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.

Bus in field

A Stagecoach single-decker left the Busway on Thursday morning and ended up some way into an adjacent field. The incident happened just after the morning rush hour when an outbound service left the Busway shortly after leaving the Longstanton Park & Ride stop. Somehow, it ended up crossing the inbound track, damaging the far kerb, demolishing much of a hedge alongside the bridleway/maintenance track and ending up in a field.

The driver suffered minor injuries, but no passengers were hurt.

There are some interesting photos accompanying the BBC report. There is also a report in the Hunts Post.

A modest diversion via the P&R access road to the B1050 will be in place until the middle of next week.

Child cyclist injured in collision with bus

A child cyclist was injured in a collision on the Busway last Wednesday (1 May). The incident happened as the child crossed the busway adjacent to Kings Hedges Road.

Stagecoach report that their assessment of the onboard CCTV shows the cyclist pulling out "without looking".

The child's father feels that the positioning of pedestrian lights is confusing, in that they cover the road itself, but not the Busway. He is also calling for "change all along the busway" to prevent similar incidents in the future.

There are three reports on Cambridgeshire Live relevant to this item:

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/live-updates-guidedbusway-kingshedges-cyclist-16210973

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/busway-hit-girl-cyclist-kings-16212678

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/stagecoach-guided-busway-cyclist-hit-16214926

Cyclist death "accidental"

The inquest into the death on the Busway of cyclist Steve Moir has concluded that his death was "accidental". As reported in a post at the time Mr Moir died in a head-on collision with a bus on the section of the Busway near to Long Road on 13 September. According to media reports from the inquest, which finished yesterday (3 May), he clipped the kerb whilst overtaking pedestrians, and fell onto the Busway in front of an oncoming bus. The bus was travelling within the speed limit (which has since been reduced) and the driver was found to have acted "appropriately" when he saw what was unfolding.

There have been calls from Mr Moir's family either for greater separation of the busway from the parallel bridleway (used extensively in this area by both cyclists and pedestrians).or for separation of those cyclists and pedestrians from each other.

The Health and Safety Executive is still investigating the incident.

More information is available on the BBC Cambridgeshire and Cambridgeshire Live websites.

Busway accident - one dead

There are reports of an accident on the stretch of the Busway close to Long Road in Cambridge at around 16.45 this afternoon (13 September). The latest news from the BBC is that one male has died. From these initial reports it appears to have been a collision between a bus and a pedestrian, but this has not been confirmed. [Edited at 19.50 - Cambridgeshire Live, quoting the Police, is reporting that the dead person was a cyclist. The cyclist's gender has not yet been confirmed.]

Doubtless there will be much more in the media on this incident in due course. Right now (19.40) here are the stories as prepared by Cambridgeshire Live (rolling updates) and BBC News.

Busway driver guilty of speeding

Those with a long memory may recall an accident on the Busway in February 2016 (and if you don't, here's a link to our blogpost). The driver concerned was recently given a 12-week suspended prison sentence for speeding at the time of the crash. According to a Cambridge News report the bus was travelling at 53mph in a 30mph zone at the time of the accident, whilst the driver was reading a time duty card.

You can read the full Cambridge News report here.

Separating buses from cyclists and pedestrians

At a meeting of the Cambridge South Area Committee on 4 June, Councillor Katie Thornburrow proposed the erection of fencing along the stretch between Trumpington Park & Ride and Addenbrooke's Hospital to help keep cyclists and pedestrians separate from buses.

A brief report of the relevant part of that meeting has appeared in the Cambridge Independent.

UPDATE 0940 on 11 June: Less than an hour after I posted the above, the Cambridge News is reporting some sort of collision involving a pedestrian and a guided bus, close to Long Road. Inevitably the details are somewhat sketchy at this point.

Accident south of Cambridge railway station

A Whippet single decker, operating the University's "Universal" contract, was involved in an accident earlier this afternoon on the Trumpington stretch of Busway, just after the entrance to the guided section south of Cambridge railway station. Reports are still coming in - you might want to follow this Cambridge News link for more information (and for more up-to-date information). It seems no other vehicle was involved.

Update 22:15, 21 June
Latest information from Whippet is that the driver swerved to avoid two cyclists. What they were doing in a location that such action was required is not immediately clear from reports.

Update, 11 July
The BBC reports that the Whippet driver involved in this incident has been sacked for speeding. The report doesn't indicate whether speeding was the sole cause of the accident. Follow this link for more information:

Guided busway bus stop was 'darker than hell'

The husband of a woman killed while crossing the busway track at the Fen Drayton stop in November last year  has described the location as 'darker than hell'.

