Fastrack (bus)

Last updated

Fastrack
Fastrack-logo-withbg.png
GoAheadFastrackE200.jpg
Go-Ahead London Fastrack Enviro200 bus at Gravesend Bus Hub in November 2024
Overview
Locale Kent Thameside
Dover
Transit type Bus rapid transit
Website www.go-fastrack.co.uk
Operation
Began operation26 March 2006;18 years ago (2006-03-26)
Operator(s) Go-Ahead London
Stagecoach South East
Number of vehicles Alexander Dennis Enviro200
Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC
Wright Eclipse 2
Mercedes-Benz Citaro
Current logo used by Stagecoach South East in Dover. Similar to logo formerly used by Arriva Southern Counties during their operations in Kent Thameside. Fastrack Dover.png
Current logo used by Stagecoach South East in Dover. Similar to logo formerly used by Arriva Southern Counties during their operations in Kent Thameside.

Fastrack is the name given to two bus rapid transit schemes in Kent. The original network began on 26 March 2006 in Dartford and Gravesend, part of the Thames Gateway regeneration area, and on 17 November 2024 a separate network was launched in Dover.

Contents

History

Fastrack Stop in Dartford Fastrack Stop.JPG
Fastrack Stop in Dartford

Kent Thameside

Construction work on the Fastrack network in Kent Thameside began on 23 September 2004. [1] The network commenced operations on 26 March 2006 with the introduction of Fastrack B between Temple Hill and Gravesend. [2] [3]

On 3 June 2007, Fastrack A commenced operations in order to serve the new development at The Bridge in Dartford. [4] The route is part-funded by Prologis, the developers of The Bridge.

From 19 November 2007 following the opening of Ebbsfleet International railway station, Fastrack B was diverted to serve the station in order to connect with Eurostar and Southeastern High Speed services. [5]

Following the completion of the Everards Link Phase 2 on 10 December 2012, Fastrack B was rerouted via a new section of busway linking Ingress Park with Greenhithe railway station. [6] Fastrack B began serving the whole of the Ingress Park development from 2 September 2018. [7]

From 2 August 2020 following the opening of the Springhead Bridge, Fastrack B was rerouted between Ebbsfleet International railway station and Gravesend to serve the new Springhead Park development. [8] [9]

On 23 August 2021, Fastrack AZ commenced operations in order to serve the Amazon LCY3 distribution centre in Dartford. [10] The route was initially operated by Go-Coach but transferred to Arriva Southern Counties on 3 April 2022 with Fastrack A being modified to serve the LCY3 distribution centre at the same time. [11]

Dover

Construction work on the Fastrack system in Dover began in February 2023 and infrastructure works were completed in Summer 2024. [12]

The system was launched on 17 November 2024. Route D runs between Dover and Whitfield and is now operated by Stagecoach South East. [13]

Current routes

Vector map of the current Kent Thameside Fastrack network showing all stops served Fastrack Vector Map.png
Vector map of the current Kent Thameside Fastrack network showing all stops served

The current Fastrack network is formed of six routes, five operated by Go-Ahead London, and one operated by Stagecoach South East. [14] [15]

RouteRegionStartEndOperatorFrequency
A [16] Kent Thameside Dartford Bluewater Go-Ahead London Every 12 minutes daily and every 30 minutes overnight
AZ [17] Kent Thameside Dartford or Gravesend Amazon LCY3 Go-Ahead London Shift changeover times at the LCY3 centre only
B [18] Kent Thameside Dartford Gravesend Go-Ahead London Every 15 minutes daily
C [18] Kent Thameside Dartford clockwise via Temple Hill Go-Ahead London Every 15 minutes daily
D Dover Dover Whitfield Stagecoach South East Every 20 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, hourly on Sundays
E [19] Kent Thameside Ebbsfleet Valley Gravesend Go-Ahead London Every 30 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, hourly on Sundays

Fares and ticketing

The network is split into three fare zones. Tickets are sold by the driver and from roadside machines, at certain bus stops, to allow for faster boarding.

