Fastrack (bus)

Fastrack

Wright Streetlite at Bluewater Shopping Centre in August 2015
Founded	26 March 2006
Headquarters	Northfleet
Locale	Kent
Service type	Bus rapid transit
Routes	2
Destinations	Bluewater Shopping Centre Dartford Ebbsfleet International station Gravesend
Fleet	21 Wright StreetLites
Operator	Arriva Southern Counties
Website	www.go-fastrack.co.uk

Fastrack is a bus rapid transit scheme in the Thames Gateway area of Kent. It consists of two routes operated by Arriva Southern Counties on behalf of Kent County Council. Measures used to allow buses to avoid traffic include signal priority, reserved lanes, and dedicated busways.

Fastrack began operating with the introduction of Fastrack B on 26 March 2006 between Dartford and Gravesend, serving Darent Valley Hospital, Bluewater Shopping Centre, Greenhithe station (and Ebsfleet International station since it opened in November 2007). Services operate from 05:30 until after midnight.

The 9.5 km (5.9 mi) long Fastrack A was added on 3 June 2007. It operates up to every seven minutes between Dartford and Bluewater along the western side of Temple Hill, Crossways Business Park, Greenhithe station and The Bridge, Dartford. Fastrack A is funded by Prologis, the developers of The Bridge, Dartford.

When Fastrack B began it was divided into five fare zones. They were replaced with the current three zones when Fastrack A began to simplify the fare structure and to ease the introduction of off-vehicle ticket machines.

Prior to the opening of Ebbsfleet International in November 2007, Fastrack B ran through Northfleet. The diversion along Thames Way to the station, connectiong with Eurostar and Southeastern High Speed services, added 2 km (1¼ mi) of junction priority and segregated lanes. Northfleet is still served by conventional Arriva routes 480 and 490.

For the first four months of operation, Route A ran on a temporary alignment via Junction 1a of the M25 motorway to link The Bridge, Dartford, development site with Crossways Business Park. From 30 September 2007 it was diverted via a dedicated bridge over the Dartford toll plaza and under the QE2 Bridge of the Dartford Crossing, avoiding a congestion hotspot and allowing the original six-minute peak frequency to be improved to five minutes.