Planning to use an Arriva bus in Kent and Medway? Two days of strike could affect your journey

Bus passengers in parts of Kent and Medway are being warned to expect further disruption to their journeys because of industrial action.

Arriva routes across Northfleet, Gillingham, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells will be affected on Monday October 10th and Tuesday October 11th.

Members of the Unite union are in dispute with the company over pay.

The strikes will be the latest industrial action to hit the company after previous walkouts in September and October.

Union bosses claim Arriva's owners Deutsche Bahn are among one of the largest transport companies in the world, suggesting the organisation has received £560 million in profits from Arriva.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said,

"This is a prime example of a very wealthy company which can fully afford to pay its workers a fair pay increase but is refusing to do so.

"The strikes will inevitably cause further disruption to bus passengers in Kent but Arriva has brought this dispute on themselves. Its refusal to even enter into negotiations demonstrates that it is not serious about resolving the industrial action."

Some services will be operating

Northfleet will be operating an approximated 30 minute service on Fastrack A from 05:00 - 19:00 on 10th and 11th October.

School services on 489, 414 and 497 will also be running on these days.

A spokesperson for Arriva said: “We are extremely disappointed for all our customers...

"Arriva remains committed to resolving the industrial action and continues to encourage the Unite trade union to ballot on our pay offer.

"We will continue to keep our customers and stakeholders updated, we apologise for the inconvenience this will cause across the region."

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