M-tickets, bus tickets on mobile phones, were successfully trialled on 11 February 2008 and are now available across the Arriva bus network. [20] [21]

Vehicles

The original fleet consisted of 26 Wright Eclipse Urban bodied Volvo B7RLEs. These had audio-visual next stop announcements, air conditioning and CCTV. [3] On 9 August 2015, these were replaced by 21 Wright StreetLites. [22] [23]

From 21 March to 9 May 2018, Fastrack took part in a trial scheme which saw an additional hourly journey made by an electric Volvo 7900e, with a main charging point installed in the form of a generator at the front of Greenhithe station allowing the bus to fully charge inside six minutes. [24]

On 4 August 2019, Arriva Kent Thameside retained the contract to operate the Fastrack B service. As part of this, the 14 Wright StreetLites on the route were replaced with newer Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC vehicles transferred from the Medway area which were refurbished to Fastrack specification. 7 of the Wright StreetLites continued to operate on Fastrack A. [25]

Between 23 August 2021 and 3 April 2022, whilst the Fastrack AZ service was operated by Go-Coach, a total of eight Alexander Dennis Enviro400 vehicles worked on the service. [10] When this route was transferred to Arriva Kent Thameside, the Alexander Dennis Enviro400 vehicles were withdrawn and three additional Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC worked on the AZ service.

On 10 November 2024, Go-Ahead London took over the Fastrack network in Kent Thameside. By April 2025, a new fleet of 28 Irizar ie tram electric buses will be introduced across the network. [26] In the meantime, the fleet will consist of older buses, specifically Alexander Dennis Enviro200, Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC, Wright Eclipse 2 and Mercedes-Benz Citaro vehicles.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dartford railway station</span> Railway station in Kent, England

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenhithe railway station</span> Railway station in Kent, England

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. All services are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebbsfleet International railway station</span> Railway station in Kent, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arriva Kent Thameside</span> Bus operator in Kent, England

Arriva Kent Thameside Limited, trading as Arriva Kent Thameside, formerly known as London Transport, London Country and Kentish Bus, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arriva Guildford & West Surrey</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC</span> Low-floor single-decker bus

The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC, also marketed as the Alexander Dennis Enviro200, is a single-decker city bus produced by Alexander Dennis since 2014 as the successor to the Enviro200 midibus and Enviro300 full-size bus. The first Enviro200 MMCs entered service with National Express West Midlands in 2015. Notably, Enviro200 MMCs have been modified by Fusion Processing to be used as the basis for the first driverless bus trials in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC</span> Low-floor double-decker bus

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References

  1. "Work starts on new Buslink scheme". BBC News. 23 September 2004. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  2. "Fastrack bus service open for use". BBC. 26 March 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  3. 1 2 Booth, Gavin (25 April 2006). "Fastrack flight test". Bus & Coach Professional. Archived from the original on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  4. Community Website Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Thames Gateway Facts: Ebbsfleet Station". BBC . Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  6. "New Dartford to Gravesend Fastrack bus is 'life line' for residents". Newshopper. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  7. Changes to Arriva bus services The Reporter August 2018
  8. "Fastrack Network Map, August 2020". Arriva Southern Counties.
  9. "Arriva Fastrack service re-routed to include Springhead Park at Ebbsfleet Garden City after £16m bridge opening". Kent Online, September 2020. 7 September 2020.
  10. 1 2 "New 24 hour bus route launched to serve Amazon's vast Dartford distribution depot". 23 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  11. "Northfleet April 2022 Network Changes". Arriva Southern Counties. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  12. "Dover Fastrack". Kent County Council . Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  13. "Dover Fastrack to launch in November". Kent County Council . Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  14. "Fastrack Network Map" (PDF). Go-Ahead London . Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  15. "Dover town bus network map" (PDF). Stagecoach South East . Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  16. "Fastrack A: Dartford to Bluewater Shopping Centre". Go-Ahead London . Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  17. "Fastrack AZ: Dartford and Gravesend to Amazon LCY3". Go-Ahead London . Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  18. 1 2 "Fastrack B & C: Gravesend to Dartford and Temple Hill". Go-Ahead London . Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  19. "Fastrack E: Gravesend to Castle Hill". Go-Ahead London . Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  20. "Mobile phones are just the ticket for Arriva's new Fastrack bus trial". Arriva. 20 February 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  21. Mobile ticketing on Kent Fastrack [ permanent dead link ]Bus & Coach Professional 27 February 2008
  22. "Arriva launches 21 new Fastrack vehicles in Kent" Coach & Bus Week issue 1201 11 August 2015 page 10
  23. New vehicles for Arriva Fastrack [ permanent dead link ]Bus & Coach Professional 14 August 2015
  24. Electric bus trial, kent.gov.uk
  25. Arriva wins contract for Fastrack B service for 13th year CommunityAd August 2019
  26. Trams on wheels for Kent: Go-Ahead to operate all-electric Fastrack network Go-Ahead Group 14 June 2023

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