Chalkwell extension attracts passengers

Passenger numbers are rising as a result of Chalkwell extending one of its key bus routes. Service 7 between Sittingbourne, Attlee Way, Grovehurst and Iwade has been extended to the Isle of Sheppey in partnership with Kent County Council and Swale Borough Council. The hourly journeys run to Thistle Hill, Sheppey Hospital and Sheerness six times a day. Several hundred more people a week are using the service following the extension.

Chalkwell’s Commercial Director, Roland Eglinton, said, ‘We are very pleased with the response of customers and the success of the extension to the number 7, one of our key routes. The figures suggest it seems to have resonated with customers because it has the right mix of where it serves – residential areas and attractions such as three supermarkets on its route for five days a week. Attlee Way, where customers had to walk to the bus from one end or the other, has particularly benefited from a direct service – the number 7. This particular extension is in response to a request from Councillor Roger Truelove who funded a previous service, the no.11, to see whether a connection in Attlee Way could be sustained.’