Double decker hits Hills Road bridge

One of the new Busway double deckers hit the Hills Road bridge earlier today. There were no injuries reported.

Here's an announcement from Stagecoach.

And Cambridgeshire Live has some photos with its report.

The vehicle was not operating a Busway service at the time - journeys on the C are routed via Hills Road, precisely because double deckers are used and are out of gauge for the southern Busway.

Delays

In the last week or two, timekeeping of the Stagecoach buses on the busway at peak times has got worse and worse. It's not been helped by the roadworks in Hills Road, Cambridge.

Today I boarded an A at Parkside at about 17.05. This was heading for Marley Road, and although it was running more or less on the schedule of the Chatteris service, it must have been the previous Marley Road service. So it was running a full 30 minutes late.

While waiting for this bus to arrive, I noticed that three As were show as getting close - in 11, 12 and 13 minutes respectively. By the time I whipped my camera out, the display had changed to buses due in 8, 11 and 12 minutes.

Anyone else with tales of late running buses this week?

Pedestrian shortcut from busway to Cambridge Station

The Cambridge News reports that a steps are to be built linking the Hills Road Bridge with the guided busway path below. This will provide a pedestrian shortcut to/from Cambridge Rail Station. Due to the constricted site, a cycle path cannot be provided, but there will be a channel beside the steps allowing cyclists to wheel their bikes. Cambridgeshire County Council has voted £500,000 for the project.