Go Coach Fastrack service AZ

[DRH]

Go Coach 

E400 9507 (SN59 AVU) ex-Abellio London

E400 9009 (SK07 DZJ) ex-Quality Line

Garrick Street, Gravesend; 25 August 2021

There are several yellow ones in temporary use whilst the batch acquired from Abellio are retrimmed and repainted.

Service is fairly chaotic due to roadworks, congestion, diversions, but no doubt it will settle down.

DRH

© Copyright of the sender and for personal use only. Reproduction in any form, electronic or otherwise, without the express prior permission of the copyright holder is strictly prohibited

[DRH]

Two informed sources say the chaotic congestion presently hindering the service is primarily due to the Prologis, the site developer for the vast brownfield site on which the Amazon warehouse and others are built, not having given formal permission for the AZ to use busway sections. This should be forthcoming this week, so things be should significantly better thereafter.

For Roger French's blog review, see here.

DRH

[AMB]

I travelled on this route yesterday (Monday 26th October), from Gravesend to Dartford. Thankfully, congestion wasn't too bad so the bus largely ran to time. 

At Ebbsfleet International, the AZ stops at an unmarked bus stop (no flag or shelter), with just 'bus stop' markings painted on the road. There is no information about this service either at the station or by the bus stops (I checked here on foot earlier in the day). 

On the north side of Ebbsfleet International, the AZ also has more stops for the station in both directions along Thames Way (underneath the bridge carrying the North Kent railway line) - again, these are unmarked and without bus stop markings on the road. 

At Greenhithe, the AZ uses Ingress Park Avenue to access the Ingress Park-Greenhithe section of the Fastrack busway. 

The AZ did not use the Fastrack busway which goes underneath the Dartford Crossing. This is probably the most important busway for the route to use, as it avoids the often severe congestion with the Crossing junction. So, the route operates via Crossway Boulevard, negotiates the roundabouts of the A206/A282 junction, then Rennie Drive. The bus stop at Rennie Drive is another unmarked stop. 

After serving the Amazon LCY3 centre, the route does now use the Fastrack busway between Rennie Drive and Joyce Green Lane, therefore avoiding the A206 Bob Dunn Way and A2026 Burnham Road. 

It is non-stop through Temple Hill following the Fastrack A route, but then deviates via Burroughs Drive to act as a local service for this new development. The bus I travelled on then rejoined the main road (Mill Pond Road) after Burroughs Drive, but the route is meant to continue along William Mundy Way to serve a stop there. 

So, in terms of Fastrack Busway usage, the issue of the busway underneath the Dartford Crossing still needs to be resolved, over 2 months after the route began. 

AMB. 

[DRH]

Minor point : does the busway not go over rather than under the A282? 

The A206/A282 junction is heavily-congested much of the time, so the busway over what used to be called the toll plaza does need to come into use.  Perhaps there is an 'issue' with the bridge. 

One would have thought Amazon would be keenly interested in service reliability. I can't imagine them being lenient with "Associates" turning up late, saying "the bus was held up"! 

DRH

[DBJ]

The busway goes both under and over the A282!

It passes under the southbound carriageway and over the northbound.

[AMB]

Route AZ appears to have started tracking properly today (Monday 6th December) for the first time on bustimes.org, although just with one vehicle (Enviro400 9012). 

Of most interest is that it seems the AZ is now finally also using the busway section under & over the A282, perhaps the most important piece of busway for the route. 

The tracking for 9012 can be seen here: https://bustimes.org/vehicles/279878?date=2021-12-06#