Stagecoach South & South East

[aswilliamsuk]

Sorry for the pedantry, but 1 of the two trains per hour continues to Margate via Ramsgate (the HS Service), although it is often turned early at Ramsgate during disruption and can be quite busy.

Sorry, you are correct! But the point stands that the rail link between Margate and Canterbury isn't remotely enough for the demand, hence why the buses do so well.

 

[Trainguy34]

Sorry, you are correct! But the point stands that the rail link between Margate and Canterbury isn't remotely enough for the demand, hence why the buses do so well.

Agreed; I did wonder if it would be worth extending the stopping service to Margate but it would run pretty much entirely in the path of another train (Ramsgate - Victoria via Faversham), of which there is currently a 4 minute cross-platform interchange into.

From my experience, the 8 series of buses does seem to be very well used, arguably more so then the Triangle series (The other trunk route Stagecoach East Kent run), despite it taking close to an hour compared to the 33 minutes of the SE HighSpeed service.

 

[izvor]

As you note, Ramsgate-Canterbury has a frequent train service which is likely the reason a bus struggles

Well, it's only 2tph and not very well spaced, but the point stands. A #9 service has been on and off over the years, and often required a connection at Sarre, so it was clearly the minor partner to the #8 group to Margate which serves a larger population (Bircchington etc.). In my view, extending 1bph on the 43 from Sandwich to Ramsgate (as apparently proposed) makes a lot of sense.

Having had occasion to use the Loop recently, it is exceptionally busy around the route as it smartly links everywhere it needs to.

Yes but it cries out for dual-door buses in my opinion! So much needless dwell time at stops.

 

[NeilCr]

Well, it's only 2tph and not very well spaced, but the point stands. A #9 service has been on and off over the years, and often required a connection at Sarre, so it was clearly the minor partner to the #8 group to Margate which serves a larger population (Bircchington etc.). In my view, extending 1bph on the 43 from Sandwich to Ramsgate (as apparently proposed) makes a lot of sense.

I agree

The bus will serve the other end of Canterbury’s main drag to the train which is very useful for some of us. I, too, like the idea of the extension of the 43. It will be interesting to see the actual route

My partners son used to work for Stagecoach and drove the 9 between Ramsgate and Canterbury. He did say that the (vast) majority of passengers had bus passes.

I am on the Loop route and use it a lot. It’s really good - the main issues (as elsewhere I’m sure) revolve around the large amount of roadworks there are in Thanet at the moment and the consequent diversions. As others have said services are much poorer for the villages etc

The spacing of the trains at Canterbury West is slightly irritating. There are two trains in 20 minutes and then a 40 minute gap. Nothing awful though!

 

[alex397]

There is an hourly train service between Margate and Canterbury, but the 8/8A/8X is much more useful for those in Westgate, Birchington and various other places. At 4 buses per hour, and stopping closer to town/city centres than the train does, the bus is more attractive for many.

With the Canterbury-Sandwich corridor being extended to Thanet, this has been done before a few years ago. The 43 was extended to Ramsgate and Westwood Cross. It didn’t last though, and I can’t recall the reasoning.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Aug 2026 ==

Yes but it cries out for dual-door buses in my opinion! So much needless dwell time at stops.

Indeed. This is especially irritating when the bus has a standing load, when it’s awkward for people to get off.
I know the reasons why we persist with single door operation on routes like this but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Yes but it cries out for dual-door buses in my opinion! So much needless dwell time at stops.

Indeed. This is especially irritating when the bus has a standing load, when it’s awkward for people to get off.
I know the reasons why we persist with single door operation on routes like this but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Even in the days of dual door vehicles of the 1960s/1970s, East Kent Road Car never bought dual door vehicles AFAIK. The only ones they ever had were for Hoverspeed transfers for which secondhand vehicles were purchased.

 

[LUYMun]

In the past week Aldershot's new Yutong buses have entered service on the 20 to Guildford with (excepting 83001) 83002-09 seeing service. There has also been a few allocated onto the former Gold 1 route, sticking to the normal route.

