A downgrade for Fastrack

Tuesday 12th November 2024

Whichever way you look at it, from a passenger’s perspective, this week’s takeover of the Kent County Council funded Fastrack branded network in Dartford, Bluewater, Ebbsfleet and Gravesend is an unwelcome downgrade.

I know there’s the promise of new electric powered Irizar built ieTram buses to come and note these are publicly being trailed as “from Spring 2025”…

… which, based on experience of Go-Ahead introducing the same vehicles on route 358 between Crystal Palace and Orpington, is a meaningless promise. It could mean any time through to Autumn 2026, although I hear route 358 passengers may finally get to travel on this much hyped new bus next week.

Indeed, checking back to June 2023 when Go-Ahead’s Chief Executive announced to the world the Group’s revolutionary initiative of “trams on wheels” there was a promise “passengers will travel on zero electric buses from November 2024”.

And looking at the Go Fastrack website, which confusingly is the Kent County Council run website, rather than the Go-Ahead Fastrack website, even last night it hadn’t caught up with the change to contract operator, still proclaiming it as “Coming Soon” and confusingly displaying an Arriva bus in what is now a defunct livery.

But clicking on the “Fastrack Vehicle Delivery” story tells us “Kent County Council has recently received the first batch of our new Irizar IE trams which will become the centrepiece of the upcoming fully electric Fastrack Network as they will soon be used to replace the ageing diesel vehicles which are currently in operation across our Thameside network.”

Photo from Go Fastrack

But, ominously the story adds that as well as the 28 new buses (and five more for the Dover Fastrack launching next week) “to be delivered over the course of the next few weeks” that “construction will soon commence on the charging infrastructure which will be used to support the operation of the electric fleet.” Installations are planned for the Gravesend bus hub, Dartford Acacia Hall as well as Go-Ahead’s new depot in Dartford. Good luck with getting all that completed by Spring 2025 is all I can say based on lengthy timescales and broken promises for such things elsewhere.

Back in Dartford, Bluewater, Ebbsfleet and Gravesend in November 2024, passengers have seen Arriva’s nicely presented 7 year old Enviro200 MMC buses (hardly “ageing”) swept away from Fastrack…

… and instead are enduring ex London cast offs including some 14 year old dual-door Enviro 200s with vinyl stickers covering up their former TfL roundels and the shadow of ripped off fleet names still visible on the worn red livery. It’s not a good look for what are supposed to be prestigious bus routes. Interestingly there are some newer redundant buses from Sullivans being used.

Passengers will also find a lack of helpful information displayed at bus stops.

No timetables/departure information was posted at Bluewater when I visited yesterday morning. You had to be able to spot the small reference to A or B in the timetable case to work out where to wait and had to be psychic to know what times the buses run. But, good to know it’s “Your NEW Fastrack”.

At Dartford there was a timetable on the bus shelter used by route B…

… but nothing on route A’s shelter…

… other than a disused real time sign and a screen showing real times hidden in a panel in the shelter which you’d have to know was there to know it was there.

Travelling along route B there was evidence of bus shelters with smashed panels…

… and graffiti, adding to the downbeat image of the service.

The saving grace is the extensive bus priority with many sections of bus lanes and bus only roads.

But these were proving useless on route A yesterday as the benefit of exclusive bus lanes, bus roads and bus priority traffic light sequencing was countered by the crazy decision by the Highway Authority to introduce four-way temporary traffic lights at a key junction for roadworks…

… which means buses need to negotiate this junction three times so the Amazon warehouse can be served.

We encountered a three minute delay each time as we hit the lights just as they changed to red…

… meaning we effectively sat through a cycle of 12-way traffic lights to serve Amazon – although it must be popular at shift change times – just look at the barriers to control boarding at the bus stops.

Here’s an annotated map (below) from Google to illustrate what’s happening. Buses approach the junction concerned from Bluewater on the green line – queue at the temporary lights for up to three minutes then follow the pink route south to turn at the roundabout and retrace the route back north and hit the queue for the temporary lights again for up to three minutes. Then it’s over to Amazon on the blue route to drop off/set down any employees (we set down two) and then back to the queue for the temporary traffic lights again and wait for up to another three minutes and after that, finally continue towards Dartford on the yellow route.

It’s completely bonkers and shame on Kent County Council for allowing such a ridiculous situation to arise without some kind of priority for buses through the works. It looked to me as though they’re continuing for some time with the obvious destructive effect on route A’s reliability and impact on passengers. I wasn’t surprised so few passengers were seen travelling, which I’m sure reflects the route’s unreliability.

I couldn’t face a return journey on the route, and caught route B instead.

Here’s a situation at random yesterday afternoon where four of the six buses on the route are Bluewater bound and only one is Dartford bound with the sixth at the Bluewater terminus. Not “every 12 minutes” as the timetable states.

Another strange thing I noticed yesterday was using the new Go-Ahead Fastrack app, under ‘Service Disruption’, there’s an invitation to submit details of any disruption not being shown…

… so as there was no mention of these very disruptive roadworks/delays I sent a message through only to get a useless bland acknowledgment back by email two hours later from Mo at Brighton & Hove/Metrobus.

So, that was a waste of time. Goodness knows why Brighton & Hove/Metrobus are involved – still “this will be logged”.

Managers at Go-Ahead have obviously been busy working hard recruiting drivers for the new contract which is never an easy task not knowing how many may transfer over from Arriva. One ex Arriva driver I met was delighted with his new employer and was already noticing more interest being taken by managers and he loved the improved Ticketer ticket machines which bodes well.

