Stagecoach in East Kent
| Parent | Stagecoach Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Canterbury, Kent |
| Locale | East Kent |
| Service area | Ashford, Faversham, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone, Hastings, Herne Bay, Maidstone, Thanet |
| Service type | bus service |
| Hubs | Ashford, Canterbury, Folkestone, Dover, Hastings, Herne Bay, Margate, Ramsgate |
| Fuel type | Disel and Bio Disel |
| Operator | Stagecoach South East |
| Website | [1] |
Stagecoach in East Kent, which forms part of Stagecoach South East, operate many routes with different route branding. It operates services in towns including Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Deal, Kent, Faversham, Folkestone, Herne Bay, Hythe, Maidstone The county town of Kent, Margate, Sandwich, Ramsgate, The Romney Marsh and Whitstable.
Towns served
In Ashford
Stagecoach is the main bus provider in Ashford and has a garage in the towm. Stagecoach run town services: A, B, C, and E lines and long distance services to Canterbury (1), Tenterden (2, 2A with some connecting to routes 340 and 341 to Hastings.), Folkestone (10, 10A) and Maidstone (10X). Stagecoach also operate the Ashford Designer Outlet (D Line) shuttle bus from Ashford Town Centre to Ashford International station to the Designer Outlet every 15 minutes.[1]
In Canterbury
In Canterbury Stagecoach run local route, City Arrows, and long distance services to Ashford for Tenterden and Hastings (1), Faversham (3 on Sundays connects to 335 to Maidstone), Whitstable (4, 5), Herne Bay (6, 7), Margate (8), Ramsgate (9, 11), Sandwich (13, 14), Dover (15), Deal (13, 14, 15) and Folkestone and Hythe (16, 17). Stagecoach also operate the high profile Canterbury Park and Ride.[2]
In Dover and Deal
Stagecoach also operate in Dover and Deal with Dover having The Heart route around town and Deal has the 82 route. The Diamond network serves most of the area including Canterbury - Dover - Deal - Sandwich - Canterbury. Route 87 and 88 run from Dover to Ramsgate and 89 to Canterbury. Route 91 is a limited service route to Folkestone whilst most people use the frequent Wave 101, 102 service to Folkestone, Hythe New Romney, Lydd-on-Sea, Lydd, Rye and Hastings.
In Faversham
Stagecoach route 3, 3B, 3X run from Canterbury to Faversham town centre every 15 – 20 minutes with services continuing onto either Bysing Woods or to Kiln Court. On Sundays and Public holidays Stagecoach also runs route 335 (which connects to route 3) to Maidstone instead of Arriva Southern Counties route 333. Stagecoach also operate route 638 from Faversham to Whitstable.
Folkestone
Stagecoach run most services in the Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh area including routes 10, 10A, 10X, The Link routes 16, 16A & 17, 18, The Heart routes 71, 72 & 73, 77, 78, The Wave routes 101 & 102, 127 and 160.
Stagecoach in Folkestone
Stagecoach also run Folkestone bus station in the town centre, adjacent to Bouverie Place Shopping Centre. Local buses run every 7-8 minutes to Cheriton and Hythe, every 15 minutes to Cretaway Down, Hawkinge and Romney Marsh and every 30 minutes to East Cliff and Golden Valley.
Bus types in use
- Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart
- Scania N230UD / Alexander Dennis Enviro400 for routes 10, 10A, 10X, 16, 16Am 17, 101, 102
- Dennis Trident 2 / Alexander Dennis Enviro400 10.8m for routes 16, 16A, 17
- Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointer 2
- Volvo Olympian for route 18 and as logical spares
- Optare Solo for routes 71, 72, 73, 77, 78, 160
In Herne Bay
Stagecoach run most services in Herne Bay and Whitstable as well as Canterbury, which has no garage so most services run forom Herne Bay. These routes include The Hop routes 3, 3B & 3X, Triangle routes 4, 4A, 4b, 4X, 6, 6A, 6B & 6X, 5, 7, City Arrow routes 21, 21A, 22, 23, 23A, 25 & 25A, 26, 26A, 36, 335, 638 and Unibus.
Stagecoach in Canterbury
Stagecoach also run local services in Canterbury out of the Herne Bay garage including The Triangle, City Arrows and Unibus service. Stagecoach also run the Canterbury Park and Ride service but from its Dover garage instead.
Bus types in use
- Scania N230UD / Alexander Dennis Enviro400 for The Triangle routes 4, 4A, 4B, 4X, 6, 6A, 6B and 6X
- Bio-fuel, Scania N230UD / Alexander Dennis Enviro400 for the Unibus route.
