Guide wheel damage - FoI request

And yet another Freedom of Information request...

Sam Webster pickied up on the response to a previous FoI request. The latter had said, inter alia, that the "... considerable damage to the upstand further along the beam ... is consistent with damage caused to the guideway elsewhere on previous occasions where a guide wheel has sheared off". Sam wanted "counts, dates, locations and further descriptions of the 'previous occasions'".

The County Council, in its response, has provided information on two previous incidents. One, in November 2012, took place at the road crossing just north of Longstanton Parn & Ride site; the other was at Orchard Park in April 2013. In both cases the bus was incorrectly positioned in relation to the entry flare, resulting in the bus rolling and the guide wheel (or its arms) fouling the concrete upstands.

The first incident resulted in the driver's dismissal; the second in disciplinary proceeedings against the driver.

For the full FoI exchange, including more details on both incidents, follow this link:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/busway_guide_wheel_damage

Busway incidents reported to the HSE - FoI request

Another recent Freedom of Information request was to the Health & Safety Executive. Sam Webster asked for "a list of all of the incidents on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway that have been reported to yourselves along with dates, the source(s), a brief description and whether or not you investigated."

The HSE submitted its response two days ago. It has records of only three incidents:

1.  The fatality on 17 November 2015
2. The Whippet crash near Cambridge station on 21 June 2017
3. An incident between Histon and Oakington on 15 July 2017 in which a young cyclist fell off the maintenance track onto the Busway

Paperwork relating to the first of these is exempt from disclosure - the HSE notes that their investigation is ongoing.  Documentation about the others is included in the FoI correspondence.

Here's the link to the FoI request and the related documentation:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/incidents_on_the_cambridgeshire

(Please note the original version of Document 2 posted there should be ignored - the wrong file was attached. The correct version of that document appears later in the exchange of correspondence.)

Trumpington accident

The bus driver who caused an accident on the guided busway near Trumpington on 7 July has been dismissed.
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/guided-busway-crash-driver-sacked-by-stagecoach/story-29620568-detail/story.html

Trips, slips, etc.

The Cambridge News has discovered, by means of a Freedom of Information request, that the County Council has received 15 compensation claims since the Busway opened, of which 6 were successful. These six cost a total of £18,700 to settle. Defective paving (by no means unique to the Busway, of course) and an unmarked bollard are amongst the causes of incidents which gave rise to these payments.

The full story is available here.

The wrong kind of bollard?

This story goes back to a meeting of the City Council's South Area Committee on 5 October (and yes, I missed it at the time - although in my defence I was out of town...). As part of the "Open Forum" that's a standard item on area committee agendas, the minutes record the following:

"Mr Storer raised concerns regarding cyclists riding into bollards (generally in the dark) on the cycleway alongside the guided busway. He queried if the bollards were needed."

The minutes go on to record a few comments made on this topic, and a final action - writing a letter to the County Council, requesting further information.

So, now to the latest meeting of that committee (14 December). This generated a response from the County Council. This covers the status of the track adjacent to the Busway, and then goes on to address both the lighting and bollards used. One interesting sentence reads: "As a result of comments received about the bollards we have used a different design on the recently completed extension of the busway that will serve the new Cambridge North station." The number and location of bollards is also to be reviewed.

It's hard to read this, I think, without taking away from it a certain acceptance that the bollards already installed along the busway may not always be the most suitable - although you won't find any direct admission of that in the County's letter.

And then, in the Cambridge News of 17 December, comes an article giving details of a cyclist who was badly injured after hitting one of the bollards near the Hills Road bridge. At no point does the Cambridge News article refer to the South Area Committee's coverage of this issue - it may be that it's entirely coincidental timing that the article appeared just a few days after the committee heard from the County Council, but the balance of probability suggests otherwise.

Needless to say, if you want to know more about this topic - from the cyclists' perspective - then the Cambridge Cycling Campaign's latest newsletter has fuller coverage. Two articles, indeed.

Pending any changes, the message to cyclists using the bridleway/cycle track alongside the Busway appears to be: take care! I don't think that applies just to the bollards, though...

Chaos on busway

Bus services on the busway were not running according to timetable this morning, presumably as a result of accidents on the A14 and M11.

There is a report about the accidents here.

