Technically it’s not even in London and technically it’s not even part of the M25 motorway, yet the Dartford Crossing is one of the most important strategic parts of the capital’s transport network. There’s only one way to make the crossing via public transport though.
That unique link is the X80 bus route, which runs every hour every daytime between Chafford Hundred/Lakeside shopping centre in Thurrock and Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, using the crossing on the way.
It’s not a Transport for London (TfL) bus service. Instead, it is operated by Ensignbus, the local bus operator for Thurrock and South Essex, so Oyster and Travelcards cannot be used, but that hasn’t stopped investment in the route, which uses modern double decker buses offering the most impressive views of the capital as they make their way over the crossing’s 53-metre high Queen Elizabeth road bridge.
READ MORE: ‘London buses aren’t always the best – I found routes elsewhere in the UK with an even better service.’
(Image: Callum Marius)
At £3.30 for an adult single fare, the bus is also reasonably priced considering there’s a £2.50 toll to drive your car from one side to the other, and a higher toll for buses. It’s also a convenient link for those travelling between the outskirts of North East and South East London as there is historically a lack of river crossings in the area.
The alternative via public transport either involves a lengthy detour to the Woolwich foot tunnel/ferry/DLR/Elizabeth line crossings or the Gravesend/Tilbury ferry.
Journeys from parts of the borough of Bexley to and from Havering are often quicker using the X80 and TfL buses either side of crossing than to travel all the way to Woolwich to cross the river there.
Examples of these journeys can be Crayford-Rainham, Upminster-Bexley or North Ockendon-Barnes Cray. Like everything using the crossing, the caveat to all of this is congestion. The entire X80 route can be suspended if traffic on the Dartford Crossing has collapsed entirely.
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There have been calls by transport user groups for additional buses to run like the X80 across the Dartford Crossing as a way of improving connectivity in the areas on the outskirts and reducing dependence in cars. The Dartford Crossing has notoriously poor nitrogen oxide levels – reaching 70mg PM on a bad day (the equivalent of smoking 144 cigarettes per year).
This looks unlikely, particularly on TfL’s part as Mayor Sadiq Khan confirmed to MyLondon last week that he plans to run “at least thirty buses an hour” through the future Silvertown Tunnel between Silvertown and North Greenwich. which will become the newest road river crossing in East London.
(Image: Callum Marius)
From the top deck of the X80’s premium specification double-deckers – with high-back seating, USB charging points and real-time information system – you can spot Canary Wharf and The Shard on a clear day and look far out over Kent and the Thames Estuary from the other side.
The X80 connects with TfL bus routes 370 and 372 at Lakeside and routes 96 and 428 at Bluewater.
If you have a transport-related story you think MyLondon should be covering, email callum.marius@reachplc.com.
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