There is no lighting at the bus stop, possibly to minimise disruption to bird life at the adjacent nature reserve.

The question of lighting at the stop will be considered at a review hearing on 9 December. A full inquest is expected in early 2017.

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/guided-busway-was-darker-than-hell-when-cambridgeshire-pensioner-was-hit-by-bus-inquest-hears/story-29558569-detail/story.html

Another accident - Trumpington again

Local media are reporting another accident this morning, between Trumpington and the Park & Ride on a single-decker Route A service. The bus was heading towards the Park & Ride, and had no passengers at the time. The driver is reported to have escaped uninjured.

More on this story from the BBC and Cambridge News (the latter includes a number of photos).

Truimpington accident - report published

The County Council has published its report into the accident that took place near Trumpington on 22 February. The bus crossed a maintenance track, and came to rest on the embankment on the western edge of the Busway corridor. The report is pretty damning, and it's clear that the driver was at fault - quite possibly negligent? Access to the report is on the County Council's website. It has been picked up by various media, including the BBC and Cambridge News.

Two things I noticed in passing: one is the reference in the report to something called the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway Operations Handbook. I'm guessing this is regarded as an "internal" document and not available for consultation by members of the public. The other is that Stagecoach refused to allow the County Council an archive copy of CCTV recordings from the bus involved in the accident, limiting access to the report's authors to a viewing onsite at the Fenstanton depot.

Accident on busway near Trumpington

A bus has become derailed on the busway near Foster Road (Trumpington). Several people were injured. Details at http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Busway-reopens-Trumpington-injured-derailing/story-28785656-detail/story.html

Accident at Longstanton - again

Details are sketchy, but there's been another accident early this morning at Longstanton, where the Busway crosses the B1050. Just over a couple of months after a similar incident. This one also involves a van. What information there currently is (0900) can be found courtesy of the Cambridge News. According to the County Council's traffic feed on Twitter, the road (and, presumably, the Busway) had reopened by 0800.

Pedestrian killed on Busway

A pedestrian was killed in an accident on the Busway yesterday afternoon (17 Nov) between Swavesey and St Ives. Details continue to come in. For more details you might want to consult the Cambridge News or BBC websites (I've provided links to what were the latest reports as of 1145 on 18 Nov).

Accident at Longstanton

An accident occurred on Wednesday morning, 16 September.  A van owned by HSS Hire crashed into a guided bus at the Longstanton road crossing. Witnesses report that the van jumped a red light, although no arrests seem to have been made. The bus was a single decker operating a city-bound "A" service.

Reports of the incident were provided by the BBC and the Cambridge News. Only the latter reports injuries.

Passenger injured

A passenger was taken to Addenbrookes with back, head and leg pains, and a number of other passengers suffered more minor injuries as a result of an incident on the Busway yesterday afternoon (2 Oct). The driver was forced to execute an emergency stop to avoid colliding with a cyclist carrying his bike across the tracks near Histon. The Cambridge News has the full story, including an eye-witness report.

Collision between bus and cyclist

The Cambridge News reports a collision this morning between a bus and a cyclist, at the point close to the Addenbrooke's site where the Busway crosses Francis Crick Avenue (or, if you like, where Francis Crick Avenue crosses the Busway - I'm unfamiliar with the road layout at that point). Apparently, it was "an accident waiting to happen", according so someone who works at the MRC close by.

Accident on Busway

The Cambridge News website has news (and two photos, contributed by a passenger on the bus involved) of an incident between Histon and Impington earlier today.

Guided bus damaged by rising bollard

A guided bus belonging to Stagecoach was damaged on Saturday afternoon by a rising bollard close to the bus stop at New Square, Cambridge. The authorities are trying to establish whether the accident was caused by a fault with the bollard itself, or because the driver did not correctly follow the procedures.

There is a report in the Cambridge News here.

Accident on guided busway

According to the Cambridge News, there was an accident yesterday evening on the guided busway at Buchan Street, Cambridge, when a teenage cyclist was struck by a bus. The ambulance took 46 minutes to arrive.

One aspect of this report doesn't add up. Guided buses don't go along Buchan Street which is a small residential street near King's Hedges Road.

If anyone can clarify what actually happened, I'd be interested to hear. Is it possible that the young person who was injured lived in Buchan Street?

Link to the report here.