Cambridge Metro

A £4 billion scheme to create a metro system for Cambridge is being talked about again. A ‘compelling’ case has apparently been made for its construction, and we report it here because plans show it taking over the guided busway route. Unlike other metro systems, this one will not be rail-based.

CAM, as it is being  called, will operate with high-quality, zero-emission ‘trackless metro’ vehicles, powered by electric batteries recharged overnight and at route termini throughout the day, without the need for overhead wires. Vehicles would offer a high level of passenger comfort, comparable to trams.

The route will run underground through the city centre.

https://www.transport-network.co.uk/Cambridge-has-compelling-business-case-for-4bn-metro/15752

Busway passes 6 million

The busway has now carried over 6 million passengers since it opened in 2011.

The Cambridge news quotes Councillor Ian Bates as saying, in effect, that the busway means you don't have to worry about traffic on the A14 and A428. If only that were true!  Has he never travelled on the busway when A14 gridlock has caused gridlock in Huntingdon and St Ives, with knock on effects on buses?

The busway does offer consistent times on the busway section, but off-busway conditions frequently cause problems.

Peter Lee of Whippet is calling for more segregated routes within Cambridge.

Cllr Bates also talks about providing other busway routes in the area, specifically links to the new Alconbury development.

View article here.

A trip to Peterborough on the guided bus

Today was the last day of the unrevised  Stagecoach service B, so I decided to take a trip to Peterborough. I caught the 1321  B from St Ives. This was in the interest of 'research' but I did visit Peterborough Cathedral.

The13.21 bus left St Ives 5 minutes late, and reached Peterborough 9 minutes late. So we dropped 4 minutes against the schedule.   2 minutes were lost between St Ives and Hartford, which it is not possible to cover in the 10 minutes allowed by the timetable. So Stagecoach are right to ease the time on this section of the route.

I had imagined that the B ran as an express between Huntingdon and Peterborough, but this is not the case. The bus stops on request  at all bus stops en route, so on this trip we picked up of set down passengers at Stukeley Meadows, RAF Alconbury, two different stops in Sawtry, Norman Cross ( possibly someone heading for Stilton which has been bypassed by the new timetable) and Serpentine Green. At no point were there more than 11 passengers on board, and only 8 alighted at the end of the journey.

The return journey was at 1615 from Peterborough with 21 passengers on board.  Passengers boarded or alighted at Serpentine Green, 4 different stops in Sawtry,  and Great Stukeley. We were 6 minutes late reaching Huntingdon, but made up the time between Huntingdon and St Ives, arriving at St Ives on time.

The extra 10 minutes allowed in the new timetable due to start from Monday 6 August should give enough  flexibility to allow for passenger stops and traffic conditions.

It is a puzzle why Stagecoach have cut the large village of Stilton out of the route. And I do not see how they imagine that tacking what is really a 'stopping' service onto the end of the busway route is going to attract people to use the bus for Peterborough-Cambridge journeys.

Has anyone else travelled the Huntingdon-Peterborough section?

Busway extension to Peterborough

The intention of Stagecoach to extend its busway service to run between Huntingdon and Peterborough has taken a step forward, with Andy Campbell of Stagecoach stating that he has applied to the local authority to change existing service 46 and to register a new route B between those two places. The B will run through to/from the busway and link Peterborough with Cambridge (Hunts Post, 20 June, page 7). This information is provided in an editor's  note and responds to letters from residents of Stilton and Alconbury Weston, villages that are affected by these changes. The 46 will be withdrawn south of Stilton, and the new service B will serve Sawtry, thus depriving Stilton of a serve to Sawtry and Huntingdon. The villages of Alconbury, Alconbury Weston and Upton (total population about 2700) will be left without a bus service, it seems. The decision is being made, says Mr Campbell, on commercial grounds, and he thinks the new timetables will 'replace most of the current passenger journeys to and from Huntingdon'.  Options for intermediate journeys, it seems, are of no interest to Stagecoach, and neither is the concept of providing a regular ( until now hourly) service linking the string of sizeable villages on the route with the towns at either end. On of the letter writers wonders why Cambridgeshire County Council made the investment in the busway only for bus companies to withdraw feeder services. Elsewhere in the same issue of Hunts Post ( 20 June, page 15) are two articles on the same topic. Andy Campbell is said to blame the County Council for cutting its subsidies to bus services, combined with a cut in the bus service operators' grant for Stagecoach's decision.

Busway news in this week's Hunts Post

There are four items in the Hunts Post (16 May) about the busway. On page 2 is a report about the proposed bus stop in Station road, St Ives, outside the Hyperion auction house. It is likely to be completed by the end of June. The County County held trials which confirmed that there is room for a bus standing at the bus stop to be overtaken by another bus. However, local councillor, Debbie Townsend, reiterates concern about congestion. Next is a charming story about a bus driver rescuing a family of goslings who had walked onto the guided busway (page4). The letters page features a comment about the fact that the Bank Holiday market once again occupied St Ives Bus Station and questions why the market should be allowed to take precedence over the guided buses. In an earlier post, I noted that Station Road had no market stalls this time, yet the buses were diverted via Meadow Lane. Lastly (page 35) is a report about various changes to bus routes around Cambridgeshire. There may be changes to the bus service between Huntingdon and Peterborough - this would happen if guided buses from Cambridge were to be extended to Peterborough. The current hourly local service to Alconbury and Alconbury Weston will be affected.

Guided bus for Alconbury

The proposed enterprise zone for Alconbury airfield, promising 5000 new houses and 8000 jobs, says this week's Hunts Post (18 January, page 2). The developers of Alconbury are Urban & Civic, who are hoping also to open a railway station at Alconbury. The article does not give any details of how the Alconbury stretch of the busway would link with the St Ives-Cambridge section.