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.

Route

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

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.

Vehicles

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

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