- Dennis Trident 2 / Alexander ALX400 10.5m for The Hop routes 3, 3B, 3X and for routes 5, 7 and 335.
- Volvo Olympian for routes 5 & 7, School routes and as logical spares
- Optare Solo for City Arrow routes 21, 21A, 22, 23, 23A, 25, 25A and also route 36.
- Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointer City Arrow routes 21, 21A, 22, 23, 23A, 25, 25A and also route 638.
In Maidstone
Maidstone is served by many other bus routes operated by Arriva Southern Counties and Nu-Venture, but Stagecoach run the hourly 10X from Ashford and Folkestone. The route does not serve Chequers bus station but does serve High Street and King Street. Sunday route 335 to Faversham serves the bus station as well as the High Street.
In Thanet
Thanet District Council is a big district including Margate, Broadstairs, Westwood and Ramsgate and nearly all services are run by Stagecoach. Kent Top Travel and Eastonways routes in Thanet have passed over to Stagecoach. The main route in Thanet is the Thanet Loop running every 8-15 mins every day. The Loop has late night services too on weekend nights, finishing at 1pm - 2pm.
In Whitstable
Stagecoach serves Whitstable on the Triangle network running every 10 minutes. Also route 5 runs to serves Canterbury and 638 serves the town from Faversham.
The Triangle Service
The Triangle (4 & 6) routes are a triangular shaped circular routes with 4 running one way round the loop and 6 round the other. The route runs from Canterbury to Whitstable to Herne Bay and back to Canterbury (route 4, 4A, 4B, 4X with each route serving different villages on the way and 6, 6A, 6B & 6X running the other way) every 10 minutes. The service runs every 15 minutes on Sundays. The service is served by branded Scania N230UD/ Alexander Dennis Enviro400.
The Breeze
The Breeze runs every 15 mins (Mon-Sat) and every 30 mins (Sun) between Canterbury and Margate. 2 buses (1 on Sundays) an hour continue to Dumpton Park whilst the others continue to Broadstairs. The services is run by branded Scania N230UD/ Alexander Dennis Enviro400.
The Hop
The Hop service runs between Canterbury and Faversham via Harbledown every 30 minutes (Mon-Sat). The Hop also runs express services every 30 mins to Faversham missing Harbledown and other villages (Mon-Sat). Buses continue from Faversham Town Centre to Bysing Wood Sainsbury's about every 20 mins and Kiln Court hourly (Mon-Sat). On Sundays the route runs hourly serving all villages and continues from Faversham to Maidstone via Bysing Wood, Sittingbourne and Detling (route 335). This service replaces the non Sunday route 333 operated by Arriva Southern Counties. The service runs by branded Dennis Trident 2/ Alexander ALX400.
The Diamond
The Diamond are a Diamond shape circular route forming route 13, 13A and 15, 15A & 15B. The route runs from Canterbury to Dover to Deal to Sandwich and back to Canterbury. The service runs every 15 minutes between Canterbury and Dover via the A2 and Lydden (15, 15A & 15B), with 15B also serving River, Kent. The network continues round to Deal every 30 mins via Walmer (15, 15A) with 15 serving Dover Castle and 15A serving the Port of Dover. At Deal the hourly 15A continues to Sandown. Also at Deal the 15's meet the 13 with the hourly service to Canterbury via Sandwich and Wingham. The hourly 13A runs from Sandwich to Canterbury via Wingham too but also serving Woodnesborough. Other connecting routes include 14 from Canterbury to Walmer via Staple, Ash, Sandwich and Deal. The Deal local route is route 82. The 87 and 88 run between Dover and Ramsgate via Sandwich and the 89 between Dover and Canterbury via Aylesham. The service is run by branded Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 and Alexander Dennis Enviro 300.
The Link
The Link has two routes from Folkestone to Canterbury, one direct which forms routes 16, 16A and one 'Scenic' forming route 17.
The Link Direct: Route 16A runs every half hour from Hythe and then via Sandgate to Folkestone where the half hourly route 16 joins the route providing a 15 minute frequency to Canterbury via Hawkinge, Densole and the A2 to Canterbury. The service runs hourly on Sunday and also serves Bridge.
