The 17 and 17A are funded to July 2027, but still run weekdays only, 09:36 to 17:42. The 24 gains six months of evening buses, and kids ride free all August.
The 17 and 17A will keep running to the Highlands Estate and West Leigh for another year. Southend-on-Sea City Council has confirmed a further 12 months of funding for the two Stephensons of Essex routes, running from July 2026, and has extended the evening service on the 24 by six months.
Both are paid for through the Department for Transport’s Local Authority Bus Grant and sit within Southend’s Bus Service Improvement Plan. The council has not published the amount.
Councillor Paul Collins, Cabinet Member for Finance and Transport, said extending the services is “great news for residents, helping people get to work, education, healthcare and leisure activities”, and that “the Highlands Estate will remain connected to the wider bus network, while the extension of the 24 evening service will help residents travel later into the evening”.
What the routes actually cover
The 17 and 17A run west out of the Travel Centre in Southend city centre, calling at Southend Central station, the Cliffs Pavilion and Westcliff-on-Sea station, Chalkwell Shelter, Chalkwell station and Grand Drive, Leigh-on-Sea Church and Leigh-on-Sea station, and finishing at Woodlands Park at the West Leigh end. The council lists Belfairs Swimming Centre, local shops, healthcare, workplaces and the rail network among what they connect people to.
The current timetable, in force since 28 July 2025, is worth reading before you build a routine around this news, because the service the grant is protecting is a narrow one. It runs Mondays to Fridays only, with no journeys on Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays. The first bus west leaves the Travel Centre at 09:36 and the last at 17:42, with a gap of more than three hours in the afternoon between the 13:36 and the 16:42. Coming back, the first departure from Leigh-on-Sea station is 09:12 and the last bus reaches the Travel Centre at 18:31.
One trap when you search for these numbers: Stephensons also lists a 17 and 17A in the Debden area, so check that the timetable in front of you is the Southend one before you plan around it.
The 24 runs from the Travel Centre out to Whittingham Avenue in Southchurch, Mondays to Saturdays except public holidays. It is the evening journeys on that route, not the daytime service, that have been given the six-month extension.
Key dates
What it means for you
If you use the 17 or 17A, nothing changes, and that is the point. These are not commercial services. They run because a grant pays for the gap, which means the decision comes round again: this extension runs out in July 2027, and the case for renewing it will be made on how many people are using the buses between now and then.
Take the children out this month while it is free. Children aged 5 to 15 travel free on buses across England from 1 to 31 August, and the council says all three Southend operators are taking part. The government’s own guidance is worth reading before you rely on it: taking part is voluntary for operators, coach services, school-only services and certain airport services are excluded, and councils and operators may add local rules on proof of age and on accompanying younger children. Send an older child out with a school ID card or a travel pass rather than an argument at the door.
Fares after August are capped, for now. Stephensons says it will stay in the £3 national fare cap until March 2027, so a single journey on the 17, 17A or 24 should not cost more than that whatever the distance.
Do not assume the 17 covers a weekend. It does not, and a grant extension does not change that. If you need to get between West Leigh and the city centre on a Saturday, or after about half past six on a weekday, this is not the route. Our Southend roadworks and travel page tracks what is dug up, and the Southend train times to London guide covers the rail connections at Leigh and Chalkwell that the 17 and 17A feed into.
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