414 Arriva Bus Service

Following complaints about the recent irregular service from Arriva Bus, I contacted their customer service department and received the following reply:

"I am very sorry for the inconvenience the residents are experiencing which led you to contact us.

Unfortunately, journeys are failing to run because we simply do not have enough drivers to drive them. We are unable to operate every scheduled service.

We are still struggling to recruit new drivers following the well-publicised national driver’s shortage and have seen many of our drivers leave our industry to take up the national call for HGV jobs. This is the primary reason for all recent failures.

Buses not turning up because of last-minute cancellations goes completely against our service standards and what passengers rightly expect from us. The drivers who have stood by us continue to work extremely hard to run the level of service we do today.

Once again, please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused recently. Every effort will continue to be made to operate all scheduled journeys in future while we continue recruiting and training new drivers."

Please click on the following link for their new timetable which is effective from Sunday 17 April (although no buses on a Sunday)

https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/find-a-service/414-414a-414b-south-darenth-to-dartford