Arriva Southern Counties has unveiled a gold-painted bus to congratulate Winter Olympian Lizzy Yarnold in her home village of West Kingsdown, Kent.
The bus, Plaxton Pointer-bodied Dart ‘T218 NMJ’, went into use in its new livery on Saturday, March 8. Appropriately, it worked on Lizzy’s local service, the 478. The route links West Kingsdown and the neighbouring villages of Farningham and Eynsford with Swanley.
Fresh out of the paint shop, the gold bus was gleaming in the sunshine as it was unveiled to the public and media outside the Portobello Inn before running along the line of the route through West Kingsdown to show it off to local residents.
Arriva’s Regional Publicity Manager, Richard Lewis, said: “We are pleased to mark Lizzy’s success in this way as we serve her local community and the bus will help to keep her achievements in the minds of her fellow residents for a long time to come.
“We were delighted that Lizzy’s father, Clive, was able to join us for the launch and it was clear from the reactions of local people that saw the bus this afternoon that they really appreciate our tribute to Lizzy. I’m sure that the bus will be turning many heads while it is in service.
”We have also had some great comments in response to postings on social media.”
Lizzy Yarnold was Britain’s sole gold medallist at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, winning her medal in the women’s skeleton.
