On the afternoon of the 10 April 2023 a portion of the southern edge of the Swanscombe Quarry collapsed. This has resulted in the subsequent collapse of a stretch of the nearby Galley Hill Road; a key route used by Fastrack B & AZ services which service the nearby area. As a result, these services will now run along the A2 until the road can be reopened. While the road is closed, a new set of timetables have been used since the 3rd March to mitigate many of the delays which have been created due to the collapse of the key road.
Since the 15th April, a contractor has had access to the road in order to assess the stability of the reaming chalk spine and to develop a plan for works designed to reopen the road. A report has been generated with the contractor and will be passed to KCC in August. Regular repairs and maintenance will also be made to prevent further damage to the area.
Fastrack B
The introduction of the new Fastrack B timetable to deal with issues relating to Galley Hill has affected the services by:
- Adding an extra 7 minutes per journey between Ebbsfleet and Bluewater
- Added layover recovery time at Temple Hill. This is in case delays or disruption on the inbound journey from Gravesend.
- Increasing the time between Fastrack B buses from 12 to 15 minutes.
Fastrack AZ
Fastrack AZ now runs on the A2 between Ebbsfleet International Station and Greenhithe Station. It no longer goes to Ingress Park or Swanscombe.
Residents will now be asked to use Fastrack B and interchange with Fastrack A/AZ at Greenhithe station to access Ingress Park. For services to Swanscombe, the nearest Fastrack stop is the Manor Way roundabout stop on Fastrack B
For more information on the collapse at Galley Hill, including how other non-Fastrack buses are affected by the collapse, please visit the Kent County Council Website.
For copies of the new Fastrack timetables, please visit this Page on the Fastrack website.
