Arriva Sapphire

Arriva Sapphire is a premium brand used by various Arriva bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.

History
In February 2013, Arriva announced it would be launching 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 in 2007.

The brand was rolled out initially on four pilot routes:
 * Arriva Buses Wales' route 1 Wrexham to Chester
 * Arriva Midlands' route 31/31a Oadby to Leicester
 * Arriva Shires & Essex's route 280 Aylesbury to Oxford
 * Arriva North East's route 7 Darlington to Durham

In 2014, the brand was rolled out on a further 11 routes with another six scheduled for conversion in late-2015.

In 2015, the Sapphire brand was shortlisted for an award for exemplary commitment to customer excellence at the International Association of Public Transport World Congress & Exhibition.

Routes
There are currently 28 Arriva Sapphire routes. A further route is due to be upgraded in the near future with service 263 launching in April 2016.

Arriva Buses Wales

 * 1 - Wrexham to Chester
 * 10/10A - Chester to Connah's Quay and Holywell
 * 12 - Rhyl to Llandudno

Arriva Midlands

 * 1//2/2E - Huntington to Walsall
 * 31/31A - Oadby to Leicester
 * 38 - Stenson Fields to Derby
 * 110 - Tamworth to Birmingham
 * X3 - Leicester to Market Harborough

Arriva North East

 * 3/4/X3/X3A/X4 - Whitby, Loftus and Lingdale to Middlesbrough
 * 5/5A - Easington to Middlesbrough
 * 6 - Durham to Bishop Auckland and Cockfield
 * 7 - Darlington to Durham
 * 22 - Durham to Sunderland
 * 24/24X - Durham to Hartlepool
 * X21/X22 - Ashington to Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Arriva North West

 * 38 - Crewe to Macclesfield
 * 130 - Manchester to Macclesfield
 * 362 - Chorley to Wigan
 * 575 - Wigan to Bolton
 * X1 - Liverpool to Windmill Hill

Arriva Shires & Essex

 * 6 - Lakes Estate to Wolverton
 * 100/101/102 - Stevenage to Luton
 * 280 - Aylesbury to Oxford
 * 320 - Hemel Hempstead to Rickmansworth
 * 321 - Watford to Luton

Arriva Southern Counties

 * 101 - Gillingham to Maidstone
 * 480/490 - Dartford to Valley Drive

Arriva Yorkshire

 * 110 - Hall Green to Leeds

Future Routes

 * 263 - Altrincham Interchange to Manchester - April 2016

Vehicles
Buses have leather seats, free WiFi, power points 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 and Wright StreetLites. A number of Wright Pulsar/Pulsar 2 vehicles have been refurbished to operate Sapphire routes.