There were high-viz wearing staff all over the place with others wearing ‘Mentor’ insignia…

… and high profile adverts are still on display – a pity the same effort couldn’t have been put into displaying information for passengers by the County Council.

A Dartford bound bus on route B came too close to the Gravesend bus I was on as we picked up passengers at Darent Valley Hospital. A loud whack at our rear confirmed the wing mirror had come off…

… which the mentor safely retrieved and all was well.

Arriva is upping its game with high profile branding for its competing route 480 between Dartford, Bluewater and Gravesend which my observations yesterday showed were by far the busier buses.

You wouldn’t know it from the dearth of information but the Fastrack network was modified from Sunday with new links between routes, new route letters and new timetables.

Route E is the new designation for route C2 which I wrote about when introduced back in July and operated by Go-Coach (as opposed to Go-Ahead). The aim is to link this to route A to make for another Gravesend to Dartford service once the infrastructure works are complete.

I’m sure it will all come good once this new contract settles down and the new buses are introduced “from Spring 2025” but the puzzle remains why Kent County Council, Go-Ahead and Arriva couldn’t have coordinated the changeover so new buses were ready, information was available and disruptive roadworks had ended.

The passenger experience would have been so much better.

Let’s hope next week’s launch of the much delayed Dover Fastrack goes more smoothly.

Roger French

Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS

Comments on today’s blog are welcome but please keep them relevant to the blog topic, avoid personal insults and add your name (or an identifier). Thank you.

101 thoughts on “A downgrade for Fastrack”

  1. I assume the roadworks that are causing such an issue are to allow buses from Bluewater to turn right and go to Amazon without having to do the double back marked in pink on your map. A welcome improvement long term for sure but they clearly need to manage the lights better for buses whilst they do the work.

    Simon M

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    1. The Road works are being carried out for National Highways, According to schedule due for completion by the 30th November

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  2. At Dartford, service A starts from the stop under the footbridge on the other side of the road with service C to Temple Hill

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  3. Given how long they have been planning this the implementation is very poor particularly as it is supposed to be a premium service

    The other issue is it has no proper website, The contract is with GoAhead London but they are really just TfL work. It would probably be more sensible to set up a GoAhead Kent either as a company or trading name as you ned separation between the TFL work and the Kent work

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      1. Thank you for this link, when you Google Fastrack you get a site selling watches and a site called Go-Fastrack

        John Nicholas

        en route to Kent!

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    1. Trams are very expensive and inflexible which is why they disappeared. They only make sense for moving very large numbers of people round and even then most UK roads are ill suited to them. Those that work are more light railways and run largely over old railway lines

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      1. But trams do attract new customers in ways that buses don’t. That’s presumably the whole point of this laughable pretend tram. I doubt that the public will be fooled. Roger can advise on how to make a bus system attract passengers, just by taking the whole experience – vehicles, timetables, information and boarding points seriously.

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          1. Bus drivers care far too much about revenue in this country. Go to any other European country and the driver focuses on driving. Trams should be the same.

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            1. I don’t know where to start with how much I disagree with you. I’ll just say that fare evasion is a crime.

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        2. Many years ago the ‘looks-like-a-tram’ approach was tried here in York. ‘FTR’ line ran on the route to/from the University, a distance of about 3 miles. Some junctions had to be rebuilt to allow for the turning circles of the new vehicles. It didn’t end well.
          There’s now a far better service, with electric buses.

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      2. @ Anon 08:25

        It is worth looking at what the French have done. As here in the UK, by the late 1960s most of the tram systems in France had disappeared. Only three were left. However, since 1985, trams have reappeared in around two dozen French towns and cities.

        Expensive and inflexible? Or a modern solution to a transport issue?

        Malc M

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    2. @stevieinselby

      Well, evverywun knose that trams don’t have wheels!

      But it’s an example of why marketodroids should be kept in check or at least required to do some research before spouting their crap.

      Network Rail’s media blurb about semaphore signalling being removed in Northumberland in their October newsletter is equally cringeworthy:
      | “Semaphore signalling uses a visual signalling method to communicate to
      | train drivers, usually by flags or lights, whether it is safe to pass the signal.”

      Insert eyeroll here…

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  5. Minor point really, but I can’t see the public being fooled by the Trambus hype. Covering the wheels and having a silly front end shape doesn’t turn a bus into a tram. A few severely practical European-style buses with top quality onboard route information would give that impression rather more convincingly.

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      1. “Trambus” style buses have been introduced across a range of places in Europe, where bus rapid transit has been introduced. Some are bi-articulated – Malmö in Sweden or the “Mettis” system in the French city of Metz are a couple of examples which come to mind.

        Malc M

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  6. does anyone still listen to the opinion of this clown? As a regular user of the service I can say Fastrack is already operating better than it has in years. I feel like for the first time in years I can turn up and a bus will actually come. Can’t say that for anything ran by Arriva. Shame on Roger for being so blinded by his hate for local authorities that he writes such nonsense yet again.

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    2. These comments are unfair. I don’t always agree with Roger’s points, but most of the time he gives good reviews of bus services. no need to call him a clown! Here, he is on point, especially with the ‘hatred’ towards the authorities. The information from KCC is poor, and you’d think they’d have given the tired and vandalised infrastructure a spruce up for the new contract. The real time displays are either broken or incorrect. The roadworks near Amazon are also ridiculous. I travelled on the first day of Go-Ahead’s operation of Fastrack and I felt the same as Roger with many of his points.

