 Wright StreetLite at Bluewater bus station in December 2014 | |
| Parent | Arriva UK Bus |
|---|---|
| Service area | Kent |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Depots | 1 |
Arriva Kent Thameside Limited, [1] trading as Arriva Kent Thameside, is a bus operator based in north-west Kent, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. The company operates services in Northfleet, Gravesend & Dartford as part of the Arriva Southern Counties division from their Northfleet depot.
Northfleet depot runs a mixture of commercial and tendered services in Dartford, Gravesend and surrounding areas.
Northfleet currently operate the following bus services: [2]
| Route | Start | End |
|---|---|---|
| 414 | Dartford [lower-alpha 1] | Horton Kirby |
| Sapphire 470 | Dartford | Gravesend |
| 477 | Orpington | Dartford |
| Sapphire 480 | Dartford | Gravesend |
| Sapphire 480A | Gravesend | Riverview Park |
| 481 | Gravesend [lower-alpha 2] | Riverview Park |
| 483 | Bluewater | Kings Farm |
| 489 | Gravesend | New Ash Green |
| Sapphire 490 | Bluewater | Gravesend |
| Sapphire 490A | Gravesend | Valley Drive |
| 497 | Temple Hill | Ebbsfleet Academy |
| Fastrack A [3] | Dartford | Bluewater |
| Fastrack AZ | Amazon LCY3 | Dartford or Gravesend |
| Fastrack B [3] | Temple Hill | Gravesend |
Northfleet also run the ArrivaClick demand responsive service which covers Darent Valley Hospital, Bluewater, Greenhithe, Swanscombe and Ebbsfleet Valley [4] using Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vehicles.
As of July 2023, the Arriva Kent Thameside fleet consists of approximately 54 vehicles.
The fleet consists mainly of Wright StreetLite, Dennis Dart Plaxton Pointer, Dennis Dart Caetano Nimbus, Alexander Dennis Enviro200 and Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC buses. [5]
The current Arriva corporate livery is light blue across the whole of the vehicle with a pale blue and white stripe at the front of the bus. [6]
This is currently replacing the previous corporate livery which was aquamarine with a cream "cow-horn" at the front with a dark blue skirt. This livery can still be found on many older Arriva Kent Thameside vehicles.
The current Arriva Sapphire livery uses the same light blue colour across the majority of the bus although the front of the bus is dark blue with a white and silver stripe separating the two colours. Arriva Kent Thameside operate Sapphire liveried buses on routes 480 and 490 which contain branding for the two services. [7]
As well as the corporate and Sapphire liveries, the buses used on the Fastrack routes A and B have their own specialist livery.
The buses use a purple base livery with a light and dark blue shimmer effect towards the rear with the Fastrack logo on the front, sides and rear of the bus.
The Fastrack services replaced route 100. The buses on this route used the specialist Bluewater livery in March 1999. This was allover blue, with a water shimmer effect. The service using this livery were replaced by Fastrack on 26 March 2006. [8] In November 2024, Go Ahead London will be taking over the Fastrack routes which will introduce electric buses.
Dartford railway station serves the town of Dartford in Kent, England. It is 17 miles 12 chains (27.6 km) down the line from London Charing Cross. Train services from the station are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink. Southeastern also manages the station. Dartford is a major interchange station in the North Kent region of the Southeastern network. Ticket barriers control access to the platforms.
Metrobus Limited, trading as Metrobus, is a bus operator with routes in parts of Surrey, Kent, Sussex, and Greater London. Formed through a management buyout in 1983, Metrobus was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group in September 1999.
Swanscombe /ˈswɒnzkəm/ is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is 4.4 miles west of Gravesend and 4.8 miles east of Dartford.
Northfleet is a town in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. It is located immediately west of Gravesend, and on the border with the Borough of Dartford. Northfleet has its own railway station on the North Kent Line, just east of Ebbsfleet International railway station on the High Speed 1 line.
Greenhithe is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is located 4 miles east of Dartford and 5 miles west of Gravesend.
Southfleet is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Dartford in Kent, England. The village is located three miles southwest of Gravesend, while the parish includes within its boundaries the hamlets of Betsham and Westwood.
Greenhithe railway station serves the village of Greenhithe in north Kent and Bluewater Shopping Centre. It is 19 miles 69 chains (32 km) down the line from London Charing Cross.
Northfleet railway station serves the town of Northfleet in the Borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. It is 21 miles 69 chains (35.2 km) down the line from London Charing Cross. Train services are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink.
Arriva Southern Counties Limited, trading as Arriva Southern Counties, is a bus operator in Kent, Essex, Hemel Hempstead, and Watford in England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.
Blue Triangle Buses Limited, trading as Go-Ahead London, is a bus company operating services in East London. The Blue Triangle brand is a subsidiary of Go-Ahead London and operates most of its services under contract to Transport for London. It is the operator of the East London Transit service.
Ebbsfleet International railway station is in Ebbsfleet Valley, Kent, 10 miles east of London, England, near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend to the east. The station, part of the Thames Gateway urban regeneration project, is on the High Speed 1 (HS1) rail line, 400 metres south-west of Northfleet railway station, off the A2 trunk road, 5 mi (8.0 km) from its junction with the M25 motorway. It served as a primary park-and-rail service for the London 2012 Olympics.
London Buses route 96 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London and Kent, England. Running between Woolwich and Bluewater Shopping Centre, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
Maidstone & District Motor Services was a bus company based in Maidstone, Kent. The company operated bus and coach services in Mid and West Kent and East Sussex from 1911 until 1998. The company's surviving operations were absorbed into Arriva Southern Counties.
The A226 road travels in a west–east direction in southeast London and north Kent, from Crayford in the London Borough of Bexley, through Dartford, Gravesend to Strood. It is about 15.7 miles in length.
Arriva Guildford & West Surrey Limited, which traded as Arriva Guildford & West Surrey, was a bus operator based in Guildford, England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva. The company operated services in West Sussex and Surrey, as part of the Arriva Southern Counties division. Services that were run were primarily centred on hubs at Guildford, Woking and Cranleigh.
Fastrack is a bus rapid transit scheme in the Thames Gateway area of Kent. It consists of three routes, operated by Arriva Southern Counties on behalf of Kent County Council with Prologis and Amazon respectively. Measures used to allow buses to avoid traffic include signal priority, reserved lanes, and dedicated busways.
Go-Ahead London is a major bus operator in Greater London. The name first appeared in August 2008, before which the company had traded under separate names and brands. It is currently the largest bus operator in Greater London, operating a total of 153 bus routes mainly in South and Central London as well as some services into North and East London with a fleet size of over 2,400 vehicles under contract to Transport for London.
London Country South East (LCSE) was a bus operator in South East England and London. It was formed from the split of London Country Bus Services in 1986 and operated a fleet of around 170 buses from four garages, with its headquarters located in Northfleet. It was rebranded as Kentish Bus in 1987 and used this name for most of its existence. Its former garages and operations now form part of Arriva Southern Counties and Arriva London.
Arriva Sapphire is a luxury brand used by various Arriva bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.
Go-Coachhire Limited, trading as Go-Coach, is a bus operator running a total of 40 bus services across Kent and Sussex. The majority of these services are operated on behalf of Kent County Council from their depot in Swanley.
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