensignbus and this blog series, as the company will (hopefully) be back in the summer when I feature the only seasonal route 99 in the 24 routes of that number.

Roger French

Did you catch the previous blog in this series? 1 of 24 Eastbourne-Hastings, 2 of 24 Petworth-Chichester, 3 of 24 Woolwich-Bexleyheath.

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