Service changes in the Dover, Folkestone, and Romney Marsh area

We’re making changes to some local bus services from Sunday 17th November. Most services in the area will have new timetables and there’ll be some new and changed bus routes.

In Dover, the new ‘Fastrack’ rapid bus transit service will begin operating - linking Whitfield, the town centre and Dover Priory Rail Station. There will also be some associated changes to bus services at Whitfield and some local town bus routes will change to offer more direct and reliable journeys.

Our coastal service linking Dover, Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh will be changed to improve reliability and punctuality and create new connections.

And at Folkestone there’ll be some changes to timetables to help make services more resilient to the impact of delays from elsewhere on the network.

Below you can find out what's happening in more detail.

Dover

Fastrack route ‘D’ will offer a brand-new rapid service between Whitfield, the town centre, and Dover Priory Rail Station. There will be changes to local town bus routes at Whitfield and Buckland Valley (Roosevelt Road and Friars Way), and buses for River and Aycliffe will be separated into two dedicated routes. Most other routes including those connecting to Folkestone, Deal and Canterbury will have new timetables.

You can view a new route map of the Dover bus network here.

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Route number	Route description	Details
D Fastrack	Whitfield - Dover Castle - Dover Town Centre - Dover Priory Railway Station	Fastrack will operate 7 days a week, with buses every 20 minutes on Mondays to Saturdays and hourly on Sundays. The route will use some new roads, as well as dedicated busways which will give the buses priority over other traffic. The Fastrack project is a partnership between Kent County Council, Dover District Council, and Stagecoach. View the new Fastrack timetable here.
12	Deal - Walmer - Whitfield - Canterbury	There will be a new timetable for this service. Buses will run hourly on Mondays to Saturdays, but with an extra journey during the afternoon school-time peak. View the new 12 timetable here.
15	Dover - Lydden - Canterbury	Some bus times will be adjusted. View the new 15 timetable here.
61	Whitfield - Melbourne Avenue - Buckland Valley - Dover Town Centre	This service will operate on a changed route. It will no longer serve North Whitfield and will operate between Dover town centre, Whitfield Tesco, and Menzies Road. It will also serve Buckland Valley (Roosevelt Road and Friars Way) replacing route 62. The Dover Fastrack service will partly replace the 61 service currently operating in the north Whitfield area (north of the A2). For residents in the Forge Lane and Nursery Lane areas where the 61 service will no longer operate, Stagecoach Connect will be available for connection to Whitfield Tesco (pre-booking is required). More information on Stagecoach Connect can be found here. View the new 61 timetable here.
62	Buckland Valley - Dover Town Centre	This service will be replaced by route 61. Buses will no longer serve The Linces due to safety issues caused by parked vehicles.
63	Tower Hamlets - Elms Vale - Dover Priory Railway Station - Dover Town Centre	Some bus times will be adjusted. View the new 63 timetable here.
64	River - St Radigund's - Buckland Hospital - Dover Town Centre	This route will be split into two dedicated services. The 64 will operate hourly between River and Dover town centre, serving Market Square before continuing into Pencester Road. Sadly the number of passengers using the service to River is very small and does not support the cost of providing two buses an hour. The new hourly frequency will help reduce costs to a more sustainable level. A service to Aycliffe will be provided by new route 65. View the new 64 timetable here.
65 (NEW)	Aycliffe - Dover Town Centre	Route 65 offers a new dedicated service between Aycliffe and Dover town centre (replacing a section of route 64). Buses will continue to provide a 30-minute frequency service. View the new 65 timetable here.
80B/93	Deal - St Margaret's Bay - Dover	There will be two new journeys from Dover to St Margaret's in the afternoon on Mondays to Fridays, these will be numbered route 80B. View the new 80B/93 timetable here.
91	Folkestone - Alkham - Dover	Some bus times will be adjusted. View the new 91 timetable here.
102	Dover - Folkestone - Hythe - Romney Marsh	Please see below.
School-time service 95	Aylesham - Nonington - Sandwich Technology School	Some bus times will be adjusted. View the new 95 timetable here.
School-time services 980, 981, and 983	Aylesham/Elvington and Villages to and from Dover Schools	Bus times will be adjusted.