The Link Scenic: Route 17 runs hourly every day (less frequent on Sunday) from Folkestone to Canterbury via Cheriton, Etchinghill, Lyminge, Elham, Elham Valley, Barham, Kingston and Bridge
The Wave Service
Stagecoach in East Kent and Stagecoach in Hastings operates The Wave 100, 101 and 102 service running every 15 minutes between New Romney and Dover via Folkestone, Hythe and Dymchurch. Two 101 buses an hour continue from New Romney to Lydd via Lydd Airport. One of thse 101 services continue hourly as a 100 to Conquest Hospital via Camber, Rye and Hastings Town Centre. One hourly 102 bus continues from New Romney (the other termenating at New Romney) to Greatstone-on-Sea and Lydd-on-Sea. There is also limited service between Lydd-on-Sea and Lydd. On Sundays and Public Holidays the route is less frequent running every 30 minutes between Dover and New Romney and hourly to Lydd and 2 hourly to Hastings and hourly to Lydd-on-Sea. Route 100 buses get into Hastings, Hastings Railway station|Rail Station]] just before The Wave 99 service to Bexhill-on-Sea and Eastbourne. The service is run by branded Scania N230UD/ Alexander Dennis Enviro 400.
The Thanet Loop service
The Thanet loop is Stagecoach and Thanet most frequent route and Thanet's main route. Just like the Thanet Stars service the Thanet Loop links up Thanet Towns and Villages. The Thanet Loop is a massive Loop incorporating Margate, Westwood, Westwood Cross, Ramsgate and Broadstairs. The route runs in both directions about every 7 minutes Monday to Saturday and eery 10 mins on Sunday. The Loop has late night services too on weekend nights, finishing at 1pm - 2pm. The service is run by branded Alexander Dennis Enviro 200.
Unibus
The Unibus service is for all of the public although it is the University of Kent dedicated bus. The service runs every 7-8 mins term time All days and every 15 mins non term time on Monday to Saturday only. The service uses Scania N230UD/ Alexander Dennis Enviro400 running on bio-fuel from Chip Oil and Lard. Also the buses have free wi-fi on board to.[3] There are special Unirider tickets too.[4]
Canterbury Park and Ride
Stagecoach run the Monday to Saturday Canterbury Park and Ride services running every 8 mins to the city centre and 20 mins to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital. All these buses have free wi-fi on board. Once services stop running, tickets can be used on certain Stagecoach services to the Park and Ride site.[5] The service is run by branded Alexander Dennis Enviro 300 and Alexander Dennis Enviro 400.
Other Main Routes
- 1: Ashford to Canterbury via Wye
- 2: Ashford to Tenterden
- 5: Canterbury to Whitstable
- 7: Canterbury to Herne Bay
- 9: Canterbury to Westwood via Ramsgate
- 10: Folkestone to Ashford via Hythe
- 10X: Ashford to Maidstone via Lenham
- 11: Ashfird to Lydd via Hamstreet
- 11: Canterbury to Westwood via Manston
- 12: Canterbury to Deal via A2
- 14: Canterbury to Deal
- 18: Canterbury to Hythe
- 36: Herne Bay to Margate
- 87, 88: Ramsgate to Dover
- 89: Canterbury to Dover
- 91: Folkestone to Dover
- 638: Faversham to Whitstable
Other transport links
Stagecoach provide buses to many of Southeastern train stations for services across Kent and to London.
Stagecoach provide joint bus and rail tickets with the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway [6] at The Wave service meets the railway at Hythe, New Romney and Romney Sands in the Romney Sands Holiday Park. The Wave also serve Dymchurch (for sandy beach and family fun fair), St. Mary's Bay and Romney Warren, where the railway has stations a short walk away. The Wave also serves Lydd-on-Sea for the popular The Pilot Inn restaurant next to a railway crossing. Also a short walk from the Pilot Inn is Dungeness where there is another station, lighthouses, famous cottages, fishing beach, Nature Reserve and what is classified as the UK's only desert. Other routes serving stations include 10, 11, 16 & 160.
Stagecoach also serve Ashford International station for Eurostar services to Paris and Brussels as well as domestic high speed services to London.
Stagecoach serve The Port of Dover for Ferry services to France and Belgium
Stagecoach serves Lydd Airport from Ashford (11 Ashford - Lydd), Hastings (100), Folkestone and Dover (101).
Please also note there are two route 11 operated by Stagecoach. One 11 runs from Ashford to Romney Marsh via Hamstreet whilst the other runs from Canterbury to Westwood Cross via Ramsgate.
References
- ^ by Bus, Ashford Outlet getting here. "Ashford Designer Outlet".
- ^ new contract awarded to Stagecoach, Canterbury Park and Ride. "New Contract to Stagecoach".
- ^ Unibus page, Stagecoach. "Unibus info".
- ^ Unirider page, Stagecoach bus. "Unirider tickets".
- ^ Park and Ride, Canterbury City Council. "Canterbury council info".
- ^ PDF, RHDR Guide. "RHDR Guide" (PDF).