Route A additional services from 28 July

Although these proposals haven't yet been submitted to the Traffic Commissioners, there are changes afoot at the southern end of Route A.

From 28 July there will be new Busway A services to and from Trumpington Park and Ride

Two new services will run from the Park and Ride at 06:02 and 06:17, and there will also be a new bus route to and through the biomedical campus from Royston, also stopping at Melbourn, Shepreth, Foxton and Harston (separate to the existing 26 bus service which currently routes to the City). This new bus route will initially run hourly and will be an extension to the Busway A to/from Trumpington Park and Ride.

The new 08:03 Busway A service from Longstanton will now be a single-deck bus, which means it can travel all the way to the biomedical campus as opposed to terminating at Cambridge rail station. 

Busway engineering work - Saturday 18 April

Bus route A will be diverted on Saturday 18 April not 16 March as indicated in the first email.

This announcement was sent out yesterday:

On Saturday 18th April 2015 the southern section of Busway track will be closed for engineering work.

Due to the nature of the work being carried out the Busway A will be using an alternative route between Trumpington park&ride and Addenbrooke's Hospital. This means the service will be unable to call at Trumpington Foster Road ALL DAY on Saturday 18th March.

Customers usually boarding/alighting at this location should either use the Busway A from/to Trumpington park&ride or the Citi 7 service from/to Trumpington High Street as an alternative. Please note the Citi 7 only runs as far as Central Cambridge northbound.

All other Busway stops and services are unaffected.

Correction issued today reads as follows:

Yesterday we sent an email alerting you about forthcoming engineering works affecting services stopping at Foster Road. The incorrect dates were included in this email.

The work at Foster Road is taking place ALL DAY on Saturday 18th April. Please disregard the other dates mentioned in the previous email.

We are sorry for any confusion caused by the previous email.

Yet more incursions

There are times when one feels a separate blog is required simply to note the constant flow of illegal incursions, but according to the Cambridge News there has been a noticeable spike of such incidents in the past week or so, as a result of car drivers "being confused by road closures at Addenbrooke’s". Apparently the Busway, notwithstanding the signs, looks like a road you might want to drive down. Let's hope these same drivers are paying slightly more attention when you, or I, or our children, are crossing the road one day.

For those who can bear it, here's the full Cambridge News story.

Cambridgeshire transport strategy and a new busway to Haverhill

Faced with huge increases in the number of houses, and  population growth, in the county, Cambridgeshire County Council has warned that journeys could take up to 75% longer by 2031 if nothing is done about the transport infrastructure. Among proposals are new railway stations at Addenbrooke's (why has it taken them so long?) Fulbourn and Cherry Hinton. Reopening the railways to Haverhill and Bedford are suggested. An alternative idea for Haverhill is a guided busway alongside the A1307.

All this and more is included in an article in the Cambridge News here.

Cambridgeshire County Council source document here.

One million passengers

According to today's Hunts Post ( 4 January, page 2) the busway will soon have carried its millionth passenger. Andy Campbell of Stagecoach expects they'll reach 2.5 million passengers in the first year, and so they have ordered some new buses. However, they haven't yet decide on the shape of future bus services.

The article also refers to a survey conduced by Pure Resourcing Solutions suggesting that the busway has opened up new job opportunities. Two thirds of those questioned would now consider travelling further to work. Only a quarter used the busway instead of their existing travel method, though 42% said they would in future.

On page 6 of the same issue is a letter from Tim Phillips, chairman of CAST.IRON, the organisation that campaigned for the St Ives railway to be reinstated as a railway, not a busway. He writes in response to a letter (Hunts Post, 21 December) complaining that the Huntingdon to Addenbrooke's bus journey is now slower than before the busway opened. Factors contributing to this sad state of affairs are

• two thirds of the bus journey is on ordinary roads and therefore subject to normal traffic delays
• there is no through service from Huntingdon to Addenbrooke's and 10 minutes has to be allowed fro changing buses
• the busway route out of Cambridge heads north east towards Milton and the science park, so after a few miles and several minutes of travel is actually no nearer Huntingdon than it was at the start, whereas Whippet services via the A14, Bar Hill and Fenstanton  get a head start on their way out of town

To those delay factors, I'd also add that the Cambridge-Huntingdon buses now make a lot of extra stops at intermediate villages, which slows them down compared with the old non-stop route along the A14.

Not impressed?

In the Hunts Post this week (21 December, page 6) is a letter from a Huntingdon resident whose journey to Addenbrooke's is slower that it used to be before the busway started running. He also notes that the Whippet 1A often reaches Cambridge before the Busway service, and that the so-called 'fast' buses from Huntingdon, introduced in October do not live up to expectations.

Today I travelled from St Ives to Cambridge on the 0735 Service B. The 1A left simultaneously with the B, and arrived in Cambridge ahead of the B. OK, the traffic is unusually light in the run-up to Christmas.  In fact, the 1A often beats the Busway service, even on journeys at peak hours such as the 17.10 Whippet departure from Drummer Street.

The Huntingdon to Cambridge bus service is good on frequency, but poor on speed.

A problem the bus companies need to address is how to provide a fast service between Huntingdon and Cambridge that doesn't go all round St Ives. Would an Oxmoor-Huntingdon-Godmanchester-Cambridge route via the A428 be quicker thatn the busway?