A member of the Association has switched to Centaur Coaches for his commute from Sevenoaks to Canary Wharf.  He’s found the service “fine” and has shared his experience with us.

His positive points:

• The overall experience is far superior to the train/tube combination into Canary Wharf.
• The coaches themselves aren’t brand new, but they’re comfortable enough.
• Even though we are always stuck in traffic on the morning run to the Blackwall Tunnel, it’s really not stressful at all.
• The morning service usually leaves about 5 minutes late, so departure from my stop on Bullfinch Lane around 7.15, and with the exception of Monday mornings, usually arrives at Canary Wharf around 8.10 – 8.15.
•  If you leave on the later two services in the evenings (the 18.20 or the 18.48 from Canary Wharf) the traffic has generally thinned out by then, producing a 50 minute run back.
• The batches of 10 discounted singles (at £7.10 each) are good value for those who only commute to London a few times a week
• “It’s great for me, and any competition offered to those greedy so and sos at Southeastern is welcome.”

His “less good” points:

• The downside to the commute is the wait for the bus home. They are almost never on time ex Canary Wharf [probably due to traffic coming from Westminster], and are generally 10 or more minutes late.
• The onboard wifi but it’s not very stable/powerful, and is itself dependent on a phone signal, so you might just as well use the phone signal oneself.
• From 2 December the first two morning services involve a change of coach at the A21/A25 junction, adding perhaps another 10 minutes to the journey; the third service will however run direct.  The four return journeys also now involve a change at the same location, but as this is to a waiting minibus very little inconvenience is caused.

If any other members are using Centaur we would be very interested if they could share their feedback on the service too – please use the comment box below.

Note: an additional service from Sevenoaks to London is planned from 6 January, but details have not been announced yet.