 

[MotCO]

There has also been a few allocated onto the former Gold 1 route, sticking to the normal route.

Why shouldn't it? Low bridges?

 

[DunsBus]

Why shouldn't it? Low bridges?

There was concern that the Yutongs were potentially too heavy for the canal bridge in Queen's Avenue.

 

[MotCO]

There was concern that the Yutongs were potentially too heavy for the canal bridge in Queen's Avenue.

Thanks - makes sense

 

[NeilCr]

Re previous posts on the cuts/changes to bus routes in Thanet the 9 and 32 are now "saved". Guessing KCC may be contributing? Plus 9 may be run by another operator

Stagecoach confirms Thanet bus services 9 and 32 have been saved

Exclusive Stagecoach bus operator has confirmed that Thanet’s no 9 and 32 routes have been saved from cuts. Last month it was revealed that Stagecoach had notified Kent County Council that it…

theisleofthanetnews.com

 

[izvor]

Re previous posts on the cuts/changes to bus routes in Thanet the 9 and 32 are now "saved". Guessing KCC may be contributing? Plus 9 may be run by another operator

The 11 has already gone to Regent Coaches so maybe it can be linked in with the 9 somehow?

It's good news, though maybe Stagecoach were just "testing the water". They still say the 34 will be curtailed at Westwood, but not from which direction! Not sure if this has been picked up by the protestors.

 

[D400.50050]

In the past week Aldershot's new Yutong buses have entered service on the 20 to Guildford with (excepting 83001) 83002-09 seeing service. There has also been a few allocated onto the former Gold 1 route, sticking to the normal route.

83001 to 83009, 83011 and 83017 now in service. The 20 getting majority of allocation at the moment and the 1 getting a couple if available.

 

[telstarbox]

Is there a map of the proposed changes anywhere please?

 

[Surreyman]

83001 to 83009, 83011 and 83017 now in service. The 20 getting majority of allocation at the moment and the 1 getting a couple if available.

I have seen one of these with a simple route 20 diagram on the lower rear panel and a tagline indicating that they are funded by Surrey County council( Aldershot is in Hampshire but most of route 20 is in Surrey. Note Route 1 is aprox 50/50 Surrey/Hampshire so I don't know how the funding support works there?

 

[alex397]

It's good news, though maybe Stagecoach were just "testing the water". They still say the 34 will be curtailed at Westwood, but not from which direction! Not sure if this has been picked up by the protestors.

It will be interesting to see some clarity on this, as if true (the media arn’t exactly know for their accuracy, especially when it comes to buses), that either means the Newington Estate will lose a bus service or the Dane Valley Estate. Both are very deprived areas. Unless other routes will be diverted there. We shall see when updates are given.

Is there a map of the proposed changes anywhere please?

Changes for where? Thanet?

Stagecoach don’t really do maps anymore sadly.

 

[Man of Kent]

The 11 has already gone to Regent Coaches so maybe it can be linked in with the 9 somehow?

It's good news, though maybe Stagecoach were just "testing the water". They still say the 34 will be curtailed at Westwood, but not from which direction! Not sure if this has been picked up by the protestors.

The 34 will run between Margate and Westwood Cross. The 44 will start at Westwood Cross and run via Newington, Ramsgate and Sandwich to Canterbury.

 

[alex397]

The 34 will run between Margate and Westwood Cross. The 44 will start at Westwood Cross and run via Newington, Ramsgate and Sandwich to Canterbury.

Interesting to read, thanks.

I’m not sure of the logic of extending a Canterbury-Sandwich service up to Thanet to then act as a local service. It won’t do much for reliability, considering that Westwood Cross is an American-style car-centric retail park with the associated traffic chaos, and that the Newington Eatate is difficult to run buses around due to the poor car parking and road layout. I wonder if this will last as long as the 43’s extension to Westwood Cross a few years back.

