Lewes group welcomes news of restored bus link from Newhaven-to-Dieppe ferry to centre of French town

Lewes Rail said on Monday, July 1, that foot passengers arriving at the French port can get a bus into to the town centre once again.

They said the previous bus transfer had been scrapped in 2020 during the Covid pandemic, adding that the new service was announced in the Paris Normandie newspaper.

Vic Ient, of Lewes Rail, said “After the Covid crisis ended in 2022, I wrote to Torben Carlsen, the CEO of DFDS and I was very pleased to see that he replied immediately, but it has taken nearly two years for the bus service to be restored. Over the past 18 months we have chased up DFDS/Transmanche Ferries in Dieppe and I'm pleased to say that, thanks to the support of the local authorities in the Département de la Seine-Maritime the bus service is being reinstated."

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Lewes Rail said DFDS will operate the four-hour crossing up to four times a day in high-summer. Visit www.dfds.com/en-gb/passenger-ferries/ferry-crossings/ferries-to-france/newhaven-dieppe for timings. They said that without the service foot passengers in Dieppe faced a 1.5 mile walk to and from the railway station or town centre.

Richard Madge of Bexhill Rail Action Group said: “We would like to see this new service promoted on this side of the Channel as a two-way connection both for Rail and Sail passengers travelling to France and incoming visitors to Sussex.”

Ray Chapman of the Transmanche Metro group said: “The service could be mutually beneficial for both Sussex and Normandy. Newhaven has regular rail and bus services to Brighton and along the Sussex coast, while London can be reached in about an hour and a half by train via Lewes. Dieppe has regular rail connections to Paris via Rouen, taking about two and a half hours.”

The service is set to operate from July 1 for every ferry departure and arrival until December 31. Bus tickets cost €3 for adults and €1.50 for children aged 4 to 17. They are free for children under 3.