Timetable changes today (or tomorrow, in fact)

Stagecoach are making more changes to their Busway "B" service. In theory these impact only on the "regular road" section between Huntingdon and Peterborough, but it's possible there might be consequences for the Busway proper.

The B is to be rerouted via Stilton. To accommodate this, Peterborough services will leave Huntingdon 3 minutes earlier. And southbound services will generally leave Peterborough 5 minutes earlier. If this latter isn't sufficient to fit in the extra route mileage, then arrival at Huntingdon could be late, with consequences on the Huntingdon to Cambridge stretch. Only time will tell!

A revised timetable for the Huntingdon to Peterborough stretch is available for download here. The new times are also available from Traveline. The dedicated Busway pages on the County Council website seem unaware of either the route change or the amended timetable.

It's not 100% clear from either Stagecoach or Traveline if the Huntingdon/Peterborough service is continuing as a through service to/from Cambridge (there are a few runs that never have, of course). It seems unlikely that any change is planned in this regard, but until we have a new complete timetable for the whole Busway, it's impossible to be certain.

According to Stagecoach the changes come into effect today (29 October) - but there isn't a Sunday service on this stretch, so in practice they apply from 30 October.

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 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.