 

[izvor]

Stagecoach don’t really do maps anymore sadly.

Well they updated their Thanet map for the 2024 reductions, though bizarrely it shows the date as 2019.
https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/ZoneMaps/South East/Thanet Network Map 280822MS copy.pdf

The 34 will run between Margate and Westwood Cross.

Thanks. Might as well run it to Garlinge then, it's not far up the road from Margate station.

The 44 will start at Westwood Cross and run via Newington, Ramsgate and Sandwich to Canterbury.

I’m not sure of the logic of extending a Canterbury-Sandwich service up to Thanet to then act as a local service. It won’t do much for reliability, considering that Westwood Cross is an American-style car-centric retail park with the associated traffic chaos, and that the Newington Eatate is difficult to run buses around due to the poor car parking and road layout. I wonder if this will last as long as the 43’s extension to Westwood Cross a few years back.

Fair points. Makes sense from the depot location, but it does make you wonder if they are trying to do too much with one service. I don't have much faith in their network planning I'm afraid.

 

[NeilCr]

The 34 will run between Margate and Westwood Cross. The 44 will start at Westwood Cross and run via Newington, Ramsgate and Sandwich to Canterbury.

Thanks from me too

I presume the 44 will follow the 34 route into Ramsgate from Newington. Along Paragon, up Leopold Street and then down Westcliff Road heading for Sandwich

I agree this could be messy. Newington is not fun to drive a bus through

I used to get the 9 into Canterbury (I live on Westcliff Road) to volunteer and was hoping to do the same with the 44 but I fear that it may be too unreliable

We shall see!

 

[camperdown9]

Service 11 passes to Regent Coaches and service 36 passes to YKS Travel. The Sunday 5 passes to I think YMS. Also Stagecoach lose some school routes in Ashford, passing to R&J and Chalkwell.

Didn't someone other than stagecoach operate the 5 Sunday services a few years ago?

The following is the schedule for weekdays in term time from Canterbury. I am sure there used to be a 1250. Bit of a gap from 1350-1750. The 914-197 services are i'm guessing school buses?

0955
1155
1350
1517 (915)
1556 (917)
1603 (916)
1615 (914)
1750

 

[alex397]

Didn't someone other than stagecoach operate the 5 Sunday services a few years ago?

The following is the schedule for weekdays in term time from Canterbury. I am sure there used to be a 1250. Bit of a gap from 1350-1750. The 914-197 services are i'm guessing school buses?

0955
1155
1350
1517 (915)
1556 (917)
1603 (916)
1615 (914)
1750

Yes, as the 5 is a KCC contract on Sundays (the Mon-Sat is commercial) other operators have had the contract. In the last 10 years or so, Chalkwell and Regent Coaches have operated it. The latest YMS timetable has an extra journey added in each direction, which means the Sunday operation is for some people better than weekdays! For example, the first Seasalter bound journey is 0800 rather than 0955*, and the last Canterbury bound journey is 1800 rather than 1631!
* A short journey does start at 09.33 from South Tankerton to Seasalter.

To add to your list, there is also a 1520 and 1610 on weekdays during school holidays. On schooldays, the schoolday buses 914 etc are open to the public so non-school kids do use them.

 

[DelW]

83001 to 83009, 83011 and 83017 now in service. The 20 getting majority of allocation at the moment and the 1 getting a couple if available.

012 was in Guildford bus station at midday today.

 

[fgwrich]

Having swung past the depot tonight on the way home from work, it appears that Trident 18503 KX06LYV and Trident II / Enviro 400 19364 MX08UDT are both sat with logos painted out and looking sorry for themselves.

Another two Trident / Trident IIs down.

 

[D400.50050]

012 was in Guildford bus station at midday today.

Indeed it was, first day out along with 83010 which was on the 1.