      AB

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    3. I would be hesitant about describing two days’ worth of service under Go-Ahead as “operating better than it has in years”. I agree that Arriva performance has declined over the years, but there are lots of external factors that have affected this.

      What is disappointing is that KCC has a dedicated team looking after Fastrack, and they don’t seem to have delivered very much for this major change.

      KCC

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    4. @anon 12.11.2024 08:44

      Thank you for your opinion, Kent CC minion. Now please return to doing something useful with the taxpayers’ money, eh?

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        1. “Using clown” was not “not the better choice”, it was not “simply disrespectful”, it was downright rude.

          If you feel it’s OK to be rude when you’re hiding behind your keyboard, then you can’t complain when people are “disrespectful” back to you.

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          1. Mr Mouse just to be clear I wasn’t the original poster. I’m a reader of these blogs. I fear that when it becomes personal it also becomes unpleasant. Bad manners are unnecessary in my world. The contribution using “clown” may have offended some and maybe in hindsight the author may regret it. Heat of the moment after reading a negative review on something they may have worked very hard on but not necessarily got the correct support to be successful. Who knows but perhaps we should have some empathy. However I also feel the diminishing of a poster but using “minion” is unnecessary. These are my standards, my opinion. That’s all. Just watch out for the trap.

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    1. Hopefully they will also install timetable cases at the Dartford Home Gardens stops, as the new timetables are sellotaped to the shelters which clearly won’t last long. Not a great look.
      AB

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  8. Despite it being a Go Ahead London service, I am reliably informed that it is Metrobus Crawley who are controlling the route as they are ticketer trained (whereas GAL for obvious reasons is iBus trained), hence the ‘Brighton & Hove involvement’. All other staff are from Go-Ahead London however.

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    1. I’d heard it was run by the Commercial Unit. Maybe they sourced the buses, and B&H/Metrobus run it?

      MotCO

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      1. It appears that Go-Ahead London is merely only managing the route operations, like drivers & vehicle maintenance, but everything else is being managed by Brighton & Hove (who control Metrobus).

        It also appears that the Wright Eclipse 2s that have been repainted into London Red with Fastrack stickers applied are ex-Crawley Fastway, probably displaced due to the arrival of new Wright Hydroliners on those routes.

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      1. Do you know what bus controllers do, and the tools they have available?

        Ticketer and iBus both show maps of where the buses are and provide tools to manage services in disruption…

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  9. If he thinks it’s bad now, he should have seen it a week ago when Arriva had one bus out on route A. The reason Kent didn’t extend with them until the new buses arrived is because they were so terrible it wasn’t an option. Perhaps Mr French should do his homework. This was a change the service desperately needed, hence the desperate fleet. At least Go-Ahead are running every bus and have a full roster of drivers. New buses are coming and I saw that KCC recently tendered for a new shelter supplier. Shame these aren’t in place. I’d also point out that Arriva are Kent’s contractor for local timetable posting. Competing 480 you say? Hmmm

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  10. Maybe someone can work out what has gone wrong generally with Arriva.

    Pity Mr Sullivan didnt think of contracting for this service , which might have given better financial returns as the thought of route B running in a Green Livery with London Country branding and route A with Maidstone and District somehow would have appealed.

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    1. And route B would be Thorpe Park buses, and route A would be a green 84 route bus with paper in the window 😉

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  11. It’s very strange how there are 2 websites for the Kent Fastrack service, not sure why Go-Ahead bothered with making their own website, using the same backend as the Metrobus/Brighton & Hove website, when they could have easily asked KCC for control over their website?

    I’m also not suprised that Kent CC has seemingly never heard of the “Broken Windows Theory”, as when I went to the area a few weeks ago, when a couple of Enthusiasts and Ensignbus sent over a couple of their heritage vehicles to do workings on the 480 (It was on 13th October), I just saw how badly run down Gravesend was, but also Dartford Home Gardens, with it’s missing bus shelter window panes, which is in contrast to the TfL operations whereby they are seemingly very quick to fix their bus infrastructure (but not Timetables, not that they’re really neccessary in London anyway, on most daytime routes).

    I also find it ridiculous that on the first 2 days of service, one of their Enviro200s still had tape over the front destination glass from when they used that vehicle on TfL №200 only upto a couple of months ago after the Optare MetroDeckers on that route were withdrawn after a bus caught fire in Wimbledon.

    YX61 BWJ - ADL Enviro200 - Fastrack (operated by Go-Ahead) [SE133]

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    1. If you could also include credit for the photographer please (Myself, William John Lane/Williamjl Photography)

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  12. Nice post. Is there a reason why the B and AZ have the route all the way down to the A2 between Greenhithe and Ebbsfleet when it could route through Swanscombe High Street and Stanhope Road? Is it because the roads around Swanscombe are narrow or is it something else?

    I’m aware of Galley Hill Road fiasco and the collapse of the chalk cliffs there.

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    1. I’m not completely sure of this myself, as it is a long diversion, and prone to getting stuck in A2 delays.
      Perhaps it was considered too much to send more routes the same way as the 480 diversion. If I recall correctly, they are quite narrow roads with lots of parked cars.
      AB

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    1. A passenger shouldn’t have to do any prior research beyond checking the timetable. Nor should they have to do a before and after comparison to have a valid opinion of what they experience when using a service.

      I’ve pulled up Roger French on more than one occasion in these blogs for his partisan approach, but this one surprised me. I was expecting to find him making excuses for poor performance by his former employer, not to read significant criticism of it.

