On Bank holiday Monday 31 August a normal Sunday/Bank Holiday service (pre-COVID) will operate on all Ashford Stagecoach routes.
From Tuesday 1 September full pre-COVID timetables will resume for all Ashford bus routes, with the following exceptions;
Route 10X – On Mondays to Fridays the first journey to Maidstone and the first journey to Ashford will run up to 20 minutes earlier compared to pre-COVID for reliability.
Route 111 – Will continue to use the revised timetable shown above.
Stagecoach are changing social distancing on buses in the South East
As lockdown restrictions continue to ease and more people are travelling Stagecoach have reviewed their seating guidance so they can safely carry more passengers.
There will be posters and signage onboard the bus to help you find where to sit. Once on board you’ll be able to sit:
One person per double seat
Leave the seat behind and next to someone empty
Only sit with somebody if they’re in your household or bubble.
See below example plans so that you can see the zig zag seating arrangement:
Lower level seating plan exampleUpper level seating plan example
We know you’ve got lots of questions so we’ve put together some answers relating to this new process when travelling on our services.
Q Why is it safe now to sit so close to others on the bus?
A With the virus now more controlled, the alert level has been reduced and there has been a relaxation of social distancing measures across other sectors in England. Now that everyone who can is wearing a face covering on board it was time for us to make a few changes. Along with other public transport operators, we’ve done a risk assessment which means one person can now sit on each double seat, in a zig-zag formation. This will allow more people to safely travel on our services.
Q I haven’t seen this in the Government guidelines, is this allowed?
A In line with the reduced risk level, the Government has relaxed social distancing measures across a wide range of sectors and worked with individual sectors to apply the new measures to that industry. We’ve consulted with government and The Confederation of Passenger Transport UK (CPT) that this change in social distancing on board public transport is allowed and is necessary to help get the country moving again.
Q What if the person in front of or behind me isn’t wearing a face covering?
A There will be people who aren’t wearing face coverings because they’re exempt for various reasons so please remember to be kind. If you feel uncomfortable sitting in front of or behind them, choose a seat further away or across the aisle.
10-steps to staying safe when you travel:
1. Plan ahead, allow extra time for your journey and try to travel at off-peak times, where possible.
2. Wear a face covering.
3. Use contactless, smartphone, smartcard, or have the exact change.
4. Buses will have limited capacity. If your bus has a BUS FULL sign please be prepared to wait for the next bus.
5. Let people off the bus before you get on. Be considerate of the impact of restrictions on the needs of fellow passengers who may have impairments, disabilities or mobility issues.
6. Keep a safe social distance from others, at the bus stop and on board.
7. Only one person can sit on a double seat, unless you’re with a member of your household or bubble.
8. Leave the seat next to you or behind someone empty.
9. Don’t stand on the bus.
10. Wash or sanitise your hands before and after your journey.
Stagecoach are increasing more of their services in the South East from Monday 29th June 2020
Stagecoach thanks all of their customers who have given valuable feedback in recent weeks.
They have listened to this and made changes where they can to bring services back to the communities of Kent and East Sussex.
The services changing on the 29th June 2020 include:
Ashford; 2, A, B, C, D & AD.
Please note that timetables are being updated more frequently than usual at this time, so please check the latest temporary timetables below before you travel:
Stagecoach are increasing some services across the South East from 1st June 2020
From Monday 1st June there’ll be a phased uplift in bus services. At first this will be on some of the busier routes in Kent, but as government lock-down restrictions ease, you will begin to see more buses return to service in other parts of the South East.
The services changing on the 1st June 2020 include:
Ashford routes; 1/1A, 2A, 10X, 11, 111, 123 & 666
Thanet routes; 8/8X, 48, 48A, Loop
Dover routes; 61 (evenings), 90 & 15
Please note that timetables are being updated more frequently than usual at this time, so please check our latest temporary timetables below before you travel:
Plan ahead, allow extra time for your journey and try to travel at off-peak times, where possible.
Wear a face covering if you can.
Use contactless to pay or have the correct change.
Buses will have limited capacity. If your bus has a BUS FULL sign please be prepared to wait for the next bus.
Let people off the bus before you get on.
Keep a safe social distance from others, 2m apart where possible – at the bus stop and on board.
Sit in the window seat, leaving the seats in front and behind you empty and don’t sit directly behind the driver.
Only one person can sit on a double seat, unless you’re with a member of your household.
Don’t stand on the bus.
Wash or sanitise your hands before and after your journey.
As more people return to work, to help keep everyone safe we have reduced the number of seats available on our buses to promote social distancing. Please plan ahead and avoid the busiest times of day if you can and see below our 10-steps to travelling safely at this time.
To serve key workers who need to travel on May Bank Holiday (Monday 25th May), Stagecoach will be running their current Monday to Saturday service on most routes.
There are a few routes that will not operate on Monday 25th May:
Route 649 in Canterbury will not operate Route 93 in the Dover area will not operate Routes 312 and 313 to and from Rye will not operate Routes 95, 96 and 97 in the Bexhill area will not operate
Route 5 in Seasalter will be operated by Regent, view Regent timetable
For more details of these and the current timetables in place across the South East, see below:
Because drivers are not using their vehicles during the Coronovirus restrictions, some have decided to register them as Off Road, to get Vehicle Tax and Motor Insurance refunds.
Think carefully before before submitting a Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN) but if you do decide to, use the government website, https://www.gov.uk/make-a-sorn, through which it is FREE.
Do not pay to ‘SORN’ your vehicle.
Websites may encourage you to SORN your vehicle or even claim that it is a legal requirement to SORN it if it is not being drive. They then charge to submit the notice for you and collect your personal details.
