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

Secret train fares to St Ives via the Guided Busway

Thanks to Mike Prior-Jones for alerting this blog to a secret fares option allowing through tickets to St Ives via the busway - but only if you book the tickets from a travel agent or a staffed station. And only from stations served by Great Northern Trains. It works via Cambridge or Huntingdon, apparently, an railcard reductions are available.

Full details here.

Delays to busway services

Regular users of the busway will be aware that the buses don't run every 7-8 minutes as they are supposed to. A whole lot of delays occur, usually as a result of road conditions  elsewhere.

There is a good example in this week's Hunts Post (11 December, page 11). It's about parked cars blocking Cowper Road, Huntingdon, a small residential street that, because of Huntingdon's one-way street system forms part of the westbound Busway B route. The photo shows 4 Bs waiting to get through. That's an hour's worth of buses! OK, they're westbound, but that means their return journeys towards Cambridge will subsequently be delayed.

'Catch The Bus' Week 29 April - 5 May

Stagecoach is teaming up with Greener Journeys and other bus providers to encourage the public to travel by bus. We know there has already been a huge shift from cars to buses as a result of the opening of the guided busway, so it's anybody's guess how successful  'Catch the Bus' week will be.

As an inducement, Stagecoach East will be offering the chance to obtain free East Dayrider Gold tickets. These free tickets will be available  between 12.00 and 14.00 at the following places:

Monday 29 April - St Ives Town Centre
Tuesday 30 April - Cambridge Petty Cury/Market Square
Wednesday 1 May - Huntingdon Town Centre
Thursday 2 May - Peterborough Cathedral Square
Friday 3 May - Bedford outside the Harpur Centre

Look for a large green hand.

Details here.

More about the Station Road bus stop and a comment on the economic impact of the busway for St Ives

Today's Hunts Post ( 5 September) includes three letters about the Station Road bus stop in St Ives, including one from a Fenstanton resident who has been in correspondence with the County Council about the problems. The letter is well worth reading as it reveals quite a bit about the process that resulted in this very  inadequate response to perceived overcrowding in St Ives Bus Station. This is on page 6.

Pressure on St Ives Bus Station is evidently reducing, as instanced by an article elsewhere in the paper (page 11). This covers withdrawal of an early morning bus  (service 21) that was used by young people from Needingworth travelling to St Ivo School. Stagecoach lost the school transport contract for Pidley, Somersham, Colne, Bluntisham and Earith to Whippet and Dew's, which has rendered that particular journey uneconomic. Needingworth pupils live less than 3 miles from the Ivo and are therefore not entitled to free travel to school. Whippet and Dew's buses currently have only 13 places available, at a cost of £150 per term, for pupils from Needingworth to use.

On page 7 are two letters grouped together under the heading of  'The sorry tale of two market towns' i.e. Huntingdon and St Ives. There is clearly a perception that St Ives has better shopping facilities than Huntingdon, but  the owners of an independent St Ives shop refer to their declining  trade. Although it has  been suggested that the busway has brought trade into St Ives, these shop owners would dispute that.

Poor bus service between St Ives and Huntingdon

This week's Hunts Post (22 August, page 6) carries a letter from a St Ives resident who was trying to catch the bus to Huntingdon en route for the Olympics. She noticed six buses going towards Cambridge while she waited for 40 minutes for a bus heading towards Huntingdon.  Unfortunately she was waiting in Ramsey Road, and as readers of this blog will know, the Huntingdon-bound buses no longer travel the top end of Ramsey Road. The writer mentions difficulties getting information about the bus services, and also unhelpful or non-existent responses from Philip Norwell of Stagecoach in response to questions about the timetable.

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?

Hunts Post - 1 August

Four items of busway interest in this week's Hunts Post ( 1 August).

First ( page 6) , a letter from a resident of St Ives who has been using the bus to/from Huntingdon Rail Station for his daily commute. The new timetable has reduced the service to the station. he alos comments thta the buses don't comnnect well with the trains.  Stagecoach reply pointing out that the new evening frequency is the same as before, and that the Hinchingbrooke buses call at the stop on Brampton Road adjacent to the station. This isn't made clear by the published timetable though.

On page 14 are three articles about the busway.

Cambridgeshire County Council says that usage of the busway has been more than expected, reaching 2.5 million in the first year. They are expecting 3 million in year 2.

Whippet say their first year on the busway has been better than expected. Stagecoach.

Stagecoach refer to their heavy investment in vehicales and staff training. Their big question is - when will they get the return on their investment? In fact, they don't see that happening until the Northstowe development gets going.

Bus services to villages between Huntingdon and Peterborough

As noted in earlier posts, extension of the busway service B to Peterborough means that Stagecoach is withdrawing its service 46 between Huntingdon and Stilton, and leaving several villages with no bus service. The Hunts Post ( 18 July, page 21) reports that Nene & Ouse Valley Community Transport will provide a bus service linking Huntingdon with Alconbury Weston, Sawtry, Glatton, Norman Cross and Stilton. There will be about 6 daily journeys.

