Rochester, Kent the M2 motorway and the High Speed 1 railway line bridge the River Medway. Bus services are operated by Arriva Southern Counties, which took over the locally owned Maidstone & District bus company in the 1990s. Other local bus companies including Nu-Venture provide certain services, some contracted from the local council. Rochester railway station is on the Chatham Main Line and the North Kent Line. Strood railway station is on the North Kent Line and the Medway Valley Line; it links to the HS1 high speed line at Ebbsfleet International giving a running time of 30 minutes into St Pancras.
Maidstone Tunbridge Wells, Ashford and Tenterden. Most services are operated by Arriva and some operated by Nu-Venture. Stagecoach also operates route 10X in the town to Ashford via Lenham, with most buses continuing onto Hythe and Folkestone. There are weekday commuter coach services between Maidstone and London. Former bus operators in Maidstone include Maidstone & District Motor Services (M&D); Maidstone Borough Council Transport, later Boro'line Maidstone; and Bygone Buses. In 2004 the centenary of Maidstone Corporation Transport was marked with several events, featuring a preserved Maidstone trolleybus. When the railways were built in the 1840s, Maidstone was not well served. It