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  14. I remember that in my very early ENCTS era I was on an Epsom bound 460 when its driver was forced over by an oncoming vehicle. We made a very heavy collision with tree branches to our nearside. The nearside mirror was ripped off. We did two full about turns so that the driver could recover the mirror but the tools he had with him were insufficient for him to replace the mirror on its stalk. Courageously he remained in service all the way to Epsom and I do assure you that the left turns he did minus an essential mirror were the widest arcs of any left turning bus I have been aboard. The next bus was 60 or 120 minutes behind. It would have been awful to have endured that kind of wait for a following bus. Walton On The Hill is not the most convenient spot to be stranded!

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  15. I thought the Fastrack vehicles used by Arriva were owned by KCC and leased out to Arriva? If that was the case I would have expected them to transfer to Go Ahead with the contract – at least until the new buses are available.

    I’d expect Arriva’s performance would have declined in the last few weeks as staff left to go to Go Ahead.

    Roger can only give his opinions based on what he sees as a passenger on the day. Perhaps on his sample day Go Ahead where having a bad day? Despite all the planning outside influences beyond operator or KCC control will occur.

    Richard Warwick

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    1. the earlier Volvo/Wright vehicles were owned by KCC, but the more recent mix of E200s and StreetLites were owned by Arriva.
      AB

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  16. I travelled on the first day of Go-Ahead operating the routes.
    I think Go-Ahead have put some good effort into the routes. Staff about helping with enquiries, bus drivers were friendly and helping to advertise the routes and tickets etc to customers, there were good paper timetable booklets available at Bluewater bus station (sadly on a bench, as the shopping centre have closed the waiting room and info centre) and at Ebbsfleet Station.
    My only criticism of Go-Ahead is using the absolute heaps of buses in the form of ex-London enviro200s. The examples I travelled on were very shaky with plenty of rattles, and one had a constant beeping sound. They can’t be expected to use brand new buses of course, but I was under the impression Mercedes Citaros were going to be used, which in my view have a better image and comfort.
    My main issues are with the local authority and the vandalised infrastructure, confusion over where the buses stop, lack of timetable information in some places, and either broken or inaccurate realtime displays .
    I think in the long-term, the Fastrack will benefit from Go-Ahead. I overheard quite a few people on the buses how poor Arriva were.
    AB

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  17. Sounds like Roger is getting some rather unwarranted pelters. Odd because I’m sure that he’s been criticised before for being too soft on any Go Ahead related.

    The fact that he’s not gone out the week before to effect some sort of comparison is really neither here nor there. It could be 1000% better than the last week of Arriva but that isn’t the point. It’s about first impressions of the new broom. It does seem to be a balanced take – there are clearly issues with publicity that could have been resolved in a better fashion. Also, the condition of some of the infrastructure is another area that is fair comment – it probably reflects on the financial constraints on KCC but even so, that’s simply establishing a root cause. It doesn’t change poor things are.

    The real surprise is with Go Ahead. Not that they have fallen foul of the delays of these new buses, and that they have then had to source alternative vehicles. It’s more that they will have known the issue for some weeks, and that they could have leveraged their group strength to get something better than some very careworn ex London stuff. Go Ahead sent fleet from Bournemouth to Wigan in the early Bee Network days so something similar may have been preferable here. Clearly, they’ve done a lot to get the operation up and running, whilst also dealing with the issue of TUPE transfers (which is always beset by unknowns).

    None of the criticism that Roger extolled seemed unfair. Calling him names… that is.

    BW2

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    1. | Odd because I’m sure that he’s been criticised before for being too soft
      | on any Go Ahead related.

      That will have been me (possibly amongst others), and I’ve noted in my response to one of the complainers that I was expecting to take him to task again.

      I see nothing in this blog to justify the complaints, and I almost find myself wondering if it’s an attempt a social media style storm of protest, albeit one that has demonstrated how little people agree with the whinges!

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      1. I thought I’d read that some drivers had moved over from Arriva. If that isn’t the case, then getting the operation sorted from scratch is perhaps more impressive. However, the issue on the quality and appearance of the vehicles still stands, as do those relating to the infrastructure and KCC.

        BW2

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  18. I have no experience of the Dartford/Gravesend Fastrack, but here in Dover I think it’s unlikely that the new service here will have a good start, mainly because the

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  19. Sorry about that… to continue the above: …mainly because the infrastructure that enables the Fastrack service to run through the town centre is not complete; the service is due to start on 17th November, but Pencester Road (the central hub of Dover’s bus network) will be closed for three weeks from that date to enable completion of the work. This means most bus services will start from various stops around the town and have to follow a diversion, worsened by the fact that the majority of the town’s services will be comprehensively revised (several being also reduced in frequency or withdrawn) from the same date, thus causing a perfect storm for local passengers. Looking at the proposed timetables shows a general worsening for many parts of the town’s local estates, and the 20 minute interval service (no evening buses, hourly Sundays) on the Fastrack from Whitfield seems a mite underwhelming after the huge expenditure on infrastructure; hopefully more buses will use it as the system develops

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    1. I’m sceptical about the Dover Fastrack service, especially since seeing the timetable. A bus service that finishes just after 7pm isn’t going to be attractive to most using it to commute to and from London (that’s even if many will use it for that purpose), or even if they use the bus for local jobs – not every job is a 9-5, and some stay later for meetings or for social events. The Sunday service being hourly isn’t great either (though at least it actually has a Sunday service).
      I don’t think the Fastrack has a positive image amongst Dover locals, as other local routes are being cut in frequency or withdrawn at the same time as this service begins.
      It’s great to see proper bus infrastructure investment in Kent, but I really hope the Dover Fastrack timetable will be improved (alongside the rest of Dover’s routes!)

