this petition is to help the villages in Kent that need this bus service to be able to work go to school and just and just leave their lives.
This ePetition ran from 05/09/2024 to 04/12/2024 and has now finished.
Nobody signed this ePetition.
Dear Mr Harrison
I am writing in response to your petition regarding the withdrawal of the Number 2 bus service between Ashford and Hastings station and your request for this to be reinstated. In accordance with our Petition Service policy, as your letter contains fewer than 1,000 signatures, I have investigated and reviewed your concerns in my role as the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation.
Bus services in Kent, as with the rest of the UK, operate in a
deregulated (privatised) environment. In this context, operators
are not obliged to provide any specific service and are able to
make changes to their network to take account of operational costs
and other factors. The loss of a direct route between Ashford and
Hastings is not as a result of any Kent County Council (KCC)
decision but is instead an unfortunate symptom of
commercial factors and a lack of demand.
The journey between Ashford and Hastings should still be possible by bus with a change at Tenterden between service 2/2A and service 329, although I appreciate that the options are limited. Regrettably, KCC is not able to reintroduce a direct service or fund an increase in the frequency of the existing service at the current time, as the council's supported bus budget is already fully allocated and subject to severe pressure.
I appreciate that this response does not offer you the outcome you might have hoped but I trust it serves to clarify our position and the challenges that are being faced.
Thank you for contacting us in relation to this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Neil Baker
Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport
Kent County Council