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suzyscottdotcomThe Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is due to open on Sunday 29th November, with Stagecoach introducing a package of service changes from the same weekend. It seems logical enough, but the way that the Busway is being talked about is threatening it’s usefulness.
Firstly, some breaking news. The long-running dispute between the council and the busway contractors over payment of the higher bill has boiled over. The contractors have now placed large concrete blocks across all entrances to the busway, which was supposed to have been handed over for trial running and training to commence this week.
Assuming this is resolved, Cambridgeshire’s guided busway – or at least, the northern section of it – is due to open to passengers from Sunday 29th November. Buses will be fitted with small horizontal guide wheels.
While the public timetable for this has yet to be uploaded to the web, Stagecoach Service B will start at Huntingdon rail station, following the current 55 route through the Town Centre and Oxmoor. In St Ives, the B will follow the current 55 route also, via Houghton Hill Road, Hill Rise, and Ramsey Road, before arriving at St Ives Bus Station, then the new St Ives Park & Ride. The route will then run limited stop along the Guided Busway, calling at Fen Drayton Lakes, Swavesey, Longstanton for another new Park & Ride, Oakington, Histon & Impington, Orchard Park, Shire Hall (County Council premises – naturally!), Round Church Street, Central Cambridge (New Square, for Grafton) and Drummer Street Bus Station. The B will run every 20 minutes in the main part of the day, before running hourly evenings & Sundays.
Stagecoach Service A will also run every 20 minutes (not evenings & Sundays) and will run in a loop around St Ives – Houghton Road, Hill Rise and Ramsey Road, before following the same route as Service A to Histon & Impington, then onto Cambridge Regional College, Science Park, Central Cambridge (same stops) before continuing to/from Parkside. Once the second part of the Busway is open, this route will eventually run through to/from the rail station, Addenbrookes Hospital and Trumpington. (The section between AH & Trumpington is to be single deck buses only, as it’s going to squeeze under a road). This means that half the service to stops north of Histon will terminate in a different location, despite the additional stance at Drummer Street being cleared last year.
Whippet Service C will currently run hourly starting at Somersham, into St Ives via Marley Road, Ramsey Road, St Ives bus station and Park & Ride, before continuing via the same route as the B to/from Cambridge, Drummer Street.
Services A & B will use the previously-delivered biofuel powered Scania double deckers and Volvo single deckers, with leather seats, air-con or air chill, free WiFi etc. Whippet Service C will use some Plaxton bodied Volvo single decks, with regular cushion trimmed seats.
Despite initial promises about interchangeable ticketing, this will not be in place for the start of service. Instead, passengers will have to purchase a ticket from the roadside ticket machines before the bus arrives, and decide which they want. Apparently a smartcard scheme will be introduced across the whole of Cambridgeshire soon, but not at the outset. The previously-introduced multi-operator Multibus ticket has not been mentioned, but will be valid in the usual way, along with all Stagecoach and Whippet prepaid tickets. Changing to/from non-Busway services may not be so easy, as existing interchanges have been moved to keep several key interchange points (including New Square) clear for the Guided Bus services.
Speaking of existing services, Stagecoach services are due for change at the same time. While some service withdrawals were inevitable, these services are also affecting services in other areas.
Service citi 1 (Arbury – Cherry Hinton/Fulbourn) Buses will use Queens Ediths Way rather than Wulfstan Way, and there are some minor changes to times throughout the route.
Service citi 2 (Milton – Addenbrookes Hospital) The service is to be reduced from a bus every 10 minutes, to a bus every 15 minutes between Milton and Addenbrooke’s, with buses will now using Wulfstan Way rather than Queen Ediths Way.
Service citi 4 (Orchard Park – Cambourne/St Neots) Following loss of funding, Sunday evening ourneys to and from Cambourne are withdrawn. Evening and Sunday buses will no longer run to Orchard Park – customers in Orchard Park can use the Busway, and on Milton Road you can use Park & Ride buses after 1830. (That’s what Stagecoach are advising, as the Milton Park & Ride stops at all bus stops after 1830).
