Guest speaker

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One of the features of the South East Bus Festival that sets it apart from other bus events are talks by guest speakers, most of which have been delivered by professional busmen who have had long careers in the bus industry.

The talks last around thirty to forty minutes and take place in the Cornwallis Room inside the Clive Emson Conference Centre, accessed directly from the exhibition hall (at the end where the stairs are located) in which the sales-stands and model bus displays are situated.

 

For 2026 the guest speaker will be Shane Hymers who is Kent County Council's Bus Network Development Manager and the organisers are very grateful to him for giving his time to take part in the event.

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Shane has been heavily involved in the management of the Fastrack services in the Kent Thames-side area and his talk will reflect on the past and future development of the Fastrack network around Gravesend, Ebbsfleet, Greenhithe and Dartford which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year, as well as the more recently introduced Fastrack service in Dover that provides a service to the expanding residential areas between Dover and Whitfield.

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The north Kent Fastrack network has expanded significantly since the first service was introduced in 2006 and has constantly evolved to provide transport links for the many new housing developments that have been built across the area and is now operated mainly by a fleet of fully-electric buses, as is the Dover service.

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The talk will start at 12pm midday.

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It is expected to be a very interesting talk, and so it is hoped that many visitors to the event will put aside some time to sit down and enjoy Shane's informative presentation.​