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  20. the official site for fastrack: Fastrack – The Award Winning Bus Rapid Transit System

    As for the roadworks on Fastrack A/AZ, this has been going on for sometime, way back when Arriva were running the service.

    With regard to the interim fleet, the document you have included is outdated, as that was from June. They did warn people of the delay in the electric vehicles. Also, KCC were aware of this as well. Yes the older E200s aren’t ideal, but the x2 ex-Metrobus B7RLe’s aren’t too bad with the refurb, as well as being almost identical to original Fastrack vehicles. The E200 MMcs are ex-Sullivan buses and again, are pretty well maintained inside.

    After having my depot visit weeks before the service commenced, I did ask sevral questions along with my two colleagues. We also put out several bits of information alerting the general public as to what the fleet would be for now and how they would look.

    Official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567776676811ok

    Enthusiasts group: Go-Ahead Fastrack enthusiasts | Facebook

    I can safely say, that Arriva lost all hope and interest with Fastrack the moment they started getting rid of their Volvo B7RLE’s, replacing them with Wrightbus StreetLites and the ADL E200 MMCs. You only have to see the state that half of them have been running around in the last few years.

    Go-Ahead Fastrack have achieved quite a lot in a short period of time & they are continuing to invest and strive for a better service. It is still early days for them (not even a week of operations at present), but given everything I know of the operations, drivers and staff involved; I’m very much looking forward to the operations! Hopefully KCC, Gravesham borough Council & Dartford Borough Council will sort out any issues with bus shelters and things along the routes!

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  21. Those tram-buses are just embarrassing. It’s like those little road trains you get in tourist spots and some American cities. They also look too small. As for the roadworks a proper cost benefit analysis might have demanded a human on site to control the lights in the buses favour.
    MikeC.

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    1. Just the fact people are calling them ‘trams’ is enough. There is nothing about them that is anything like a tram. It just feels very fake to me. The buses may be style of substance too, as it will be interesting to know the cost of maintainence and repairs to an ordinary bus.
      I’m not sure what is wrong with ordering a high spec bus that is more usual.

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  22. Kent County Council pull all the strings on Fastrack. Did you know that their intention was to procure electric bendy buses for the routes? Clearly these were not possible for the UK hence the ie tram.

    Certain things like the left turn from Rennie Drive onto the Fastrack bridge should have been sorted out ages ago and not left until now.

    Some people will moan about Arriva’s operation of the routes but some of the blame for the poor and decaying infrastructure (which doesn’t help operations) purely rests with KCC. I certainly wouldn’t have worked with a partner local authority who have continually sat on their hands and then demand buses that don’t exist for a forthcoming new Fastrack contract!

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  23. The Irizar ie Tram buses will really stand out when they arrive. More importantly they will be noticed by non bus users, whereas conventional bus designs (even with a go faster stripe) just blend in with all other buses to motorists. It’s not about “fooling” anyone, it’s about distinguishing bus rapid transit as something better than regular bus. This also needs effective infrastructure to be believable. As per the comment above, trams are unlikely to return to most UK towns and cities, they don’t have the population density to justify the expense. But a higher level of bus service is something that should be aspired to and can really make a city stand out.

    So Kent CC needs to up their game so the infrastructure is renewed in time for the new buses. Also, give buses priority when major roadworks are designed. A similar fiasco happened at the opening of Bristol Metrobus, when South Gloucestershire Council launched major roadworks within a couple of weeks of service launch, prompting James Freeman to write an open letter lambasting them.

    Peter Brown

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    1. Quite why they do not start installing the charging infrastructure is not clear besides the garage equipment in most cases it will need an upgrade to the grid

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    2. | More importantly they will be noticed by non bus users

      But will “being noticed” get those non-bus-users out of their cars?

      Or will they take one look at the vandalised bus stops and think twice?
      As you say, Kent CC need to up their game, but even if they do – so what?

      Forget the manufacturer’s hype. Externally-snazzy looking buses with poor internal comfort compared to a car operating a route known for disruption like that shown by Roger above aren’t going to get people out of their cars long-term.

      Worse still, a 28 seat* bus isn’t going to be able to cope with any user growth; in fact it’s a capacity downgrade compared to the vehicles being used now and on the old contract. Sure, they can allegedly cope with 68 standees*, but how is being squeezed in like sardines going to keep people out of cars?

      Far from “distinguishing bus rapid transit as something better than regular bus“, I think it’s going to do completely the opposite. I really do think this is a retrograde move for Fastrack. Hype over substance.

      * Capacity figures are taken from the Irizar spec sheet on their website.

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  24. Fastrack will struggle to be reliable, no matter who runs it, because there are too many places where the busses cannot skip traffic, such as the roundabout by princes park, where traffic moves at a crawl for hours in the morning and evenings.

    i can sympathise with the timetables as we’ve had signage at work made to the wrong size multiple times, but a simple A4 print job would have done as a temporary measure.

    The vandalism is a tough one as a lot of it around Dartford was done pretty much in one night, the princes park stop had most of its ‘glass’ smashed.

    I must admit i somewhat prefer the ex-TfL fleet, but that’s because as an ex-Londoner i prefer simultaneous boarding and alighting, and the wheelchair area is easier to get into as its opposite the door on most of the fleet.

    Overall, a bit over pessimistic of a review, but not sure it warrants as much scorn as some seem to give it.