Service citi 5 (Cambridge – Bar Hill) Buses will continue to run every 20 minutes during the day between Bar Hill and the city centre, but now, to replace the 15, one bus an hour will extend through to Longstanton, Willingham, Over, Swavesey, Fen Drayton, Fenstanton and St Ives. Citi 5 will run every hour in the evening between Bar Hill and the city, and hourly on Sundays too. These evening and Sunday buses will also serve Girton and Oakington. The evening ciit5 is new, and therefore providing additional buses (although the locals did have a habit of causing trouble on the evening 15). However, the Sunday service was previously an hourly Service c5 to Bar Hill and c6 to Oakington, combining to provide a half-hourly service to Girton Corner. This will be replaced by one bus an hour, running to Bar Hill via Oakington Crossroads (only), as per the new evening service.
Service citi 6 (Cambridge – Oakington) Minor timing changes. New evening service runs as citi5 on the way to Bar Hill. Sunday journeys as citi6 withdrawn, but replaced by the citi5 running to Bar Hill via Oakington Crossroads (only).
Service citi 7 (Cottenham – Saffron Walden, Duxford or Pampisford) Current service of a bus every 10 minutes daytime from Cottenham to Sawston (and hourly to SW, half-hourly to Duxford and Pampisford) is reduced to a bus every 15 minutes on the core section of route. Saffron Walden remains hourly, Duxford loop will be split into two, with one bus an hour to the village, and one per hour to the Imperial War Museum and Whittlesford. One bus an hour will run to Pampisford. In Histon, buses will serve Cambridge Road and Station Road in Histon during off peak daytime Mondays to Saturdays, and will run more direct into Cambridge at other times (in other words, missing out one of the main bits of the route, to/from Vision Park)
Service 13, 13A (Cambridge – Haverhill) Most of the evening journeys leaving Cambridge will now also serve the railway station.
Services 15, 15A & 15B (Cambridge – St Ives) Most buses on route 15 will be replaced by an extension of citi 5 every hour from Cambridge, serving the same villages as the 15 does. Stagecoach will also be running two faster peak services on college days – routes 905 and 915 – from these villages, replacing 15A and 15B. However, a few evening journeys remain operating as Service 15, following the existing route in and out of Cambridge.
Service 20 (St Ives Park & Ride - Fenstanton) New Half-hourly Guided Busway feeder. Would be more useful if it ran into St Ives town centre as well...
Service 21 (St Ives – Somersham – Chatteris) The short peak journeys will now run as part of service A – direct to and from Cambridge on the Busway. During the day, Whippet C will run to/from Somersham via the Busway.
Service 29 (St Ives – Ramsey) The first bus into St Ives will run earlier to enable connections into Cambridge before 9am, plus additional journeys to Ramsey in the morning and back again in the late evening. Some journeys will also run through Old Hurst.
Service 30 (Huntingdon – Ramsey) There are some minor changes to times throughout.
Service 35 (Huntingdon – Chatteris – March) Buses into Huntingdon and back are retimed following requests from students at Hinchingbrooke School, and the current 0750 Chatteris-Warboys will no longer run. Service 55 (Huntingdon - Cambridge) Replaced by Guided Busway Service B.
Service 65/66 (St Ives – Huntingdon – St Neots) Some minor changes to times throughout, plus buses in St Neots will now depart from Stop B in the Market Square
Service 206 (Cambridge – Impington Village College) The morning journey to Impington will run earlier.
With regards to the public reaction so far, Andy Campbell, managing director of Stagecoach Cambridgeshire, said (in response to a Cambridge Evening News article): “Like with any change I accept it makes some people unhappy but we are doing it to improve reliability of services. We can’t ignore the fact congestion has got worse in the city.” However, the long running works on Hills Road, which had been spearing buses together quite regularly (for the Guided Busway no less) have now been completed. It would also appear that the three-year Kickstart funding from the Department of Transport is almost at an end, which would explain the cuts, especially to the citi7. The idea of the scheme was to support services for the first few years, until they can break even. However, as regular blog readers will have read, both in Cambridgeshire and elsewhere, it appears to be a case of run the services while the money is there, then remove the services at the end.