Busway services to Peterborough

The timetable for the busway service B extension from Huntingdon to Peterborough is now available on the Cambridgeshire County Council website here. Or here.

Departures from Huntingdon are at 05.50 then hourly until 16.50 then 17.20, 18.20, 19.20. From Peterborough they are at 06.45, 07.45, 09.15 then hourly until 20.15. The service operates Monday to Saturday. Journey time is 44 or 45 minutes.

Intermediate calling points are described as follows: Little Stukeley opposite RAF Alconbury Main Gate (northbound), Alconbury near RAF Main Gate (southbound), Sawtry opposite Tinkers Lane, Hampton Serpentine Green.

Bizarrely, the Huntingdon to Peterborough journeys are shown in the same table as Huntingdon to Cambridge journeys, and vice versa - so  there is no indication of whether they are through journeys between Peterborough and Cambridge.

Link to Studley's tidied up version of the Peterborough-Cambridge timetable here.

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.

Re-routing buses in northern St Ives

This week's Hunts Post (9 May, page 6) has two letters from St Ives residents about Stagecoach's proposal to divert the Service B away from Hill Rise and the north end of Ramsey Road. One accuses Stagecoach of being motivated solely by profit, and not really considering the needs of the people who use the buses. The other highlights the needs of elderly and disabled people for whom the rerouting will cause problems. There is a reply from Andy Campbell, manager of Stagecoach East. He says that the Service B will continue to serve the full length of Ramsey Road in the evenings and Sundays. There will still be a direct service between Hill Rise and St Ives Town Centre. Bus coverage of St Ives will improve. The Oxmoor will still be served by the B, and Huntingdon will have a quicker service. The accusation that Stagecoach is somehow punishing St Ives because of the Town Council's refusal to allow buses through the town centre, he says, is ludicrous. Of course, the fact remains that passengers from the north end of Ramsey Road and Hill r Rise won't have a direct service to/from Huntingdon. Whippet might well find themselves picking up some of this traffic. In the Huntingdon & St Ives News & Crier (10 may, page 14-15) is a report about the recent flooding, caused by rain water flowing down the Great Ouse and its tributaries. There are several photos of the floods, including one (by Mark Shelley) of the guided busway cycle track, but nothing at all in the text about the busway.

Changes to bus routes A and B in July

Stagecoach has announced its proposal for reorganising bus routes A and B in St Ives as from July, following introduction of some new vehicles. In order to provide a quicker journey to/from Huntingdon, the service B will be re-routed to miss out the top end of Ramsay Road and Hill Rise. Service A will be extended to Hill Rise, but will do a one-way loop by turning left at the Seven Wives, then right into Hill Rise then back into St Ives down Ramsey Road. This will mean that residents of the Hill Rise area won't have a direct bus to Huntingdon. Instead they will have to walk down to the Seven Wives, or catch the A to Seven Wives and change onto the B. (Hunts Post, 25 April, page 15)

Cycling improvements

The cycle track which follows the guided busway has been so successful that The Department for Transport has agreed to fund improvements to the Thicket path east of St Ives. This path links St Ives and Huntingdon, and is effectively a continuation of the busway track. The £30 million comes from the DfT's 'Linking Places Fund'. Although 43% of British people own bicycles, only 2% of journeys are made by bike. Improvements to the Thicket path have potential to attract cyclists from Huntingdon who want to continue their journeys from St Ives towards Cambridge by bus or cycle . Hunts Post, 14 March, page 4

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?

Peterborough to Cambridge via the guided busway?

Stagecoach has announced plans to run buses from Peterborough on the busway.  ( See link to Cambridge First below). They hope  this will provide a less expensive alternative to the train for commuters. The buses would join the busway at St Ives, presumably using the A14/A1M for the northern section of their route. Extra vehicles will have to be purchased.

But will it be viable timewise? Andy Campbell, of Stagecoach describes the train as 'going round the houses'.  This is the pot calling the kettle black. The train takes about 45-50 minutes between Peterborough and Cambridge, usually with two stops - March and Ely. The guided buses, on the other hand, go all round the Oxmoor, the Hill Rise loop, call at all the villages between St Ives  and Cambridge, then if it's a service B, trundles through Orchard Park and squeezes through the narrow and congested Magdalene Street.  

We know the  guideway buses are taking longer than they used to by the old route - so how does Stagecoach imagine it can offer a fast service from Peterborough, when they can't offer a fast service from Huntingdon?

It's 29 miles from Peterborough to St Ives. That's going to take 45-60 minutes, then add on another 36 minutes from St Ives into Cambridge, and you're talking about well over an hour. Plus there is the added complication of traffic delays on the A14 near Huntingdon.

