Local bus company Arriva Yorkshire is pleased to announce the launch of Yorkshire’s first ever Sapphire service. These 17 new premium Sapphire buses sparkled into service on the 110 route today, as part of a £3.8m investment.

The incredible display of the 17 brand new double decker vehicles were officially unveiled yesterday at  8:30pm at The Tetley, Leeds. The glamourous Chloe Sims from The Only Way Is Essex made a public appearance in an event open to the public which featured free goodies, a firework performance, and a spectacular show from the world’s only Electro mirrored ball violinist.

The Sapphire buses are a new concept from Arriva offering customers a first-class journey experience. All vehicles are equipped with free WiFi, power points to charge phones and laptops, audio visual stop annunciation and extra-comfy e-leather seating for customers.

At the event Arriva Yorkshire’s dedicated Sapphire bus drivers were there to greet customers and guests with some great giveaways, information and over £2,000 worth of free taster tickets.

Dirk Mischendahl at The Tetley, said: “It’s fantastic that Arriva chose The Tetley, one of Leeds’ newest venues, to host the launch of Sapphire. The Tetley offers unique and versatile spaces allowing us to deliver and support events of this scale. This was a milestone celebration for Arriva and we are pleased to help them launch such an important contribution to public transport for our community”

Nigel Featham, regional managing director for Arriva Yorkshire said: Nigel Featham, regional managing director for Arriva Yorkshire said: “The Sapphire brand brings a whole new concept in bus travel to West Yorkshire and, with it, a fantastic journey experience for travellers. The buses have luxury leather seats, free Wi-Fi, audible next stop announcement systems, a dedicated team of drivers and satellite vehicle tracking systems which will help ensure excellent levels of reliability and punctuality.  They really will add sparkle to people’s every day journeys!  And with departures every 10 minutes on the route, the service will offer very high levels of convenience.  We put a huge amount of research into to developing the Sapphire brand and are confident it will attract even more people to use the excellent network of bus services we have in the region”.