[UPDATE 13 Jan, 0835. A friend spotted Stagecoach's announcement of the changes detailed below on the Stagecoach East "Promos and Offers" web page - yes really! That's the only place the information is provided - and it's less complete than my attempt below.
Here are links to: (a)
the announcement, and (b)
the new timetable.
Enjoy!]
======
I was taken by surprise at St Ives Station Road stop this morning to see a new departure sheet posted. I've checked both the Stagecoach and County Council Busway websites and can find no details of changes to services (or even a simple announcement). But new timetables are available from
Traveline, and I've attempted below to identify the changes involved.
Note, first, that there are
no changes to Sunday services.
As for the rest of the week (including Saturdays)... The most significant changes are to
routes A and D. There seems to be a significant increase in journey times on the stretch between Orchard Park and St Ives town centre. How is this reflected in the timetable?
On city-bound trips, most services will depart St Ives 7 minutes (or thereabouts)
earlier than at present, and operate 7 (or so) minutes earlier to Orchard Park. Thereafter timings seem unchanged.
On St Ives-bound trips, most services will depart from the city stops as at present, but after Orchard Park will run 7 (or so) minutes later than at present.
There seem to be changes to how the services are being organised in St Ives beyond the town centre. In addition to changes to the times of buses, there may be some switching of routes between the A and the D (and possibly changes to the routes themselves). Check the new timetable carefully!
The first Mon-Fri departure from Ramsey will be at 0605 (i.e. 15 minutes earlier than at present). Morning departures from other villages and towns into St Ives and Cambridge are 5-10 minutes earlier than previously.
There are changes to the routes taken by both services inside the Biomedical Campus. Southbound services will call at the Royal Papworth only as they leave the campus. Northbound services will call at the Royal Papworth only as they first enter the campus.
There are minor changes on
route B, affecting - so far as I can see - only the indicative times at intermediate stops. So, for example, outbound services will notionally call at Shire Hall 3 minutes after leaving Drummer St, 2 minutes earlier than at present. (But this seems a pointless change, since it's rare for buses to arrive by the indicative time even on the 5-minute schedule, so why they're any more likely to reach the Shire Hall a full 2 minutes sooner defies logic!)
There seem to be no changes to services south of Trumpington, nor to route B services north of St Ives.
I apologise if I've missed something that's key to an individual reader's particular journey, but there was a lot of data to wade through. And I was aware that those of you heading off for your Monday commute might appreciate some advance warning.
(When I checked at 2300 on Jan 11 the new timetables were not available on the Stagecoach website, only from
Traveline.)