I watch this proposal with interest.

I think they'd be better concentaring on how to provide an all day, frequent service to Cambridge from places such as Godmanchester, Houghton & Wyton, Ramsey,  Warboys, Somersham, Earith, Fenstanton and, of course, Huntingdon.

In the same article, there is a comment about the four fast journesy from Huntingdon to Cambridge that were introduced a few weeks ago. Unfortunately they haven't been well used, and Stagecoach might have to review them. There are probably two factors to this. First, most people joining the service B in Huntingdon and travelling to Cambridge, do so in the Oxmoor, rather than the town centre. Second, the fast buses are still pretty slow when you consider that Huntingdon is only about 17 miles from Cambridge. So perhaps not a very attractive proposition for commuters

http://www.cambridgefirst.co.uk/news/guided_busway_could_link_cambridge_with_peterborough_1_1116357

This this story also appears in the Hunts Post (9 November, page 27) and the Huntingdon & St Ives News & Crier (10 November, page 31).

Local newspaper reports

The busway continues to  feature in the local newspapers.

Yesterday's Hunts Post ( 2 November) has a letter ( page 7) from a St Ives resident about the County Council's apparent U-turn on the busway - he reckons the Council is getting 'jittery' about its chances of winning the court case against the contractors BAM Nuttall.

On page 8 of the same issue is a piece about the new express buses between Huntingdon and Cambridge - which started running on 24 October. Hunts Post has been a bit slow in acknowledging this timetable improvement! This refers to two services in each direction (07.10 and 07.40 from Huntingdon) that skip both the Oxmoor and the Hill Rise/Ramsay Road loop. Judging by the published timetable these 'express' buses save 13 minutes eastbound but only 6 minutes westbound compared with the regular buses. Hunts Post doesn't mention the departure times in the other direction. In fact, they leave Drummer Street at 17.25 and 17.45.

While on the subject of 'express' buses, it is worth noting that the average speed, including stops and slowings for road crossings, between St Ives Bus Station and the Science Park is  only 32mph. The quickest journey time from Cambridge to St Ives via the busway (28 minutes is the fastest I've noted) can never match the quickest times via the A14 (22 minutes was common off peak in the old days).

Stagecoach have indicated  they will consider offering more express journeys if passenger demand builds.

But, let's face it, Huntingdon needs a better, faster bus link to Cambridge than even the busway can offer - 16 miles in over an hour is ridiculously slow.  Godmanchester  (population around 8000) simply needs a direct bus to Cambridge. That can only be achieved by missing out St Ives completely. An Oxmoor- Huntingdon - Godmanchester - Cambridge route via the A428 might just work.

Timetable revisions from 23 October

Stagecoach has announced it will be running some 'quicker buses from Huntingdon' as from 23 October.

There will be two new 'fast' buses from Huntingdon at 07.10 and 07.40  'direct to St Ives then along the busway' to Cambridge, returning from Drummer Street at 17.25 and 17.45, Mondays to Fridays.

The evening service  (Mon-Sat) will be be re-timed to leave from Drummer Street at 5 past the hour from 20.05 until 00.05.

According to The Busway Service Updates, there are also changes to the return school day journeys with buses leaving the rail station at 1547 and 1607. These extra journeys do not appear on the  new timetable. Presumably they are running as relief journeys for service A.
 
The new timetable can be viewed at http://www.thebusway.info/extuploads/routesabtt.pdf

Evening service

Yesterday was my first evening shift of the academic year, so my homeward journey was on the 21.35 Service B from Drummer Street.

Before the busway opened, this journey nearly always left on time and the got me back to St Ives between 22.00 and 22.05. Journey times that I have noted for this departure undvia the old route of Huntongdon road and the A14 ( 2, 16 & 23 November  and 9 December 2010) took 26, 24, 26 and 26 minutes respectively.

But yesterday the 21.35 was late arriving in from Huntingdon. It left Drummer Street at 21.42 (7 minutes late). We reached the guideway at Orchard Park East at 21.55 (11 minutes late) but gained a few minutes to arrive in St Ives Bus station at 22.14 (7 minutes late).

A journey which generally took 24-26 minutes via the A14, takes 32 minutes via the busway. So much for a fast, and efficient transport system.

The eastbound service was also running late, and I noticed passing Swavesey that the eastbound buses were showing as due in 7 and 75 minutes.

Is the evening the timetable is unrealistically tight ? I shall be monitoring the timings for evening journeys that I make.

Before the busway, the evening service could be run by two vehicles (just) and in my experience they could keep to time. They now have to do a loop round by Huntingdon Rail Station, as well as contend with the longer route and more stops via the busway and Histon Road. Hence the delay, which migh prove to be cumulative as the evening progresses.

This was my first trip on the busway in the dark. I was amazed at the number of rabbits on the track.