Folkestone

We’re making our services more resilient and reliable by separating some routes so they operate independently of one another. For example, the 16 and 71/71A services are currently ‘interworked’ which means the same buses are used on both routes. From 17 November they will become ‘standalone’ so that a delay on one won’t have a knock-on impact on the other.

There are also some new connections being created as part of the changes to our coastal routes. This means East Cliff (Stanbury Crescent) will now have buses linking to Folkestone and Dover.

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Route number	Route description	Details
10/10A	Folkestone - Hythe - Ashford	Some evening bus times will be adjusted. View the new 10 and 10A timetables here.
16	Folkestone - Hawkinge - Canterbury	Some bus times will be adjusted and this service will now operate independently which means it won't be affected by delays elsewhere on the bus network. This will help improve timekeeping and reliability. View the new route 16 timetable here.
19	Swingfield - Hawkinge - Folkestone	The early morning route 19 bus from Swingfield will no longer operate. Sadly this journey carries too few passengers to be sustainable.
71/71A	Cheriton - Folkestone Town Centre	There are no changes to the timetable, but this service will now operate independently which means it won’t be affected by delays elsewhere on the bus network. This will help improve timekeeping and reliability.
76	Creteway Down - East Cliff Stanbury Crescent - Joyes Road - Folkestone Town Centre	Route 76 will no longer operate and the section around Stanbury Crescent will be covered by the new route 105. Buses will no longer go down Joyes Road. 105 buses will operate every 30-minutes serving Hill Road and Stanbury Crescent, and providing connections to Folkestone town centre and Dover. Please see route 105 below for the new timetable.
102	Dover - Folkestone - Hythe - Romney Marsh	Please see below.

Coastal Services - Dover, Folkestone, Hythe, and Romney Marsh

The 102 service will become four routes; 102, 103, 104 and 105. Each of these routes, together with the existing route 100, will cover a section of the coast. This new arrangement is carefully designed to make sure we’re offering journey options to suit you.

There are new connections – such as between Hythe, Sandgate, Folkestone Central Rail Station and Folkestone Harbour - and where routes overlap, they provide a higher frequency service where demand is greatest.

A line map showing the new coastal routes between Hastings and Dover

Buses between Folkestone and Dover every 15 minutes.

4 buses an hour between Hythe and Folkestone (including Folkestone Central Railway Station and Folkestone Harbour)

2 buses an hour between New Romney, Dymchurch, and Folkestone (including Folkestone Central Railway Station and Folkestone Harbour)

The services we operate between Folkestone and Romney Marsh (102 and 103) will be moved to run from our local operations base at Old Romney. We expect this to further improve their performance and reliability.

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Route number	Route description	Details
102	Folkestone - Hythe - New Romney - Lydd	The 102 will provide an hourly service between Lydd and Folkestone, it will also now serve Folkestone Central Railway Station and Folkestone Harbour. Coupled with its new sister service, the 103, there will be a combined frequency of buses approximately every 30 minutes.
103	Folkestone - Hythe - New Romney - Greatstone - Lydd-on-Sea	The 103 will provide an hourly service between Lydd-on-Sea, Greatstone, and Folkestone. It will also serve Folkestone Central Railway Station and Folkestone Harbour.
104	Dover - Folkestone - Hythe	The new route 104 will provide buses on a 30-minute frequency, which, combined with its new sister service, the 105, will offer buses every 15 minutes between Folkestone and Dover. The 104 will also serve Folkestone Central Railway Station and Folkestone Harbour in both directions.
105	Dover - Folkestone	This new service will operate between Folkestone and Dover via East Cliff (Stanbury Crescent) every 30 minutes. It will only serve Folkestone Harbour on the way from Dover towards Folkestone town centre.
View the new 102 and 103 timetable here. View the new 104 and 105 timetable here.