It is FREE to do it on the government website
Check before you SORN your vehicle
You cannot register your vehicle Off Road if it is used or parked on a public road. To be registered Off Road it must be stored on a private drive, in a garage or on private land.
If you cancel your motor insurance you will not be covered for damage to or theft of it. We would only recommend cancelling your insurance if you are confident that it is fully secured.
Some insurers are giving refunds or extending motor insurance policies during the ‘lock down’
Tax and Insure your vehicle before driving it
If you do decide to register it Off Road during the ‘lock down’, do remember to Tax and Insure it before you drive it. You could be fined and you vehicle seized and destroyed if you drive without tax or insurance.
In order to serve key workers who need to travel on Good Friday and Easter Monday, Stagecoach buses will be running their current Monday to Saturday service on most routes. Their journey planner is now updated, so you can plan your essential journey over Easter now: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/plan-a-journey
Unfortunately there are a few routes that cannot be operated on Good Friday and Easter Monday:
Route 649 in Canterbury will not operate.
Route 93 in Dover will not operate.
Routes 312/313 & 95/96/97 in the Hastings area will not operate.
On Easter Sunday we they be operating normal Sunday bus timetables.
The customer service centre will not be open on Good Friday or Easter Monday.
They will re-open on Tuesday 14th April.
You can contact them via
email at southeast.enquiries@stagecoachbus.com,
Tweet us @StagecoachSE or
phone us on 03456 00 22 99, between 10:00 – 12:00 and again between 13:00 – 15:00.
Stagecoach bus services and timetables are temporarily changing due to COVID-19
Following government advice to limit non-essential travel, we’re making changes to our South East services and timetables from Monday 30 March 2020.
The changes ensure that essential routes are maintained wherever possible. Please make sure you’ve got the most up-to-date information. At the moment, the latest information won’t be available on our journey planner but click below to download the temporary timetables:
If you’re a key worker and need to give us feedback on our temporary timetables across West Scotland because you’re concerned they don’t meet your needs, or you have comments about social distancing you can do so here. If you need more information about our response to COVID- 19, please visit our Coronavirus webpage We want to reassure you that our absolute priority is to protect the safety of our customers and employees. So, we’ve introduced enhanced hygiene measures across all our buses and are encouraging the use of contactless payment, which keeps us all a little safer. You can pay by contactless with your card or device on all our buses so please go contactless if you can.
Highways England are pleased to announce that the London facing slip roads will be available for traffic on 20 December 2019. The availability of these slip roads will make junction 10a fully operational.
The construction of the London facing slip roads of junction 10a, involved building two new bridges to allow the new slip roads to span over the Aylesford stream. It also required the permanent closure of the existing Junction 10 coast facing slips to enable the new slips to safety join onto the M20.
The fully operational new junction 10a will:
Relieve congestion around the existing junction 10 and therefore will reduce queues forming on the slip road which often extend back onto the M20.
Improve safety; and
Will improve journeys and open the door for further inward economicinvestment for communities in the area which is also part of an international route widely used by freight and holiday traffic.
Earlier this year work was fast-tracked so that key sections of this new junction would be available for traffic by 31 October. As a result, the east facing slip roads at the new junction, as well as the new A2070 link road, were open at the end of October.
Next year work will involve landscaping and completion of the non-motorised user route, these works may require some localised traffic management to safely access the works.
Highways England hope this information is helpful; we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your patience and we apologise for any inconvenience these works may have caused. However, if you have any questions please contact us by visiting our scheme webpage at www.highwaysengland.co.uk/M20J10a
You may have heard recently that there have been some changes to our plan for opening the new junction 10a we are building on the M20 near Ashford, and I wanted to write to you to tell you what our plans are and what they mean for you.
The main thing that has changed is that we are fast-tracking work to have the new east facingslip roads at the new junction and the new A2070 link road open in time for 31 October. This will mean that drivers will be able to use the new coastbound entry and London-bound exit slip roads, and the new A2070 link road from this Thursday 31 October 2019.
Drivers will be able to access the M20 travelling eastbound using the new A2070 link road and M20 J10a. Drivers travelling westbound will also be able to exit the M20 at the new junction 10a and travel towards Ashford using the A2070 link road. Having these new links available for traffic is significant good news that will benefit thousands of drivers every day and improve access to and from Ashford. We accelerated this work to help lorries move smoothly to and from Ashford Truck stop when the UK was expecting to leave the European Union on 31 October.
Opening these new links will also allow us to move on to the next stage of finishing the improvements. From early November the coast-bound slip road onto the M20 at junction 10 and the London-bound exit slip road will be permanently closed, allowing us to complete construction on the new west facing slip roads at junction 10a.
The A20 will remain on its current temporary alignment for the time being and will be connected to the new junction 10a in phases. The A20 will be connected to the east side of junction 10a on Monday night 4 November and will be open in both directions. Drivers will be able to exit at the new junction 10a and travel towards Sellindge, and will also be able to travel from Sellindge and access junction 10a. The A20 will be connected to the west side of junction 10a, via a oneway system. During this period, there will be no access to the A20 from junction 10a traveling towards junction 10. Drivers seeking to travel to junction 10 from junction 10a, will be directed to use the A2070 link road instead. This temporary road layout is shown in the diagram above.
The final changes should be complete – and the new junction fully open to traffic – in spring 2020.
I hope you agree that this is an exciting time for Ashford, as we take the final steps to open this major road improvement to traffic. We hope this information is helpful and we apologise in advance for any inconvenience this work may cause.
If you have any questions please contact us by visiting our scheme webpage at www.highwaysengland.co.uk/M20J10a.