Firstly, some breaking news. The long-running dispute between the council and the busway contractors over payment of the higher bill has boiled over. The contractors have now placed large concrete blocks across all entrances to the busway, which was supposed to have been handed over for trial running and training to commence this week.
Assuming this is resolved, Cambridgeshire’s guided busway – or at least, the northern section of it – is due to open to passengers from Sunday 29th November. Buses will be fitted with small horizontal guide wheels.
While the public timetable for this has yet to be uploaded to the web, Stagecoach Service B will start at Huntingdon rail station, following the current 55 route through the Town Centre and Oxmoor. In St Ives, the B will follow the current 55 route also, via Houghton Hill Road, Hill Rise, and Ramsey Road, before arriving at St Ives Bus Station, then the new St Ives Park & Ride. The route will then run limited stop along the Guided Busway, calling at Fen Drayton Lakes, Swavesey, Longstanton for another new Park & Ride, Oakington, Histon & Impington, Orchard Park, Shire Hall (County Council premises – naturally!), Round Church Street, Central Cambridge (New Square, for Grafton) and Drummer Street Bus Station. The B will run every 20 minutes in the main part of the day, before running hourly evenings & Sundays.
Stagecoach Service A will also run every 20 minutes (not evenings & Sundays) and will run in a loop around St Ives – Houghton Road, Hill Rise and Ramsey Road, before following the same route as Service A to Histon & Impington, then onto Cambridge Regional College, Science Park, Central Cambridge (same stops) before continuing to/from Parkside. Once the second part of the Busway is open, this route will eventually run through to/from the rail station, Addenbrookes Hospital and Trumpington. (The section between AH & Trumpington is to be single deck buses only, as it’s going to squeeze under a road). This means that half the service to stops north of Histon will terminate in a different location, despite the additional stance at Drummer Street being cleared last year.
Whippet Service C will currently run hourly starting at Somersham, into St Ives via Marley Road, Ramsey Road, St Ives bus station and Park & Ride, before continuing via the same route as the B to/from Cambridge, Drummer Street.
Services A & B will use the previously-delivered biofuel powered Scania double deckers and Volvo single deckers, with leather seats, air-con or air chill, free WiFi etc. Whippet Service C will use some Plaxton bodied Volvo single decks, with regular cushion trimmed seats.
Despite initial promises about interchangeable ticketing, this will not be in place for the start of service. Instead, passengers will have to purchase a ticket from the roadside ticket machines before the bus arrives, and decide which they want. Apparently a smartcard scheme will be introduced across the whole of Cambridgeshire soon, but not at the outset. The previously-introduced multi-operator Multibus ticket has not been mentioned, but will be valid in the usual way, along with all Stagecoach and Whippet prepaid tickets. Changing to/from non-Busway services may not be so easy, as existing interchanges have been moved to keep several key interchange points (including New Square) clear for the Guided Bus services.
Speaking of existing services, Stagecoach services are due for change at the same time. While some service withdrawals were inevitable, these services are also affecting services in other areas.
Service citi 1 (Arbury – Cherry Hinton/Fulbourn) Buses will use Queens Ediths Way rather than Wulfstan Way, and there are some minor changes to times throughout the route.
Service citi 2 (Milton – Addenbrookes Hospital) The service is to be reduced from a bus every 10 minutes, to a bus every 15 minutes between Milton and Addenbrooke’s, with buses will now using Wulfstan Way rather than Queen Ediths Way.
Service citi 4 (Orchard Park – Cambourne/St Neots) Following loss of funding, Sunday evening ourneys to and from Cambourne are withdrawn. Evening and Sunday buses will no longer run to Orchard Park – customers in Orchard Park can use the Busway, and on Milton Road you can use Park & Ride buses after 1830. (That’s what Stagecoach are advising, as the Milton Park & Ride stops at all bus stops after 1830).