So 83001-83012 & 017 have been out. Just 8 more to grace us with their presence. (013-16 & 18-21)

 

[alex397]

Stagecoach have published the Thanet and Dover changes from Sunday 20th September:
https://www.stagecoachbus.com/news/...-dover-network-changes-from-20-september-2026

Changes to bus services in Thanet & Dover from Sunday 20 September 2026​

24 Aug 2026
From Sunday 20 September 2026, there will be changes to some routes and timetables across Thanet and Dover.
We've reviewed the network to help improve reliability and punctuality across Thanet and Dover. This review will see changes to school journeys based on customer feedback, a number of new services and minor timetable changes on some routes.
In some areas, services have been revised to reflect current passenger numbers and help improve journeys across the wider network.
Find an overview of the changes and links to the new timetables below.
Use our Journey Planner or download the Stagecoach Bus App to help plan your journey based on the below changes.
Scroll table horizontally to view table content

Route	Where it goes	Change	Link to new timetable
8 / 8A / 8X	Westwood Cross - Canterbury	The 06:53 journey on route 8 / 8X to Canterbury Monday to Friday will be extended to serve Westwood Cross. The 07:26 8A journey to Northdown Park will be revised to terminate at Birchington Rail Station.	Check back for new timetable
9 / 9X	Westwood - Canterbury	Another operator will run the off peak route 9 service on behalf of KCC. 9X journeys will not change.	Check back for new timetable
18	Canterbury - Hythe	Following customer feedback, the 07:11 school day journey will be extended to start at Seabrook Fountain at 07:00.	Check back for new timetable
32	Margate - Minnis Bay	This service will continue the current timetable and frequency, supported by KCC.	Check back for new timetable
34	Ramsgate - Margate Rail Station	The 34 timetable has been reviewed and will now operate between Margate Cecil Square, Dane Valley & Westwood Cross hourly. The current section of the route between Westwood Cross and Ramsgate will now be covered by the new route 44.	Check back for new timetable
43 / 43A / 44	43 - St Anselm's School Grounds - Sandwich Guildhall 43A - Canterbury - Sandwich Guildhall 44 - Canterbury - Westwood Cross	The current morning journey between Eastry and Canterbury will be renumbered 989. The current Discovery Park journeys running as service 43 will be renumbered 44 and extended to Westwood Cross via Cliffsend, Ramsgate and Newington. The above journey will include stops currently on the 45/45A which will no longer run. The new 44 route will go directly through the centre of Newington then via New Haine Road and Sainsbury's to Westwood Cross. Between service 43 and 44, the frequency between Canterbury and Sandwich remains every 30 minutes.	Check back for new timetable Click here for the new 44 route map Click here for the Ramsgate to Westwood Cross section of the 44 route map
45 / 45A	Broadstairs - Dumpton - Ramsgate - Discovery Park - Sandwich	This service will be withdrawn and replaced by service 44 between Ramsgate and Sandwich, as outlined above. The 07:41 current 45 service from Westwood Cross and the 15:40 from Sandwich Tech on school days only will be renumbered 945.	Check back for new timetable
63	Dover town centre - Tower Hamlets - Elms Vale - Dover town centre	Minor timetable changes.	Check back for new timetable
65	Dover town centre - Aycliffe - Dover town centre	Service reduced from half hourly to hourly and revised to terminate at Priory Street.	Check back for new timetable
81	Dover - Sandwich	Revised timetable for reliability.	Check back for new timetable
944	Cliffsend - Dane Court School	Services delayed 15 minutes in order to better serve Ursuline College.	Check back for new timetable
945	Ramsgate - Sandwich	New service replacing the current 45A 07:41 from Westwood Cross and return 15:40 from Sandwich Tech.	Check back for new timetable
946	Margate - Broadstairs	Revised to start at 07:15 and to operate via Newington.	Check back for new timetable
989	Eastry Old Hospital - Canterbury	New service replacing the current 44 07:16 from Eastry to Canterbury.	Check back for new timetable

