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suzyscottdotcomFrom Monday just gone (5th January), a raft of improvements have occurred with Stagecoach in Cambridge, although some may take a bit of looking to find! Firstly, two new low floor Optare Solo midibuses have been delivered for St Neots Town Service 64, these being the first brand new buses to be allocated to Huntingdon since their (re)acquisition by Stagecoach. There was also a delivery of five new Enviro200 single deck midibuses for Cambridge depot for Service citi5 to Bar Hill, and the citi6 to Oakington. The slightly revised timetable for the 5/6 maintain the existing headways, but with some extra buses in the early evening from Oakington to Cambridge. The council’s proposal to withdraw the subsidised X14 from Huntingdon to Cambridge Science Park (only being used by a very tiny handful) went ahead, but suggestions to withdraw the subsidised evening/Sunday 10 (Cambridge – Burwell/Newmarket) was looked at differently. The two evening 12 journeys to Soham via Newmarket were diverted via the majority of the villages served by the 10, thus maintaining links at lower cost. Secondly, the Sunday service on the 10 continues as now, but this will be reviewed later in 2009.
An extra early morning journey has been added to the citi1 from Fulbourn and Cherry Hinton to central Cambridge and Arbrury, following passenger requests. Additionally, the Sunday services on citi2 from Adddenbrookes/Romsey to Milton, and citi7 from Duxford/Pampisford to Cottenham, have been doubled in service from every hour, to every 30 minutes, although running times on the citi2 have been tightened at the same time.
At the same time, the largely experimental Service 8 (Waterbeach – Horingsea – Cambridge) is withdrawn. This route was an hourly, commercial route, and as the local councillor said “Unfortunately, far too few of us used it and so the service is to stop in early January.” The parallel subsidised twice-daily Whippet 196 was due for withdrawal of funding by Cambridgeshire County Council, and has gained a partial reprieve. The council continues to fund the two return journeys, Monday to Friday, but the Saturday service has been withdrawn. Also withdrawn is the commercially provided former Cambridge Blue service 007 from the rail station to the city centre and The Grafton. This may have been overlapped too much by other routes, and the traffic management changes last year did not help i.e. it had to go up East Road to The Grafton first, and it could no longer run along Emmanuel Street.
Also, to “celebrate the introduction of a seven-day a week service” (overlooking the fact that Milton P&R might be just a tad too small), two passengers can travel for the price of one on any Cambridge Park & Ride service, on any Sunday in January. The press release did not mention, however, that the seven day Megarider in Cambridge City and Peterborough City both go up from £10 per week to £11 per week – although these are the first increases of these tickets for several years.
In addition to the Stagecoach changes, Freedom Travel 213 from Bury to Ely is gone, 46/47 around Newmarket and Dullingham have been reduced, and the off peak subsidised journeys on Whippet 2 from Cambridge to Caldecote were withdrawn – but the commercial peak time service continues.
This might not be the last of this lot, as further changes were registered for February.
In Oxford, further changes are afoot to country services on Sunday 25th January, to be developed under the brand of S-series – for “A Superior Service From Stagecoach”. Services 100 and 200 from Oxford to Carterton will become S1, S2, Services 20 and 20A from Oxford to Chipping Norton become S3, whereas Service S5 is the new number for the 27 group from Oxford to Bicester. Buses will be route-branded for each service group, with S1/S2 being pink and purple, S3 green, and S5 orange, otherwise buses should be in corporate garb. The vehicles will also include free Wi-Fi on board. There will also be the implementation of a satisfaction guarantee, where if a company attributable fault results in a 30 minutes or more delay, you qualify for a free DayRider for next time. See more on the webpage.
Between the two, and from Monday 19th January, Service X5 (Cambridge – Oxford) will move the terminal point from Cambridge Drummer Street to Parkside. It is also expected that the 18 new longer wheelbase Volvo/Plaxton coaches will go on service around this time – featuring leather seats, air conditioning, and free Wi-Fi on board these too. Locals in the areas may well have noticed these out on driver familiarisation (laden with vinyls to advertise their new features), and they should be coming into full service use soon enough.
An extra early morning journey has been added to the citi1 from Fulbourn and Cherry Hinton to central Cambridge and Arbrury, following passenger requests. Additionally, the Sunday services on citi2 from Adddenbrookes/Romsey to Milton, and citi7 from Duxford/Pampisford to Cottenham, have been doubled in service from every hour, to every 30 minutes, although running times on the citi2 have been tightened at the same time.
At the same time, the largely experimental Service 8 (Waterbeach – Horingsea – Cambridge) is withdrawn. This route was an hourly, commercial route, and as the local councillor said “Unfortunately, far too few of us used it and so the service is to stop in early January.” The parallel subsidised twice-daily Whippet 196 was due for withdrawal of funding by Cambridgeshire County Council, and has gained a partial reprieve. The council continues to fund the two return journeys, Monday to Friday, but the Saturday service has been withdrawn. Also withdrawn is the commercially provided former Cambridge Blue service 007 from the rail station to the city centre and The Grafton. This may have been overlapped too much by other routes, and the traffic management changes last year did not help i.e. it had to go up East Road to The Grafton first, and it could no longer run along Emmanuel Street.
Also, to “celebrate the introduction of a seven-day a week service” (overlooking the fact that Milton P&R might be just a tad too small), two passengers can travel for the price of one on any Cambridge Park & Ride service, on any Sunday in January. The press release did not mention, however, that the seven day Megarider in Cambridge City and Peterborough City both go up from £10 per week to £11 per week – although these are the first increases of these tickets for several years.
In addition to the Stagecoach changes, Freedom Travel 213 from Bury to Ely is gone, 46/47 around Newmarket and Dullingham have been reduced, and the off peak subsidised journeys on Whippet 2 from Cambridge to Caldecote were withdrawn – but the commercial peak time service continues.
This might not be the last of this lot, as further changes were registered for February.
In Oxford, further changes are afoot to country services on Sunday 25th January, to be developed under the brand of S-series – for “A Superior Service From Stagecoach”. Services 100 and 200 from Oxford to Carterton will become S1, S2, Services 20 and 20A from Oxford to Chipping Norton become S3, whereas Service S5 is the new number for the 27 group from Oxford to Bicester. Buses will be route-branded for each service group, with S1/S2 being pink and purple, S3 green, and S5 orange, otherwise buses should be in corporate garb. The vehicles will also include free Wi-Fi on board. There will also be the implementation of a satisfaction guarantee, where if a company attributable fault results in a 30 minutes or more delay, you qualify for a free DayRider for next time. See more on the webpage.
Between the two, and from Monday 19th January, Service X5 (Cambridge – Oxford) will move the terminal point from Cambridge Drummer Street to Parkside. It is also expected that the 18 new longer wheelbase Volvo/Plaxton coaches will go on service around this time – featuring leather seats, air conditioning, and free Wi-Fi on board these too. Locals in the areas may well have noticed these out on driver familiarisation (laden with vinyls to advertise their new features), and they should be coming into full service use soon enough.
