Founded | 26 March 2006 |
---|---|
Headquarters | Northfleet |
Locale | Kent |
Service type | Bus rapid transit |
Routes | 3 |
Destinations | Bluewater Shopping Centre Dartford Ebbsfleet International station Gravesend |
Fleet | 17 Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMCs, 7 Wright StreetLites |
Operator | Arriva Southern Counties |
Website | www.go-fastrack.co.uk |
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.
The network is currently operated by Arriva Southern Counties but is due to be taken over by Go-Ahead London from November 2024. [1]
Construction work on Fastrack started on 23 September 2004, [2] and it began operating with the introduction of Fastrack B on 26 March 2006 between Temple Hill and Gravesend, serving Darent Valley Hospital, Bluewater Shopping Centre, Greenhithe station (and Ebbsfleet International station since it opened on 19 November 2007). [3] [4] Services operate from 05:30 until after midnight. [5]
The 9.5 km (5.9 mi) long Fastrack A was added on 3 June 2007. [6] It operates up to every ten minutes between Dartford and Bluewater along the western side of Temple Hill, The Bridge Crossways Business Park and Greenhithe station. Fastrack A is part-funded by Prologis, the developers of The Bridge. [7]
On 23 August 2021 the 24-hour route AZ was added to the network serving the new Amazon LCY3 distribution centre in Dartford. The route was initially operated by Go-Coach using Alexander Dennis Enviro400 vehicles, up to every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day. [8] [9] On 3 April 2022, route AZ was modified to only run at shift changeover times at the LCY3 centre and at the same time, was transferred to Arriva Kent Thameside. [10]
Route | Start | End | Frequency |
---|---|---|---|
A | Dartford | Bluewater | Every 12 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, every 20 minutes on Sundays and hourly overnight |
AZ | Amazon LCY3 | Dartford or Gravesend | Operates at LCY3 shift changeover times only |
B | Temple Hill | Gravesend | Every 12 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays and every 20 minutes on Sundays |
When Fastrack B began it was divided into five fare zones. They were replaced with the current three zones when Fastrack A began to simplify the fare structure and to ease the introduction of off-vehicle ticket machines.
Prior to the opening of Ebbsfleet International on 19 November 2007, Fastrack B ran through Northfleet. The diversion along Thames Way to the station, connecting with Eurostar and Southeastern High Speed services, added 2 km (1¼ mi) of junction priority and segregated lanes. Northfleet is still served by conventional Arriva routes 480 and 490.
For the first four months of operation, Route A ran on a temporary alignment via Junction 1a of the M25 motorway to link The Bridge, Dartford, development site with Crossways Business Park. From 30 September 2007 it was diverted via a dedicated bridge over the Dartford toll plaza and under the QE2 Bridge of the Dartford Crossing, avoiding a congestion hotspot and allowing the original six-minute peak frequency to be improved to five minutes.
On 10 December 2012 the Everards Link Phase 2, which links Greenhithe station with the Ingress Park housing development via a stretch of busway, opened. [11]
From 2 September 2018 Fastrack B was rerouted within Ingress Park to serve the whole of the development following the completion of a new section of road linking the development with London Road. [12] In August 2020, Fastrack B was rerouted again, between Ebbsfleet International and Gravesend along the newly constructed Springhead Bridge so that buses now serve the Springhead Park development. [13] [14]
From 3 April 2022, Fastrack A was rerouted within Dartford to serve the Amazon LCY3 distribution centre, in place of Fastrack AZ which was modified to only operate at shift changeover times. A 24 hour service was introduced on Fastrack A at the same time, running between Dartford and Greenhithe station. [10]
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. [15] [16]
The original fleet consisted of 26 Wright Eclipse Urban bodied Volvo B7RLEs. These had audio-visual next stop announcements, air conditioning and CCTV. [4] On 9 August 2015, these were replaced by 21 Wright StreetLites. [17] [18]
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. [19]
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 continue to operate on Fastrack A. [20]
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. [9] When this route was transferred to Arriva Kent Thameside, the Enviro400 vehicles were withdrawn from the network and three additional Enviro200 MMC now work on the AZ service.
When the Fastrack is taken over by Go-Ahead London in November 2024, a new fleet of 28 Irizar ie tram electric buses will be introduced across the network. [21]
A further Fastrack system is under construction in Dover and Whitfield. [22]
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is the administrative centre of the Borough of Gravesham. Gravesend marks the eastern limit of the Greater London Built-up Area, as defined by the UK Office for National Statistics.
The Borough of Dartford is a local government district in the north-west of the county of Kent, England. Its council is based in the town of Dartford. It is part of the contiguous London urban area. It borders the borough of Gravesham to the east, Sevenoaks District to the south, the London Borough of Bexley to the west, and the Thurrock unitary authority in Essex to the north, across the River Thames. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Dartford, the Swanscombe Urban District, and part of the Dartford Rural District. According to the 2011 Census, its population was 97,365, increasing to 116,800 in the 2021 census.
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.
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.
The North Kent Line is a railway line which branches off the South East Main Line at St Johns junction west of Lewisham station in Greater London and runs to Rochester Bridge Junction near Strood, Medway where it links to the Chatham Main Line.
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.
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.
Arriva Kent Thameside Limited, 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.
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.
Ebbsfleet Valley is a new town and redevelopment area in Kent, South East England, and part of the Thames Gateway, southwest of Gravesend. Development is coordinated by the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation.
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.
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.
Media related to Fastrack at Wikimedia Commons