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    1. Unclear why they could not have got some timetables printed locally although the ones being the wrong size could have been used, Not ideal but better than nothing

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  25. I have to agree with both Rogers comments and those of A Noney Mouse. It’s disappointing to see a poor quality offering that ,even in the short term, may deter patronage . It’s easy to deter people but much more difficult to get them back. And the vehicles must have been more expensive than normal vehicles and are technically untried, and if only 28 seaters could be unsuitable.

    Its a bit like Glider in Belfast, which is a quality offering, but the articulated buses which look very pretty are not very passenger friendly and because of their multi door configuration have led to much fraudulent travel. Thankfully the West Midlands seems to have ditched the idea to copy the vehicles.

    Like

    1. 28 seaters? The old Iveco Turbo Daily minibus had 25 seats! Is that how far we’ve progressed in 30 years? One wonders whether the requirement for universal accessibility is in fact an own goal.

      Observer

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    2. The buses used on the Belfast Glider are no longer available as Van Hool went bust. However Irizar make an articulated version of the ie Tram so that is an alternative.

      I woukd say multi door configuration is actually more passenger friendly as it enables quick boarding and alighting like a tram, which is the whole point. Quicker journeys.

      It is more operator friendly as fewer vehicles are needed due to faster running times, so a productivity gain in staffing costs. Remember how many extra buses and crews were needed to replace the London Citaros. Originally double crews on the new Routemasters.

      Sprint is supposed to be more like the West Midlands “Metro” than a bus. So it simply can’t be operated double deckers with longer stop dwell times.

      Fare evasion should be countered in the same way that a tram operator would with revenue protection officers. They can be funded by the productivity gains already mentioned.

      Peter Brown

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      1. Peter,

        | Fare evasion should be countered in the same way that a tram
        | operator would with revenue protection officers.

        I invite you to visit Manchester Metrolink – not the central area, but the outer legs. Ride around and observe passenger behaviour.
        Fare evasion is endemic, and it’s not unusual to see a dozen or more people jump off a tram when it arrives at a station where revenue protection staff are waiting to board.

        Having been involved in revenue protection on the railway, to counter that I would go for a series of full blocks where teams of RPIs would jump trams between two or three stops which are themselves fully blocked, but that’s manpower intensive and while it’s good for making a point it’s unlikely that as a sustained scheme it would actually cover its costs.
        It also looks bad, because you’re appearing to treat all your customers as criminals.

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        1. In Berlin, which has a modern well funded transport system, the transport is all gateless, and trams/buses have multi-door boarding.
          I’ve witnessed on various times people at down in hoodies on their phones suddenly get up and flash their ID and turn out the be revenue inspectors. Certainly the element of surprise. And on most occasions, all passengers, or at least most, have a valid ticket.
          It is a more honest culture out there though, which also helps.

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          1. I’ve seen both revenue protection systems in continental Europe. A whole gang of uniformed inspectors erupted out of a cabin in Amsterdam and covered every door of a long-ish tram. In Berlin (and Hanover & Frankfurt) I’ve encountered the surprise of very plain-clothed inspectors flashing their ids. It would be interesting to read a well-researched article comparing the economics of the almost universally open systems in other European countries with the obsessive catch every customer mentality in Britain.

            It would also be enlightening to know the full cost of installation and operation of all those cubic ticket gates on National Rail.

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        2. A Nony Mouse, yes you’re right about Manchester where there are lots of feral types at large, that is a police matter, and a failing of the UK economic model (namely neo liberalism) that let’s people fall to that state in the first place.

          Regarding open boarding as a principle. You cannot provide rapid transit without it. I found this video of the ie Tram 12 metre rigid model in Aix-en-Provence. This is one of the many “Bus with a Higher Level of Service” systems being rolled out in the towns and cities across France too small to need or want trams.

          Three doors open boarding. It’s interesting to watch people boarding, they all seem to tap on OK. Some stand. The bus fills up around 9 mins in. Of course those with a travel card product won’t need to tap.

          Peter Brown

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          1. Well Peter, I have watched that video a couple of times, and (as far as I can see) the maximum number of passengers on board was 24 (+1 pushchair) – as you say, after the final stop (Rotonde) before the terminus. However, that is hardly a full load for a rigid Ie Tram – actually only about 25% of the maximum permitted load.

            It would be interesting to see a video of the interior of one of these vehicles with a full load – but the cameraman might not have space to hold the camera!

            RC169

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            1. Yes that would be interesting!

              Of course frequency should increase at peak times to minimise severe over crowding. Also extracting oneself from a multi door vehicle is easier than having to exit at the front where all the standees tend to cluster.

              Peter Brown

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      2. Peter I used to live on the 25 in the East End when it was a bendy and it was awful. Frequency was cut because of the theoretical higher capacity but that meant a much higher proportion of standing compared to seating. The route is long and that meant a lot of people standing on a rocking, lurching bus for a long time. The supposed extra capacity for mobility impaired never happened because they could never get on the bus in the first place. And by the time the bus had been manoeuvred into the bus stop any time advantage for multiple doors was long since lost. They didn’t work except perhaps on the two Red Arrows to the City and Victoria from Waterloo.

        MikeC

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      1. The longer articulated versions may be licensed to carry 125 people, but the vehicles that are to be used on Fasttrack are not the artic version.

        RC169

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            2. The simple answer to Anonymous (November 14, 2024 at 9:20 pm) is “not many”! However, the link provided in my earlier comment does show the available seating plans and capacities.

