Arriva Sapphire
Arriva Sapphire is a premium brand used by various Arriva bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom. History. In February 2013, Arriva UK Bus ("Arriva") announced that it would launch a premium service under the Sapphire brand for its bus services in the United Kingdom. It is similar to the Stagecoach Gold brand launched by Stagecoach Group ("Stagecoach") in 2007. Arriva initially launched the Sapphire brand on four pilot routes: In 2014, the brand was extended to 11 more routes with another six scheduled for conversion in late 2015. In 2017, Arriva Sapphire was rebranded with a new logo  and livery, in line with the switchover to the new Arriva brand. In 2018, the Arriva Sapphire logo was updated again, to reflect the new brand. In 2019, Arriva Midlands routes 1, 2, 2E running between Walsall and Cannock/Huntington were downgraded to regular buses after six years of Sapphire. Further routes across the country have since been withdrawn or removed from the Sapphire brand. As well as this, no further buses are being delivered in Sapphire specification in favour of the standard Arriva specification which in recent years has become very similar or equal to that of Sapphire. In  recent years, Sapphire-spec buses have occasionally been run on non-Sapphire routes, and regular Arriva buses are also often run on Sapphire routes. Routes. As at January 2022, there were 50 Arriva Sapphire routes. Vehicles. Buses have leather seats, free WiFi, power ports, and a modified two tone blue livery. The initial pilot routes commenced with a mix of refurbished double deck buses and new Wright Pulsar bodied VDL SB200s. Mostly since then, new buses have been purchased, primarily Alexander Dennis Enviro400s, Wright StreetLites and Wright StreetDecks. A number of Wright Pulsar/Pulsar 2 vehicles have been refurbished to  operate Sapphire routes. In 2020 a selection of Optare Versas in Yorkshire were repainted into the new Arriva Sapphire livery.