Bluewater is an out of
town shopping centre located in Stone, Kent, England outside the M25 Orbital
Motorway. It first opened on the 16th March 1999 which led to the extension of
London Buses route 96 from Dartford going non-stop to Bluewater Shopping Centre.
According to London Bus Routes 'about' Route 96, it says “The 96 extension was actually introduced commercially by Stagecoach
Selkent when the contract was let on net cost terms – an arrangement in which
the operator keeps the revenue, and can therefore take commercial risks. This
one clearly paid off even though the service level seemed excessive.”
Another advantage for
Route 96 is that the route provides connection to the Docklands Light Railway
which Woolwich Arsenal station first opened on 12th January 2009. So passengers from East London
can travel by DLR to Woolwich where they can connect to the route 96 bus which
goes to Bluewater Shopping Centre. The journey time taken on the route 96 bus
varies between 40-77 minutes.
 |
| Departure board provided by Bluewater Shopping Centre |
Interestingly, the
Shopping Centre has its own bus information centre where passengers can find
out information for the bus services. They also provide live departure monitors
for the individual bus services.
Below
is the table of bus services serving the Bluewater Shopping Centre; limited
services are not shown on the table.
|
Route
|
From/To
|
Service/brand
|
Operated
by
|
|
96
|
Bluewater
– Dartford – Crayford – Bexleyheath – Welling – Plumstead – Woolwich
|
London
Buses
|
Stagecoach
Selkent
|
|
306/308
|
Gravesend
- Meopham - Vigo - Borough Green - Sevenoaks
|
|
Arriva
Kent Thameside
|
|
423/
424/433
|
Dartford
- Longfield - Hartley - New Ash Green
|
|
Arriva
Kent Thameside
|
|
428
|
Bluewater
- Darent Valley Hospital - Dartford - Crayford - Barnes Cray - Slade Green -
Erith
|
London
Buses
|
Arriva
Kent Thameside
|
|
474/475
|
Greenhithe
Station - Bluewater - Longfield
|
|
Arriva
Kent Thameside
|
|
477
|
Bluewater
- Darent Valley Hospital - Dartford - Wilmington - Hextable - Swanley -
Crockenhill - St Mary Cray - Orpington
|
|
Arriva
Kent Thameside
|
|
480
|
Riverview
Park - Gravesend - Dartford
|
Sapphire
|
Arriva
Kent Thameside
|
|
481
|
Bluewater
- Northfleet - Gravesend - Riverview Park
|
|
Arriva
Kent Thameside
|
|
490
|
Valley
Drive - Gravesend - Bluewater - Dartford
|
Sapphire
|
Arriva
Kent Thameside
|
|
492
|
Bluewater
- Horns Cross - Dartford - Chastilian Road - Crayford - Mayplace Road -
Bexleyheath - Bexley - North Cray - Foots Cray - Sidcup
|
London
Buses
|
Arriva
Kent Thameside
|
|
700
|
Chatham
- Rochester - Strood - Earl Estate - Bluewater
|
Expressline
|
Arriva
Kent & Surrey
|
|
A
|
Bluewater
- Greenhithe - Temple Hill - Dartford
|
Fastrack
|
Arriva
Kent Thameside
|
|
B
|
Gravesend
- Greenhithe - Bluewater - Dartford - Temple Hill
|
Fastrack
|
Arriva
Kent Thameside
|
|
X80
|
Bluewater
- Greenhithe Station - Lakeside - Chafford Hundred
|
|
Ensign
Bus
|
The routes with the
red background are the ones served by London Buses. The table shows that three
routes serve the Bluewater Shopping Centre.
You can view the map of the Kent Thameside area which shows bus
services from Bluewater provided by Kent County Council. They also have a list of bus routes serving the Kent Thameside
area as well.
Bus
Times website also have a list of bus stops
serving the Bluewater Shopping Centre which you can view here.
Below
is a video of buses at Bluewater Bus Station which I filmed on 1st October 2015.
I
have previously written about two bus services which also serve the Bluewater
Shopping Centre.
And
lastly, this is not to be confused with the Blue Water Area Transit bus company from Port
Huron, Michigan, United States of America.
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