Coronavirus: Revised bus timetables to be introduced by Stagecoach South East – here’s what you need to know

Changes are being made to Stagecoach South East’s bus timetables in response to government restrictions on non-essential travel.
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Revised timetables will be in place from Monday 30 March and are now available to view on the company’s website.

The timetables were released following discussions between Stagecoach, Kent County Council, East Sussex County Council and the NHS.

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The bus company says that these temporary timetables, which will operate across Kent and East Sussex until further notice, have been carefully created to ensure that critical routes are maintained wherever possible.

Joel Mitchell, Managing Director of Stagecoach South East, said: “We continue to play a crucial role in ensuring that key sector employees, such as healthcare staff, can get to work.

“We would urge everyone to put these critical workers first, follow the latest government rules on staying at home and avoiding non-essential travel, and help to save lives.”

The bus operator will keep its services under close review and says it is ready to work with key sector organisations and the local authorities to discuss further amendments in the weeks ahead.

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Mr Mitchell added: “We need to ensure that we’re directing our resources to where they’re most needed.

“We’re working quickly outside of our normal planning cycles and we’re doing our best to get things right in unprecedented circumstances.

“We’ve tried hard with this timetable change to ensure that we continue to maintain critical routes, but if our customers feel we haven’t got things quite right, then we’d really like to receive any comments through our dedicated feedback form which can be found at www.stagecoachbus.com/SEcovid19.”

Enhanced cleaning regimes are continuing on all buses, with more rigorous cleaning of the main customer touch-points, such as hand poles and grab rails.

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Contactless payments are being encouraged wherever possible.

Social distancing guidelines are being displayed on the buses.

In partnership with local authorities, Stagecoach South East is accepting the use of free concessionary travel passes before the normal 9.30 threshold.

Separately, the bus and coach industry is continuing to engage with government on the additional support measures urgently needed to help keep vital public transport links running at this time, and also to protect them for the long term.

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Mr Mitchell said: “The safety of our customers and our employees is at the heart of everything we do and that’s why we’ve taken extra measures such as implementing revised timetables, reminding people of the importance of social distancing and continuing to carry out extensive cleaning.

“We’re continuing to engage with government on the additional support measures urgently needed to help keep vital public transport links running at this time, and also to protect them for the long term.

“I’m extremely proud of the way our team in the South East is pulling together to ensure that we can continue to deliver our services.

“They are key workers too and I would like to thank them for their continued support and resilience in these challenging times.”

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The bus operator is urging people who need to travel to check their website before using the bus.

A central web page has been created at www.stagecoachbus.com/SEcovid19 with all the latest information.

Customers can also stay up to date on Twitter @StagecoachSE.