Service citi 5 (Cambridge – Bar Hill) Buses will continue to run every 20 minutes during the day between Bar Hill and the city centre, but now, to replace the 15, one bus an hour will extend through to Longstanton, Willingham, Over, Swavesey, Fen Drayton, Fenstanton and St Ives. Citi 5 will run every hour in the evening between Bar Hill and the city, and hourly on Sundays too. These evening and Sunday buses will also serve Girton and Oakington. The evening ciit5 is new, and therefore providing additional buses (although the locals did have a habit of causing trouble on the evening 15). However, the Sunday service was previously an hourly Service c5 to Bar Hill and c6 to Oakington, combining to provide a half-hourly service to Girton Corner. This will be replaced by one bus an hour, running to Bar Hill via Oakington Crossroads (only), as per the new evening service.
Service citi 6 (Cambridge – Oakington) Minor timing changes. New evening service runs as citi5 on the way to Bar Hill. Sunday journeys as citi6 withdrawn, but replaced by the citi5 running to Bar Hill via Oakington Crossroads (only).
Service citi 7 (Cottenham – Saffron Walden, Duxford or Pampisford) Current service of a bus every 10 minutes daytime from Cottenham to Sawston (and hourly to SW, half-hourly to Duxford and Pampisford) is reduced to a bus every 15 minutes on the core section of route. Saffron Walden remains hourly, Duxford loop will be split into two, with one bus an hour to the village, and one per hour to the Imperial War Museum and Whittlesford. One bus an hour will run to Pampisford. In Histon, buses will serve Cambridge Road and Station Road in Histon during off peak daytime Mondays to Saturdays, and will run more direct into Cambridge at other times (in other words, missing out one of the main bits of the route, to/from Vision Park)
Service 13, 13A (Cambridge – Haverhill) Most of the evening journeys leaving Cambridge will now also serve the railway station.
Services 15, 15A & 15B (Cambridge – St Ives) Most buses on route 15 will be replaced by an extension of citi 5 every hour from Cambridge, serving the same villages as the 15 does. Stagecoach will also be running two faster peak services on college days – routes 905 and 915 – from these villages, replacing 15A and 15B. However, a few evening journeys remain operating as Service 15, following the existing route in and out of Cambridge.
Service 20 (St Ives Park & Ride - Fenstanton) New Half-hourly Guided Busway feeder. Would be more useful if it ran into St Ives town centre as well...
Service 21 (St Ives – Somersham – Chatteris) The short peak journeys will now run as part of service A – direct to and from Cambridge on the Busway. During the day, Whippet C will run to/from Somersham via the Busway.
Service 29 (St Ives – Ramsey) The first bus into St Ives will run earlier to enable connections into Cambridge before 9am, plus additional journeys to Ramsey in the morning and back again in the late evening. Some journeys will also run through Old Hurst.
Service 30 (Huntingdon – Ramsey) There are some minor changes to times throughout.
Service 35 (Huntingdon – Chatteris – March) Buses into Huntingdon and back are retimed following requests from students at Hinchingbrooke School, and the current 0750 Chatteris-Warboys will no longer run. Service 55 (Huntingdon - Cambridge) Replaced by Guided Busway Service B.
Service 65/66 (St Ives – Huntingdon – St Neots) Some minor changes to times throughout, plus buses in St Neots will now depart from Stop B in the Market Square
Service 206 (Cambridge – Impington Village College) The morning journey to Impington will run earlier.
With regards to the public reaction so far, Andy Campbell, managing director of Stagecoach Cambridgeshire, said (in response to a Cambridge Evening News article): “Like with any change I accept it makes some people unhappy but we are doing it to improve reliability of services. We can’t ignore the fact congestion has got worse in the city.” However, the long running works on Hills Road, which had been spearing buses together quite regularly (for the Guided Busway no less) have now been completed. It would also appear that the three-year Kickstart funding from the Department of Transport is almost at an end, which would explain the cuts, especially to the citi7. The idea of the scheme was to support services for the first few years, until they can break even. However, as regular blog readers will have read, both in Cambridgeshire and elsewhere, it appears to be a case of run the services while the money is there, then remove the services at the end.