Travelling from Cambridge to St Ives about 12 noon, I had to wait 25 minutes at New Square before a bus to St Ives appeared (an A). In all that time I did not see a B or a C going in the St Ives direction. While I was waiting, there were no buses heading in the opposite direction either.

Any other busway users affected by this disruption?

Car stuck on guided busway

A car  got stuck on the busway  at King's Hedges this morning causing delays to bus services, according to the Cambridge News.

The article also reveals statistics of other incidents of cars driving onto the busway - 20 in the last six months, of which 18 were at St Ives.

At a recent Cambridgeshire County Council meeting it was revealed that Stagecoach's insurance company had paid £91,263 to the Council following a bus crash at Longstanon in November 2012.

Access charges paid by Stagecoach and Whippet for use of the busway amounted to £597,734 last year, up from £349, 572 the previous year.

Guided busway driver fined for careless driving

A guided busway driver who was 'tidying up' his cab when his bus came off the tracks on 20 November has been fined £600.

See article in Cambridge News.

A further article on this topic has appeared in the Cambridge News ( 9 March, pages 1 and 3) - but not yet available online. Andy Campbell, managing director of Stagecoach east, has said the, despite this accident, the busway is still safer than travelling on ordinary buses. The driver in this case also went through a red light. the driver concerned no longer works for Stagecoach.

Cars and other incidents on busway

From time to time the local newspapers report incidents on the busway, for example, when motorist drive onto the busway and get stuck.

In fact, there have been more than 56 incidents in the past 6 months, including 20 cars being driven onto the tracks. 18 of these were at the busway crossing of Harrison Way in St Ives. There have been fires, obstructions, signal failures and bus breakdowns.

For full details see Cambridge News website.
Also reported in Huntingdon & St Ives News & Crier (17 January, page 16)

Motorist drove onto busway at Cambridge Railway Station

Another motorist has driven onto the busway, this time at Cambridge Station. Information about is incident is tacked onto a longer story about the pedestrian hit by a bus near Histon a few days ago.

See Cambridge News here.

Guided bus comes off track

A guided bus was 'derailed' today on the busway just west of Longstanton. See Cambridge News for a very brief report. Buses were hugely delayed. There were no injuries.

A fuller version of this report is in the print edition of the Cambridge News ( 21 November, page 3). This refers to the possibility that the driver may have been taken ill.

A BBC report adds some information. The driver apparently misjudged the entrance to the busway and had to be taken to hospital. The bus was left at a 45 degree angle.

The incident is reported also on the Hunts Post website and in this week's Hunts Post ( 21 November, page 11).

I caught the 1644 A from New Square - it was already about 15 minutes late leaving Cambridge. Buses were diverted off the busway at Longstanton, via Ramper Road and through Swavesey village to rejoin the route just west of Swavesey Busway Stop. This added a further 10 minutes delay to the journey.

Another passenger waiting at New Square told me he had been waiting  over an hour for a bus to RAF Wyton.

Delays to busway services

While buses on the busway regularly travel the St Ives-Milton Road section in 20-22 minutes, punctuality of buses has always been affected by road conditions elsewhere. On Thursday 5 April an accident,took place on Milton Road, Cambridge about 2.49pm forcing busway routes A and C to be diverted via Victoria Road, Histon Road and Kings Hedges Road. I travelled home from work on the 16.59 Service A, boarding at Parkside. Fortunately traffic levels were light, and the notoriously slow and congested junction at Victora Road/Histon Road was flowing smoothly. My bus reached St Ives about 10 minutes late. The diversion route ran parallel to the Orchard Park (un)guided busway, and it was noticeable that we covered that section much faster than the regular Service B which is slowed down by the lack of guide kerbs and by numerous crossings and traffic lights. Passing the back of eth CRC stop, I noticed a number of passengers waiting who usually travel on the same bus I do. By the time my Stagecoach bus had reached CRC, these people were no longer on the platform. They had been picked up by the Whippet C running just ahead of my bus - so some evidence perhaps of the two rival bus companies co-operating unofficially. A report of the unfortunate accident which caused these delays can be seen at here.

Accident on busway - diversion via A14

A friend told me he'd been on a busway bus on Saturday that had been diverted onto the A14 because of an incident.

