Fastrack

Fastrack is a busway system operating in the Thames Gateway area of Kent. It consists at present of two routes, both run by Arriva Southern Counties on behalf of the Kent County Council. Various measures are used to allow the buses to avoid traffic, including signal priority, reserved lanes, and off-street busways.

The current Fastrack bus fleet consists of 26 Volvo B7RLE buses with Wright Eclipse Urban bodywork, equipped with passenger information screens, voice announcements, and CCTV facilities. As ridership increases, it is intended that these buses will give way to ‘intermediate mode vehicles’, longer articulated buses with a tram-like appearance, such as the Wright StreetCar. [ [http://www.go-fastrack.co.uk/vehicles.html What is Fastrack? - Vehicles] ] Flexibility is one of Kent County Council’s principal goals in the development of Fastrack, [ [http://www.go-fastrack.co.uk/what-is-fastrack.html What is Fastrack? - Overview] ] so conversion to trams or guided buses is not currently being considered.

The Fastrack network is split into three fare zones, and short-hop fares of 80p are also available for short journeys. Tickets are sold by the driver on Route B, but passengers on Route A must buy their tickets from a roadside machine at the bus stop in order to allow for faster boarding. Eurostar passengers travelling through Ebbsfleet International station can travel free on Fastrack. [ [http://www.go-fastrack.co.uk/_dl/eurostar-press-release.pdf Eurostar launches Ebbsfleet International and goes head-to-head with South East Airports] ]

On 11 February 2008, a new scheme is due to start; "m-tickets". Passengers will be able to pay for bus tickets using their mobile phones. Initially, this will only be available on route B, but if successful could be extended to other Fastrack routes and maybe even conventional local Arriva route. [ [http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/m-ticket/ Arriva m-tickets] ] March 2008 saw the introduction of new high tech and easy to use ticketing machines along the route B. However unlike route A the option of purchasing tickets from the driver remains.

Routes

The system began operating with the introduction of Route B on 26 March 2006. This route runs between Dartford and Gravesend, serving the Darent Valley Hospital, the Bluewater Shopping Centre, and Greenhithe along its route; it is also currently serving the new Ebbsfleet International railway station since its opening in November 2007. Route B operates at a ten-minute frequency. A further Route B development, called Everards Link Phase 2, will link Route B with Greenhithe Station through to the Ingress Park site. This busway is expected to be completed in Spring 2008. The opening of this new section of route could be delayed due to bad weather conditions.

A second route, Route A was added to the network on 3 June 2007. It is a 9.5-km service running every five minutes between Dartford and Bluewater along the western side of Temple Hill, Crossways business park, Greenhithe, and the new ‘The Bridge’ development scheme in North Dartford. Route A is funded by the developers of The Bridge.

Route C, a circular route in the Bluewater–Greenhithe area, is planned to come into service circa 2011. [ [http://www.go-fastrack.co.uk/wif_11.asp Fastrack planned routes - 2011] ] Official maps show Route D, running from Bluewater to Gravesend via Northfleet around 2018. [ [http://www.go-fastrack.co.uk/wif_12.asp Fastrack planned routes - 2018] ]

Route changes

When service began, Fastrack route B was divided into five fare zones. These were replaced with the current three when route A entered service, in order to simplify fares and assist the introduction of off-vehicle ticketing machines.

Prior to the opening of Ebbsfleet International station in November 2007, Route B ran through Northfleet. The diversion along Thames Way, connecting to the new Eurostar station (which will also receive domestic services in 2009), added 2 km of junction-priority and segregated lanes to the network. Northfleet is still served by conventional Arriva routes 480 and 490, running every ten minutes. [ [http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/__80256E280053B5B6.nsf/vWeb/wpDNOS65CKRD?Open&show=current&region=Southern%20Counties&town=Bluewater Arriva routes 489/490] ]

For the first four months of its operation, Route A ran on a temporary alignment via Junction 1a of the M25 to link The Bridge development site with Crossways. From 30 September 2007, the service was diverted via a dedicated Fastrack bridge over the Dartford toll plaza and under the QE2 Bridge of the Dartford Crossing. [http://www.go-fastrack.co.uk/_dl/press-release-route-a.pdf Route A press release] ] With the launch of this bridge, Route A avoids a congestion hot spot, and so its six-minute peak service frequency was increased to five.

Accident

On 9 January 2008, a Fastrack bus was involved in a fatal accident with an 11-year-old boy, who was hit by a route B bus in Princess Road, Dartford. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/7178504.stm "Boy, 11, dies after bus collision" - BBC News] ] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7170000/newsid_7179300/7179350.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm&news=1&nol_storyid=7179350&bbcws=1 "Bus accident kills boy" - BBC News Video] ]

References

ee also

* List of guided busways and BRT systems in the United Kingdom
* Crawley Fastway, a similar-sized guided system

External links

* [http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/ Arriva UK bus web site]
* [http://www.go-fastrack.co.uk/ Fastrack web site]
* [http://www.kentpublictransport.info/ Kent County Council's public transport web site]
* [http://www.thebridgedartford.co.uk/ The Bridge web site]