 Enviro 400 operating the 700 route which serves fromChatham Waterfront Bus Station toBluewater Shopping Centre, photographed July 2024 | |
| Formerly | Invictaway |
|---|---|
| Parent | Arriva UK Bus |
| Founded | November 1986 (1986-11) |
| Commenced operation | April 1998 |
| Headquarters | Maidstone |
| Service area | Essex Harlow Hemel Hempstead Kent Watford Ware |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Hubs | Chatham, Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells |
| Depots | 11 |
| Operator | Arriva Colchester Arriva Kent & Sussex Arriva Kent Thameside Arriva Medway Towns Arriva Southend |
| Website | www.arrivabus.co.uk |
Arriva Southern Counties Limited,[1] trading asArriva Southern Counties,[2] is a bus operator inKent,[3]Essex,Hertfordshire, andSurrey in England. It is a subsidiary ofArriva UK Bus, which is part of the Arriva group owned byDeutsche Bahn.[4] The company operates local[5] and interurban bus services[6][7] across its divisions,[8] includingArriva Kent Thameside, which serves north-west Kent.
Arriva Southern Counties traces its origins to the privatization of the National Bus Company in the 1980s. In November 1986, Maidstone & District was sold in a management buyout[9] to a newly formed company, Einkorn Limited.[10][11]
Einkorn expanded its operations through several key acquisitions:
In 1990, British Bus acquired the Alder Valley operations in Cranleigh, Guildford, and Woking. This was followed by the acquisitions of Colchester Borough Transport and Southend Transport in 1993.[17]
In April 1995, British Bus acquired Einkorn Limited,[18] which had become a significant regional operator. British Bus already owned Kentish Bus (acquired in 1994) and Londonlinks (acquired in 1988). Following the acquisition, Einkorn was renamedInvictaway in August 1995,[19][20] reviving a brand name previously used by Maidstone & District for London commuter services.
%2c_M%2526D_100_(1).jpg)
InJuly to August 1996, theCowie Group plc acquiredBritish Bus,[21][22][23][24] which owned several bus companies in southern England, includingKentish Bus,[25]London & Country, andMaidstone & District,[26] all of which had previously been subsidiaries of British Bus.
InOctober 1997, Cowie Group announced it would change its name toArriva plc,[27][28][29] as part of a strategic rebranding to unify its various transport businesses under a single identity.[30] The rebrand was approved by shareholders inNovember 6 1997,[31] and the new name reflected the company’s European ambitions and focus on integrated transport services.
As part of the subsequent rollout of the new branding,Invictaway, the legal name for the operations that included Maidstone & District and other southern subsidiaries[citation needed], was renamedArriva Southern Counties inApril 1998.[32] Around the same time, the operations ofLondon & Country were also transferred into Arriva Southern Counties, under Arriva Guildford & West Surrey.[33]
The restructuring of former British Bus subsidiaries was carried out as follows:
Later restructuring sawArriva Southern Counties take responsibility for:
Meanwhile, most ofArriva Croydon & North Surrey was transferred toArriva London, the group's dedicated London bus division.
Arriva Southern Counties operates a mix of local, interurban, and contracted bus services across Kent, Essex, and parts of Hertfordshire. Its divisions include:
TheArriva Kent Thameside division, based at Northfleet depot, operates the following bus services as of February 2025:
| Route | Start | End |
|---|---|---|
| 190 | Gravesend | Chatham |
| 414 | Dartford | Horton Kirby |
| 477 | Orpington | Bluewater |
| 480 | Temple Hill | Gravesend |
| 481 | Gravesend | Riverview Park |
| 482 | Gravesend | Kings Farm |
| 483 | Bluewater | Gravesend |
| 489 | Gravesend | New Ash Green |
| 490 | Gravesend | Valley Drive |
| 491 | Gravesend | Riverview Park |
| 497 | Temple Hill | Ebbsfleet Academy |
Until December 31, 2024, Arriva Kent Thameside operatedArrivaClick,[43] a demand-responsive service covering Darent Valley Hospital, Bluewater, Greenhithe, Swanscombe, and Ebbsfleet Valley using Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vehicles.[44]
Until November 2024, Arriva Southern Counties, primarily through its Kent Thameside division, operated the Fastrack busway in Kent’s Thames Gateway for Kent County Council, Prologis, and Amazon. Services included:
Fastrack buses used a purple livery with a blue shimmer effect and Fastrack branding. Route B connected with Eurostar at Ebbsfleet International, offering free travel to Eurostar passengers. In 2008, Arriva trialed its “m-ticket” system on Fastrack. The network transferred to Go-Ahead London in November 2024, with electric buses introduced by April 2025. Fastrack replaced the Bluewater-liveried route 100 in March 2006, which featured an all-blue livery with a water shimmer effect.
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Media related toArriva Southern Counties at Wikimedia Commons
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