Folkestone Bus Station Closes After 70 Years (1955–2025) as Services Move to Middelburg Square

Folkestone’s town-centre bus station will close after service on Saturday 20 September, with services switching to temporary stops along Middelburg Square from Sunday 21 September while works advance on the council’s “Folkestone – A Brighter Future” scheme. The change paves the way to turn Bouverie Square back into a public garden and to create a safer linear bus station on Middelburg Square.

Passengers are promised on-street help and clear signage during the switchover. National Express and other coach services have already moved to the stop behind Sainsbury’s on Bouverie Road West. When complete, the new layout will add real-time digital information and new shelters with living roofs; the council says around a quarter of the £22m programme is already delivered. 

Stagecoach, which has been “working closely with the council to ensure a smooth transition,” confirms 20 September as the final day of operations at the old station and the move to a pedestrian-friendly linear hub on Middelburg Square.

A very short history of a long serving station

Before buses, Bouverie Square was part of Folkestone’s network of formal garden squares—private green spaces that framed the Victorian resort. That changed in the post-war modernising push: the foundation stone for the town’s bus station was laid on 29 April 1954 by Mayor Alderman John Moncrieff, and the facility opened in July 1955. It later saw a refurbishment in 2004 and sat beside the Bouverie Place shopping centre, which opened in November 2007. Even so, the council’s own town-centre strategy in 2011 judged that the bus station “compromised” the setting of Bouverie Square—an assessment the current scheme explicitly seeks to reverse by “returning [it] to its former use as a public garden space.”

What Changes For Passengers For This Weekend

• Sat 20 Sep: Last day using the existing Bouverie Square stands. 

• Sun 21 Sep: Temporary stops go live on Middelburg Square; on-street staff and maps in place.

The Wider Scheme

“A Brighter Future” channels government Levelling Up funding into a top-to-toe re-plan of the town centre—slower traffic, more crossings, and a “Green Heart” park at Bouverie Square. The linear bus layout is designed to cut carriageway crossing and improve accessibility for modern, larger buses. 

Residents have debated the change over the past year; the council’s answer is a package of design, lighting and management measures alongside the regeneration benefits.

Need the new stop for your route?

Stagecoach has a dedicated update page and maps, and the council’s FABF hub carries project details and progress updates.

The ShepwayVox Team

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