              The concept of squeezing 99 or 105 people in a 12m single decker does not bear any relation to passenger comfort – and I am sure that it would not attract motorists out of their cars in the long term. However, I understand that these figures are theoretical maxima based on the potential load on the axles of the vehicles. The true achievable figures are undoubtedly significantly lower.

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    4. Whilst it’s been fascinating to watch all the contributors on this article tear into each other & rant about poor Roger and simply bitch against each other without any help from me and indeed this article needs no reminder of the excellent operations of Rotala in the West Midlands compared to Go Ahead in the South I need to correct the notion that articulated vehicles are no longer planned for TfWM Sprint from WMCA.

      This is simply not the case & no decision has yet been taken by Andy Street CBE successor as Mayor to abandoned the project which remains live on the Transport for West Midlands website of West Midlands Combined Authority.

      https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tfwm.org.uk%2Fwho-we-are%2Fwhat-we-do%2Fsprint%2F&utm_campaign=aga&utm_source=agsadl1%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4

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      1. 24 Articulated Hydrogen Bendibuses have finally be ordered today by West Midlands Combined Authority for operation on the SWIFT Services with funding from Department of Transport

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  26. As someone who has worked with KCC and Go-Ahead as a consultant on this project I know just how much thought and planning has gone into this and I say shame on Roger for what in essence is a lazy article that doesn’t address the underlying position. I remember not all of his operations being so glamorous and probably not through lack of his effort. Yes, he saw what he saw, but that’s it. What about what he didn’t see? KCC like many other authorities are on the verge of bankruptcy and yet they have pulled off a brand new fleet and brand new shelters across the network which are coming soon. Kent police do nothing to help them with vandalism and the team are forever chasing their tales to put out a tidy platform. They could just remove the shelters and be like everywhere else. As with any project, timings don’t always align but good things are coming. Arriva let Fastrack users and KCC down by running it into the ground in favour of their 480 service. They didn’t bid for the electric operation because of their own parent company investment choices and left Kent with no choice but to bridge the gap between now and the electric operation. The main thing is reliability (which it should be) and this has improved vastly already. That’s what actual customers care most about. Roger forgets the roadworks scheme causing the short term pain is one to improve things for Fastrack thanks to KCC securing the BSIP money to do it. You can’t make highway improvements without breaking ground. I suggest Roger returns to Fastrack in April and revisits his views. Maybe accompanying his article with some deeper research next time. Given some of the abysmal buses he used to run, I find his views on fleet very hypocritical. And if he can’t take criticism, don’t dish it out.

    Kevin

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I rather think it’s you who has a problem with criticism Kevin.
      I deliberately used the words “from a passenger’s perspective” in the opening paragraph to clarify this wasn’t being written by a former bus company managing director aware of the tribulations of running a bus company, or someone who’s worked in close partnership with local authorities for decades and knows their frustrations or a paid consultant.
      I used to always welcome critical feedback when employed ….and still do, so many thanks for your comments.
      Roger

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Well said Roger it’s a great testimony to the excellent professional person you are that you allow such varied contributions from everyone on your excellent blog & I personally appreciate that so much. Thank You Roger

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  27. Thanks as always for your insight, and for your observations. I’m sure some of the areas that need improving will be addressed quickly.

    Just to clear up some of the debate on who is involved with this. Fastrack is a gross cost contract with all revenue paid to KCC, similar to London. Like London, KCC are responsible for setting fares and times, and for maintaining roadside infrastructure (including bus stops, shelters and electric charging) There are a few differences to London though. In this contract, the operator is expected to ensure customer support (including marketing and website) is provided themselves, and they use their own IT systems for managing operations and timekeeping for example.

    Fastrack is being managed as a unit within Go-Ahead London. Some of us from Brighton & Hove/Metrobus have been supporting with the mobilisation given our experience with some of the operational systems which are not used in London. But this was always intended to be a short term measure and we’ll be pulling back from that as the operation matures. The Fastrack team within Go-Ahead London will be managing their own operation and will be dealing with control decisions and provision of disruption information. Fastrack is definitely not being managed by Brighton & Hove/Metrobus though, so I can squash any rumours to the contrary.

    The only longer term involvement for now will be through my own team who will field initial customer engagements and respond to them on the spot if we are able. We have a wealth of experience in customer liaison/support at Brighton & Hove/Metrobus, and I am personally very proud that we still have a 30-plus team of human beings available though our face-to face sites and our contact centre that passengers can speak to – The latter being open from 0600 (0800 at weekends) to 2200, seven days a week. There are not many bus companies in the regional bus world that can match that offering, so it made sense that we used our resource and expertise to support our Go-Ahead London colleagues who haven’t had to provide a customer service function before. There will still be a local Fastrack ambassador who we can pass more complex engagements through to if we can’t resolve things on the spot, and they will liaise directly with customers and stakeholders too. Plus we are regularly engaging with the team in Dartford, and I’ve sent a number of my team on field trips to the Fastrack network so they can build an expert knowledge of the local area. It’s a shame we had a slight slip up with our brand identity (I’ve picked that up with my team), but I’m looking forward to providing a level of support that Fastrack customers will value and rely on in the future.

    I know my colleagues at Go-Ahead London are working closely with KCC on the infrastructure side. I’m not close to the detail on that, so won’t comment further other than to acknowledge there is still work to be done before the Irizar vehicles (which have already started to be delivered) can go in to service. The urgency of that is well appreciated by GAL though, and I know they’re pressing as hard as they can for that to be resolved.

    Hope that clears a few things up, and thanks again Roger for your ongoing, interesting and thought provoking blogs.