In addition, I’ve also seen a new registration for route 26 from Canterbury to Broad Oak from 28th September. It has been a political issue since buses were withdrawn from the village when the 7 was withdrawn a few years ago, though I would be very surprised if this new route was commercial. While some of the small village is certainly a long walk to the main road, a lot of it is within easy walking distance of the frequent 600/601/602.
Presumably it will make use of the new roundabout on the main road built for a housing estate.

https://bustimes.org/registrations/PK0000098/465

26 - Canterbury to Broad Oak​

Registration numberPK0000098/465TypeNormal StoppingAuthoritiesKent County Council

Variation history​

1. • Received14 Aug 26
   • Effective28 Sep 26
   • 
     
     New Service

Powered by Traffic Commissioners’ local bus service registration data

 

[izvor]

Stagecoach have published the Thanet and Dover changes from Sunday 20th September:

Thanks. So Newington and Dane Valley see their frequency halved to hourly, pretty appalling for large housing estates.

And if the Loop remains unchanged, Newington will have double the frequency evenings and Sundays than Weekday daytimes! Timetables awaited...

 

[Peter Philips]

Thanks. So Newington and Dane Valley see their frequency halved to hourly, pretty appalling for large housing estates.

And if the Loop remains unchanged, Newington will have double the frequency evenings and Sundays than Weekday daytimes! Timetables awaited...

Back in the 1990s the good bus territory of Newington still enjoyed a 10 minute frequency to Ramsgate on the 33 (and half hourly, before a reduction to hourly, through to Margate via Stirling Way, Allenby Road, Westwood & the old hospital), whilst the Dane Valley-Garlinge 32 ran every 15 minutes. Both were busy routes as well (at that time allocated Merc 709Ds).

 

[alex397]

Thanks. So Newington and Dane Valley see their frequency halved to hourly, pretty appalling for large housing estates.

Thanet does seem a bus lottery - some are lucky to live near the Loop, a highly frequent service running daily from early until late but other areas (which include large housing estates) have a rubbish service in comparison.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Wednesday at 09:04 ==

Back in the 1990s the good bus territory of Newington still enjoyed a 10 minute frequency to Ramsgate on the 33 (and half hourly, before a reduction to hourly, through to Margate via Stirling Way, Allenby Road, Westwood & the old hospital), whilst the Dane Valley-Garlinge 32 ran every 15 minutes. Both were busy routes as well (at that time allocated Merc 709Ds).

They should still be busy routes really, as like you say these estates are good bus territory. It’s not as if they are estates of large detached houses. The Thanet Loop is a very busy route, and there are some other areas of Thanet that should probably have a similar level of service. Not as frequent as the loop, but Newington and Dane Valley should really have a 15/20 min frequency.

Another point is that Newington will now be served by a long inter-urban route, which will have to deal with traffic in the Canterbury area. So not only will it be hourly, it will be more likely to be unreliable too.

To end on the positive though, the new 44 does restore a bus link from Ramsgate to Canterbury, which some have campaigned for.
.

 

[duncombec]

Thanks. So Newington and Dane Valley see their frequency halved to hourly, pretty appalling for large housing estates.

Back in the 1990s the good bus territory of Newington still enjoyed a 10 minute frequency to Ramsgate on the 33 (and half hourly, before a reduction to hourly, through to Margate via Stirling Way, Allenby Road, Westwood & the old hospital), whilst the Dane Valley-Garlinge 32 ran every 15 minutes. Both were busy routes as well (at that time allocated Merc 709Ds).

They should still be busy routes really, as like you say these estates are good bus territory. It’s not as if they are estates of large detached houses.

The question to be asked here is "are they still good bus territory?" And even if passenger numbers are reasonable, what is access like (e.g. parked cars?). I will admit I haven't used these routes (bit too far away from me for a random housing estate tour), but has anyone commenting done so, to give some idea of passenger numbers? Being aware, of course, that one person's "rammed" is another person's "never anyone on when I see it".

To take another example from elsewhere in Kent, on a pure "social strata" aspect, the Isle of Sheppey should be "good bus territory" - in fact, it's awful, and has been for decades.