Maidstone & District Motor Services - History - National Bus Company

National Bus Company

Maidstone & District became part of the National Bus Company in 1969. The company made its first loss in 1971, necessitating some rationalisation. A partnership with East Kent Road Car Company evolved and the running of the company transferred to Canterbury. The company ordered an unusual fleet of 30 two-door Marshall single deck vehicles based on Daimler Fleetline 33 ft. chassis for operation in the Medway Towns. In 1971 these were sent to Northern General in exchange for Daimler Fleetline double deckers. National Bus Company introduced standard liveries in 1972 and the traditional green and cream livery gave way to NBC leaf green. The company purchased several batches of Leyland Leopards for both bus and coach work, together with ECW bodied Bristol VRTs. M&D also bought several batches of Leyland Nationals including some dual purpose buses for a proposed network of limited stop services.

1973 saw transfers of services between East Kent and M&D, with M&D gaining operations in Faversham and Rye and reducing services in Ashford and closing its depot. In 1974 services were renumbered in a common sequence with those of East Kent Road Car Company. Services were re-numbered according to area with most services receiving three digit numbers, the first of which indicated the area of operation.

In 1975 trial batches of the MCW Metropolitan, Volvo Ailsa B55 and Bristol VRT series 3 entered service at Silverhill, eventually transferring to the Medway Towns. M&D went on to buy large numbers of Bristol VRTs, although it also took two batches of MCW Metrobuses.

Services in Chatham began to serve the new Pentagon Bus Station in Spring 1976, while Lower Stone Street Bus Station in Maidstone was redeveloped using NBC's standard layout. This enabled the closure of the original bus station in Palace Avenue, although the booking office building was purchased by the Kent & East Sussex Railway and re-assembled at Tenterden Town railway station.

Gravesend area services were recast as part of a co-ordination scheme with London Country Bus Services. London Country took over a number of town services from M&D, and M&D's Gravesend Depot closed 18 months later, the remaining local services passing to London Country's Northfleet depot.

1979 saw the replacement of the former Green Line 719 service between London and Wrotham and the Maidstone - Tenterden extension of National Express 008 with a limited stop service 919. It was initially operated with dual purpose Leyland Nationals. Between Wrotham and Farningham, the service called at most bus stops, taking over three hours end to end. Despite the subsequent introduction of coach specification vehicles, the service was not a success.

In the early 1980s, expectations of a complete merger with East Kent began to grow. Vehicles and operations were interchanged, including some M&D Atlanteans, which were swapped for AEC Regents. In 1980, the first Market Analysis Project (MAP) was completed in the Hastings area, leading to the adoption of the "Hastings & District" name for buses operating from Silverhill, Hastings and Hawkhurst depots. Services were cut and Bexhill depot was closed in April 1980. A group of former M&D drivers formed Bexhill Town Bus Services, initially operating a number elderly Leyland Nationals acquired from Plymouth Citybus.

The Hastings & District operation became a separate company in 1983, although Hawkhurst depot remained with M&D while Rye passed to the new company. Hastings & District was eventually purchased by Stagecoach, who combined it with parts of Southdown Motor Services company to form South Coast Buses.

The 1980s saw a number of depot closures, notably the Maidstone depot in Knightrider Street (following co-ordination of local services with Maidstone Borough Council Transport under the Maidstone Area Bus Services banner) and the relatively new facility at Tonbridge. The company's Central Works in Maidstone also closed, maintenance being devolved to a new company Kent Engineering (based in Canterbury and Hawkhurst), who also undertook maintenance for East Kent.

The express coach services between London, the Medway Towns and Maidstone were re-branded Invictaway in the early 1980s, this name also being applied to route 900 between Gillingham and Gatwick Airport. An all-over black livery was used. To enhance these services, several batches of Leyland Olympians with ECW double deck coach bodies were acquired and painted in a green and white livery. This was later applied to the whole Invictaway fleet.