Introduction and History

 Updated 18 July 2003

Prior to De-Regulation and Privatisation of bus services Hastings was a "frontier town" where three major operators met:-

Maidstone and District
Provided the local town services as successor to the Hastings and District trolley buses. The company also ran services to the surrounding areas to the North and West with long distance routes to North Kent at Gillingham.

Southdown
On the eastern edge of their large territory with a link to Eastbourne where there were connections to it's routes to Brighton and the West.

East Kent
Entering the town from the East with routes to Rye, Folkestone, Canterbury and Ashford

De-Regulation caused many changes and well known liveries have disappeared but it has also opened the way for new companies.

In the preparations for Deregulation Maidstone and District, like many other large NBC companies was split and the Hastings/Rye/Bexhill and inland area became Hastings and District based on the former M&D depot at Silverhill, St Leonards. Initially buses retained the local branding on NBC green/cream but a local identity was created under the "Arrow" banner, buses being repainted in maroon with cream arrow stripes and services marketed as being direct and frequent (like arrows?). Rye depot was still open at this time and their buses tended to be in a reversed livery.

The next step to make the company more attractive to private investment was the influx of Mercedes mini-buses converted at Alexanders. These were delivered in a new blue, cream and yellow livery although again some wore a reversed version. Service frequency was increased but the buses did not always suit the hilly town routes and could not cope with peak summer loadings for which VRs and Nationals were retained. Over a period full size buses were repainted in the new livery.

A management buy-out resulted in a local run company serving a small geographical area with country routes bringing the larger ex NBC companies into the town (M&D, Southdown, East Kent)

Deregulation brought competition. Southdown had won school service contracts in Hastings and had buses idle during the middle of the day. A joint company with Eastbourne (Corporation) Buses was set up to run a rival Hastings town service, in true Deregulation style, only on the trunk routes in direct competition with the local firm. The buses were drawn from both fleets, Nationals from Southdown and Atlanteans from Eastbourne and were in a yellow and black livery with the fleetname "Topline".

It would appear that this competition was damaging to the local company and despite retaliation at Eastbourne with H&D minibuses styled "Eastbourne and District" the local company sold out to Stagecoach as did Southdown and later East Kent. The result was no further substantial competition at Hastings and Stagecoach painting the buses in stripes with the fleetname "Hastings Buses". Even this reminder of the past was to vanish with the submerging of the "Hastings Buses" fleet into "South Coast Buses" which included the eastern end of former Southdown territory

Hastings is no longer a "frontier town" with Stagecoach controlling so much of the local and country routes. Eastbourne and Tunbridge Wells do retain this feel, with Brighton and Hove and Stagecoach buses mixing with Eastbourne Buses at the former and Brighton and Hove, Stagecoach, Arriva, Metrobus (formerly East Surrey routes), New Enterprise and Southlands and  all meeting at the latter.

The present operators at Hastings are;

Arriva
Services now restricted to routes to Maidstone and services to Tunbridge Wells. Buses in the corporate livery. The bus station at Hawkhurst is stil worth visiting and provides an interchange.

Stagecoach in Hastings
Now provide the majority of the town services, most day-time services being commercial routes with evening and Sunday service being tendered. All services are one-man-operated with a mixture of new and second-hand buses. Double deck buses are still common. Single deck buses are mainly Alexander bodied darts. Olympians and Volvo single deckers are to be seen on longer distance routes.

Eastbourne Buses
Having been involved in the Topline company with Southdown, the former Corporation company now does not run services into Hastings but does serve Bexhill, Battle and villages around the outskirts.

National Express
In contrast to the town's rail links to London (2 trains an hour to Charing Cross, 1 per hour to Victoria) National Express provide 2 coaches daily to London one via Eastbourne and one via the main London road, the A21.

Rambler Coaches
Run services to outlying areas as well as being a well established coach hire company based in the town

Coastal Coaches routes to Hastings Hospital and villages, Coastal are running.low floor buses in an attractive green and white livery.

Minor Operators
Other operators provide less frequent journeys on mainly tendered services within the area including

Autopoint Coaches of Hailsham services Rye and district and Bexhill
Bexhill Community Bus of Bexhill, services from Bexhill centre to suburbs

Empress Coaches of Hastings Mobility services for wheelchair passengers

Renown Coaches of Bexhill, services in and around Bexhill and Hastings, with a large fleet of blue and cream double deckers on school contract

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