All is revealed in today's Hunts Post ( 5 October, page1). There was a cyclist on the bus tracks and he didn't respond to the bus sounding its horn repeatedly. The cyclist had headphones on and therefore couldn't hear the bus. Fortunately he managed to dive off his bike just in time, but the bus ran over the bike crushing it to bits. The bus was damaged too and had to be taken out of service.

A passenger on the bus said 'For a good mile the driver was beeping her horn'. That implies the driver saw the cyclist from some distance away. If that was the case, why did she not slow her bus right down, so as to be able to stop before hitting the bike?

Another accident on the A14

Yesterday it was demonstrated that even the guided bus is not immune to traffic holdups on the A14.

I travelled home on the Service A that was timetabled to leave Trumpington at 16.39. I picked it up at Parkside, where it was running 13 minutes late.  This service normally takes about 8-10 minutes between New Square and the Science Park but traffic was backed up on Milton Road, due to an accident on the A14. Arrival into St Ives was 44 minutes late, a degree of lateness rarely achieved in the 'old days'.

How can time delays for guided buses on Milton road be avoided?

Creating a bus only lane in the out of town direction would help. Unfortunately there isn't much space due to a green verge with trees and a cycle lane. Are there alternative routes guided buses could use to avoid delays on Milton road? For example: Gilbert Road>Carlton Way>Mere Way>Arbury Road>Campkin Road>Kings Hedges Road; or, via Chesterton.

If the Chesterton Railway Station is built, or even if it isn't, what scope might there for providing a bus only road into central Cambridge, through Stourbridge Common, Riverside and Midsummer Common?

Accident on A14

Yesterday, the guided busway's value for providing reliable access to Cambridge was demonstrated when a two lorry accident at Bar Hill casue long delays for motorists, and a knock-on effect on other roads nearby, including the A1 and A428.

My partner took 1 hour 50 minutes to get from St Ives to work at Bar Hill. Two people I kknow who drive to work did not reach work in Cambridge until well after 9am. I heard of a student at a Cambridge sixth form college  who did not get in until after 10am because of the delays.

http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/latest-news/update_a14_delays_after_accident_near_cambridge_all_lanes_now_re_opened_1_1073059

The busway is of great benefit for certain journeys by bypassing the A14. But it does not address the real problem - that the A14 between Girton and Brampton simply does not have enough capacity.

The traffic from two dual carriageway roads funnes into it at both end, so that east-west and north-south traffic are crammed into its four lanes.

In addition the road has frequent junctions leading to farms and roadside properties. These do not have adequate slip lanes. Even the main junctions have very short acceleration/deceleration lanes.

The village of Lolworth has only one road access - via a one-way junction on the A14.

Bar Hill, a village of about 5000 people, has only one access road and all traffic must funnel in and out via a single roundabout, with two exits - one to the A14 westbound  and the other to a bridge over the A14  from where drivers can go east on the A14 or north to Longstanton and Earith.

As well as being widened to cope with long distance traffic flows, the A14 desperately needs a separate local road paralleling it. And Bar Hill  needs an alternative access road, southwards towards the A428, bypassing Dry Drayton.

But the Government cancelled the improvement scheme on the grounds that it was unaffordable in the current economic climate.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/a14-ellington-to-fen-ditton-information-pack/

Cycling along the busway

Monday morning, as my weekly ticket had run out, I decided to cycle to work. This was my first experience of the newly tarred cycle track from Swavesey to Cambridge. Very smooth and fast - just a pity about the steep gradients in and out of some of the hollows that had been flooded in the winter. In fact, there remains one puddle on the St Ives to Swavesey section, which still has a gravel surface. Does anyone know when it is being tarred?
One thing that surprised me was how quiet the buses seemed as they glided past.
I came off the guideway at Histon, and reaching my work via Arbury Road, part of Milton Road and Elizabeth Way. I made good time - 56 minutes door to door.
I returned on the Service A from Parkside. This was unfortunately delayed as the driver thought he'd knocked a cyclist off her bike as he overtook her in Emmanuel Road. He was mightily relieved that she said he hadn't hit her bike, and she was unharmed. I think she had wobbled as the bus went past. That delay of 5 or 6 minutes meant that my door to door journey ( walk, bus, walk) took 54 minutes.