KCC have awarded Erith Contractors Ltd an £18.6m contract to deliver the BSIP-backed Bean Road Underpass between Bluewater and Whitecliffe, which will form part of the Fastrack network on completion.
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Kent Thameside Fastrack & Kent Country (Go-Ahead London)
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By coincidence I visited Bluewater on the recent Fastrack 20th anniversary Running Day last Saturday. The most unexpected sighting for me was an e.City Gold - previously 1515 of Transport UK, now 6515 in Go Bus yellow & purple!
Where the current fleet of electric buses is concerned there's still no sign of a tender notice for the Dartford charging hub that received planning permission 6 months ago. At this rate we may have to wait until 2028 for the Irizars to be fully utilised.
Infrastructure-wise the commencement of Bean Road Underpass works was marked by a ceremony last month. More details in the monthly newsletter quoted below.
Where the current fleet of electric buses is concerned there's still no sign of a tender notice for the Dartford charging hub that received planning permission 6 months ago. At this rate we may have to wait until 2028 for the Irizars to be fully utilised.
Infrastructure-wise the commencement of Bean Road Underpass works was marked by a ceremony last month. More details in the monthly newsletter quoted below.
SeveerYeliab
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It is being reported on Facebook that Kent Country have won a number of KCC tenders from 26th June/1st August 2026, which will see quite a large expansion of PVR. Sadly, this means that Redroute buses lose all of their service work, and I believe a number of school services from September.
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Lynford1976
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It is being reported on Facebook that Kent Country have won a number of KCC tenders from 26th June/1st August 2026, which will see quite a large expansion of PVR. Sadly, this means that Redroute buses lose all of their service work, and I believe a number of school services from September.
According to bustimes.org, Redroute's schoolday-only routes have gone as well:
- 408 to Go Bus
- 418W to 1st Bus Stop (as 418).
Exact details are (unsurprisingly) difficult to come by, but the general consensus is that services were retendered (306/308/416/417) at Redroute's request, as was giving up the remaining services (408/418W). They were not on the original tendering program for this summer, and were added (and awarded) at short notice, hence why they begin on 29th June, rather than 1 August in line with the other services.
Some may remember that Redroute had registered all the "public" services a year or two ago, before re-winning the tender.
The Gravesend - Bluewater section is a commercial enhancement to the KCC contract south of Gravesend.
I haven’t tried out these services they have recently won yet, but I am impressed with the publicity by Go-Ahead here. The social media is decent, and they actually reply to people. Not so much of the corporate nonsense you often get from Arriva and Stagecoach either.
It is good to see the commercial extensions to Bluewater which might help to make the services more useful. I guess they are also good for operational reasons, with driver changeovers and breaks at Bluewater. The 416 extension to Bluewater is clearly not going to be much use to people due to the timings, but passengers on the 308 and 417 could get a decent shopping trip in.
I have seen some social media commentary wondering why these Bluewater extensions can’t apply on Saturdays too. That’s understandable, but there’s only so much Go-Ahead can do.
There’s also a few comments about the age of the vehicles. I don’t understand why some are so concerned about the age - I’ve always thought it’s the cleanliness and comfort that matters far more than age. Last year I went on a 2004 registered Volvo up north, and it was a lovely vehicle because it was clean and comfortable. Kent Country have tended to refresh / refurbish vehicles, so I’m not sure what the issue is. Especially compared to the state of the vehicles previous operator Redroute ran, as well as the state of the Darts that Arriva Northfleet are still running.
It is good to see the commercial extensions to Bluewater which might help to make the services more useful. I guess they are also good for operational reasons, with driver changeovers and breaks at Bluewater. The 416 extension to Bluewater is clearly not going to be much use to people due to the timings, but passengers on the 308 and 417 could get a decent shopping trip in.
I have seen some social media commentary wondering why these Bluewater extensions can’t apply on Saturdays too. That’s understandable, but there’s only so much Go-Ahead can do.
There’s also a few comments about the age of the vehicles. I don’t understand why some are so concerned about the age - I’ve always thought it’s the cleanliness and comfort that matters far more than age. Last year I went on a 2004 registered Volvo up north, and it was a lovely vehicle because it was clean and comfortable. Kent Country have tended to refresh / refurbish vehicles, so I’m not sure what the issue is. Especially compared to the state of the vehicles previous operator Redroute ran, as well as the state of the Darts that Arriva Northfleet are still running.
Put a few 'select' registration plates on, and few people would know the difference between a refurbed bus and a new one.
markymark2000
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The times to/from Bluewater look to match up perfectly in line with driver changeovers to save on shunt cars to/from Gravesend and so I commend them on making the extensions.
As for why it's not done on Saturdays, i'd strongly presume it's because the 416 and 417 drop from 2 buses Mon-Fri down to 1 bus on Saturdays and the bus duty, looks to work to make it a pretty 1 bus, 1 driver situation with the breaks built in. To add more there would mean more resources for little gain. Though if the Monday-Friday kicks off, then who knows what is to come?
Turns out I was dead wrong - most of the Irizars are tracking today and there are just five Citaros left in the fleet, which wouldn't be possible without the Dartford hub being operational.
In hindsight it was obvious the VEV infrastructure contract covered the whole scheme and not just one hub, so there was never a need for another tender. I'm just glad my pessimism was way off the mark.
Turns out I was dead wrong - most of the Irizars are tracking today and there are just five Citaros left in the fleet, which wouldn't be possible without the Dartford hub being operational.
In hindsight it was obvious the VEV infrastructure contract covered the whole scheme and not just one hub, so there was never a need for another tender. I'm just glad my pessimism was way off the mark.
The Dartford Hub is not yet operational. (See bustimes tracking; the A service stops short at Dartford Station).
That said, the works are ongoing at the present moment, and in the last month or so things at Acacia Hall have moved from a large hole in the ground to a resurfaced road with three chargers installed, so a start of service is probably expected within the next month or so, once testing takes place.
A number of journeys seem to take a vehicle swap at the depot, which allows more Irizars to be used.
Of note, the tarmac at the Gravesend chargers now has a number of deep indentations (a good inch below road level), where it appears the tarmac had a "melting moment" in the recent heatwaves, with vehicles always needing to line up in the same place. There is a very noticeable jolt as the bus has to force it's way out of the dip, over the lump created where the tarmac has pushed forwards and onto the road proper... I thought we'd hit the kerb last week!
Thanks for the clarification. I didn't know they'd found a way to improve Irizar utilisation beyond the previous interim state (17 out of 28) inferred by the planning docs in post #58 whilst still waiting on Acacia Hall.