The 531 bus

Throughout the autumn and into winter, there have been persistent problems with the 531 Arriva bus serving many school children travelling between Tonbridge and parts of the Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley Division such as Seal and Kemsing. There have been a variety of difficulties, but the most common has been afternoon buses filling up at the very early stages of the journey, with many children and young people then left stranded and having to make much more difficult journeys home - or ultimately be picked up by a parent at considerable inconvenience.

I have raised these concerns with Kent Highways officers, who have in turn taken them up with Arriva. The service is a commercial bus, not one commissioned by KCC (though of\ course many of the users have the KCC-supported Young Person's Travel Pass), so this has been a process of representation and discussion rather than contracting. However, Arriva has agreed to run the afternoon 531 service some ten minutes later, with the aim of encouraging those taking short journeys to take another bus and so relieve pressure on the 531. This change was registered quickly with the Traffic Commissioner and so came into effect today. I will watch carefully to see if this proves effective in easing the problems experienced by children and parents.