Better bus services for Medway students

Following a Students’ Union travel debate held in March, the local transport provider has agreed to divert a number of buses via the Medway Campus between 8am and 9am weekdays.

This will provide direct links to the College entrance from Maidstone, Gravesend, Strood, Rochester and the Hoo Peninsula, with the new services due to start on Monday, 11 June.

Students’ Union president James Phillips said: “This is brilliant news. It not only allows students a more comfortable and better value-for-money journey to college but also demonstrates the power of the student voice and how willing local companies are to work with their customers.

“We will be continuing to work with Arriva – as well as the railway firm Southeastern – to make further developments.”

The travel debate was held to enable students facing difficulty in travelling to MidKent College to air their grievances in a public forum.

Topics covered included the scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance, the rising cost of public transport and problems with existing student travel schemes.

Medway councillors Vince Maple, Andrew Mackness and Geoff Juby also participated in the event, as well as MPs Tracey Crouch and Rehman Chishti.

Richard Lewis – regional publicity manager for Arriva – said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with MidKent College to develop the services we provide for students and staff.

“The latest improvements follow the re-routing last year of our X-bus 116 service through the Universities at Medway campus, and for which we have invested in brand new buses equipped with free Wi-Fi.

“It is hoped the additional links we will be providing on other routes will increase the ease of travelling to and from the College by bus.”

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For all media enquiries, please contact Steve Knight, Marketing and Communications Officer, on 01634 383277 or email steve.knight@midkent.ac.uk.