    Luke Taylor-Sales
    Head of Customer Experience
    Brighton & Hove/Metrobus.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You’re very welcome Luke and many thanks for commenting and explaining the background. Glad you picked up on the branding point. Makes providing the feedback all the more worthwhile when it’s taken note of. Roger

      Liked by 1 person

  28. An example of how things can be when all the components (vehicle, infrastructure, traffic priorities, fare collection) are done right, to deliver what the French call Bus With a Higher Level of Service. If you showed this to a member of the public they wouldn’t recognise this travel experience as a bus.

    Peter Brown

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    1. You’re very good at linking operator and manufacturer self-publicising videos, Peter. How about looking for videos produced by passengers or passenger groups, of which there are many in France, and linking some of those?

      I have a suspicion that the pretty publicity mask public transport systems that aren’t so great for the users as you like to make out.

      Substance is, in the long run, far more important than image.

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      1. The second video I shared was filmed by a French public transport enthusiast who’s channel covers a wide variety of bus and tram content. So no connection with any manufacturer. So I would say that it is from a passenger’s perspective and shows a vehicle with a bright spacious interior, with wide accessible doors, seats for those who want them, but notice many prefer to stand.

        Link to channel below. Any transport professional would do well to be informed about good practice elsewhere and adopt to a UK context.

        https://m.youtube.com/@anrtransportsnancy54/featured

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  29. Roger is entitled to his opinion and that’s all it is an opinion. Kevin is right too. If we could go back in time we would all be picking holes in Roger’s operations which were far from perfect. I know because I worked on them but I’m sure he would be the first to admit that himself also. I have seen firsthand that things are in motion to bring Fastrack back to life and I don’t think anyone is criticising the commitment and investment by Go-Ahead or Kent Council here despite what is implied. The stars unfortunately haven’t aligned perfectly with timings but I will say this; the service is today better than it has been recently under Arriva which has been said already .The general public don’t particularly care how old the bus is or how it is powered. They just want them to turn up on time and be greeted with a smile plus a good value fare. Fastrack has the makings of greatness once again when the restoration is complete but let’s not disregard what is here today either. I think I’m living on Kent’s only 24 hour service and that’s probably only possible through the partnership working and a mechanism that stops greedy shareholders having ability for a short term position and trimming the edges. This service is clearly focused on the public. Lots still to be done but Fastrack is better than 99% of what the rest of the UK has on its doorstep in terms of a bus service and I’ve seen plenty of bad operations in my many years in buses. I’d love to see Roger follow up on this next year as suggested. I also think he should reach out to Fastrack staff who have gained a lot of respect in the industry recently for what they have achieved in Kent with this new unprecedented contract.

    The Transport Shorts Journal. Soon to be on YouTube.

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  30. Made my third foray into Fastrack land today within a week.

    I wrote to customer relations asking if the Discovery Ticket was still valid getting a positive reply in 30 minutes.

    My high speed journey to Ebbsfleet today was occupied by a survey which included being asked how I was going to continue my journey which didn’t include bus or an other option.

    An aged Fastrack bus pulled up and the Driver knew about Discovery, after visiting most menus on his Ticketer machine, thirty clicks later he found it. I congratulated him and empathised with his lot. I’m very familiar with the challenges finding excellent multi operator value for money products that are poorly advertised on these machines.

    The bus was comfortable and rattled far less than those on the 270 in West Sussex.

    Today I used eight Fastrack and Arriva services visiting Chatham that has far superior publicity provided by Medway Unitary Authority.

    Fastrack services were functioning reliably but the real test of route A occured when the schools came out.

    The ex Sullivan bus I was on full of well behaved schoolkids was rammed and clearly needed another deck.

    Indeed many Arriva buses I saw were crowded inadequate single deckers.

    Will Transport for South East provide future direction and transformation to bus services being realised elsewhere in the country by similar bodies or just meaningless Awards for more projects that are unsustainable.

    Roger provides a fair reflection of the current state of affairs in the chalkpits of North Kent.

    John Nicholas

    P.S. Fastrack buses floors were littered with tickets, not surprising as they lack Used Ticket boxes as they didn’t need them in London!

    Like

  31. With more gross cost contracts I wonder if publicity should say “xx Service” funded by yy Council, provided by xx Operator name) – often this can be in detail inside the vehicle, but some nice external branding might be helpful.

    JBC Prestatyn

    (Didnt Dartford have its own local authority tram network at one time ?)

    Like

  32. looking forward to the review of Dover Fastrack. Hopefully some research will have gone into that one and Roger won’t jump on the ‘its not electric yet’ bandwagon, because it was never planned to be from day one.

    DJ

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  34. One has to wonder how long Arriva will last i n Kent. I would guess GoAhead will now be looking to expand their operations in Kent

    Like

  35. OK yall clearly haven’t taken the bus routes. While they were already bad sometimes I think Go ahead might of made it worse. 1 . London bus colour : while I think the buses colour and over all look of it is bad its probably because of the of the new buses they are going have(the electric ones☺️). 2. lack of information: THANK YOU for calling this out , what ever anyone says they cant talk about the information . I’ve been to bus stops were they’ve had updated bus timetables ( for Arriva buses) but i have failed to see any Fastrack ones or it in paper and lets be real someone’s going to rip it, i think someone has already ripped it💀.

    Also the I’m happy they are trying to make the 480 a better route.

    and if anyone want bus information go to Bustimes.org. it is such a good website

    So Mr French is kinda right from his view ,which if you go and talk to be people waiting for these routes they will tell you that they have “Down Graded”

    Casey

    Like

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