Just thought I'd share another mini adventure. After recent trips in the North, East and North East, work took me to the South Eastern tip and the opportunity to have a half day to explore. Kent is a county that I've only sporadically visited, and as for the last time I had a trip out on some buses.... well, Arriva was in its infancy and Stagecoach were still using stripes!
I began my trip in early afternoon with a trip on the 15 from Dover to Canterbury. Perhaps surprisingly for a frequent interurban route, it's operated by e400s of a certain age though perhaps it isn't the money spinner that some other routes (Wave, Breeze, Triangle) are. Newly repainted in the latest livery, my 2008 machine was in very good condition inside, being refurbished in blue leather. Travelling on it, you wouldn't have realised its age demonstrating that older doesn't necessarily mean shabby. The 15 takes you through some surprisingly fine countryside near Lydden before a charge along the A2 to Canterbury. Arriving at Canterbury bus station, the now closed Stagecoach enquiry office looked forlorn - if not manned, surely there's a better way of utilising it? I'd have loved to have explored the city but my time was short so I took the 1X to Ashford. This was the old 400 and feels like a bit of a Cinderella service but a 15 yr old ALX Trident was older than I expected. As regards a hidden, scenic gem, the 1X is a beauty. Aside from some woman wittering on to a long suffering husband incessantly (and I was pleased when they got off at Chilham), it's a lovely trip through the Stour Valley as the scenery changes markedly from the open lands near Thanet to more Weald like country.
We arrived in Ashford. I noticed that Frodsham in Cheshire had a disproportionate number of podiatrists; well Ashford is home of the Shisha bar. There's loads! The Park Street terminus is a de facto bus station for non-local buses located just behind the main streets but it's rather dull. I could've stayed on the Trident as it became a 2A but instead, changed onto a 2 (as both headed to Tenterden but by different routes). We picked up quite a few at the International Rail Station as we struggled to extricate ourselves from the gravitational pull of Ashford on my e200; a decent enough machine and, in contrast to my first two vehicles, it had some really good marketing on the internal cove panels. Also, there's a notice with the fleet number urging you to contact them if the vehicle isn't clean - pretty impressive. I'd factored in a small break at Tenterden, which was always more M&D (rather than East Kent) territory. In fact, I headed into Waitrose which is built on the site of the former M&D garage in the town centre, whilst the half timbered cafe by the bus stop is the former M&D travel office.
I had hoped for a decker for my next trip but instead, my Discover ticket would get me a trip on a 2004 Daf Commander, courtesy of Arriva's Maidstone garage. The 12 runs fairly frequently but seemingly can be operated by anything. To be absolutely honest, it was actually quite smart for a 17 year old vehicle and had barely a rattle. However, aside from a notice on the Sittingbourne fair deal (more later), there were no ads for Arriva. We made our way through beautiful Kent villages, attracting quite a few passengers on the way. One interesting observation was that when we arrived in Headcorn, rather than stopping at the road end, we turned and travelled the 100m to the train station though sadly, the poorly advertised rail link is not fully capitalised with no bus shelter, just a stop. We made good time as we headed up through Sutton Valence and then carved our way through the Maidstone suburbs. Rather than the Chequers bus station (currently closed), I had to search my way around the streets to find my next bus, as I went to experience the Sittingbourne bus war first hand.
Wandering down Lower Stone St (was that where the bus station once was), I went to locate Arriva's 334 for Sheerness. It was waiting for me; they had mobilised a 2009 e200 for the journey. To be honest, the condition was scandalous, and especially so for a service under attack from Stagecoach. Loads of passive aggressive instructional notices (as is Arriva's want) but with added Covid related ones; ones that have now been superseded but have only been half peeled away as if someone tried but lost interest. We made our way out following a Stagecoach X3 (late running) e400mmc which soon left us behind. Our e200 was asthmatic and slowed to a crawl up Detling Hill so I was surprised that we arrived in Sittingbourne on time. The town is one I've only ever visited once before and it seems to have benefited from some major redevelopment opposite the commuter thronged train station where I exited. Just nearby is the "bus hub" which is just a couple of bus stops where Maidstone bound and local town routes stop instead.
Stagecoach's Maidstone to Sittingbourne incursion is timed to bisect the Arriva timings, and rather than running to Sheerness, they run via Faversham to Canterbury. I was keen to see what Stagecoach would provide and I was impressed to see that it was a two year old e200mmc, that was formerly used in Thanet. My one had the Irn Bru leather seating, USB ports etc and was a world away from the 12 year old Arriva heap I'd left. The X4 has to be single deck and we made leisurely progress to Faversham which used to be border between Arriva and Stagecoach; historically, both M&D and East Kent had depots there and we passed the former one which is now South East Coachworks. We made steady progress and arrived on time in Canterbury where I caught another e400 back towards Dover and the end of my day.
Some stunning countryside especially from Canterbury to Ashford to Tenterden and then to Maidstone as we passed oast houses and beautiful villages; I'd recommend it to anyone. And whilst Stagecoach are best described as functional, the standards of Arriva in Maidstone are terrible with ancient B7TLs and knackered e200s much in evidence and looking very down at heel. If I were a betting man, you'd expect Stagecoach to win their scuffle.
Hope this was on interest and, as ever, I'm happy to be corrected.
Photos for a comparison - note that was no promo notice for the Sittingbourne ticket offer from Arriva, but loads of other stuff
