New timetables - postponed!

Stagecoach had been planning to introduce new Busway timetables on 1 March (following on from last year's consultation, and the acquisition of additional vehicles). Although the intended timetables are now available to view on Traveline, the rather more important piece of news at this stage is their introduction has been postponed to "an as yet unspecified date". This date will presumably be the one when Highways England and Cambridgeshire County Council finally manage to reopen the stretch of Busway between Histon and Orchard Park. Anyone like to hazard a date for this (I feel I should offer a box of chocolates for the most accurate estimate...)?

Timetable changes from 13 January

[UPDATE 13 Jan, 0835. A friend spotted Stagecoach's announcement of the changes detailed below on the Stagecoach East "Promos and Offers" web page - yes really! That's the only place the information is provided - and it's less complete than my attempt below.

Here are links to: (a) the announcement, and (b) the new timetable.

Enjoy!]

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I was taken by surprise at St Ives Station Road stop this morning to see a new departure sheet posted. I've checked both the Stagecoach and County Council Busway websites and can find no details of changes to services (or even a simple announcement). But new timetables are available from Traveline, and I've attempted below to identify the changes involved.

Note, first, that there are no changes to Sunday services.

As for the rest of the week (including Saturdays)... The most significant changes are to routes A and D. There seems to be a significant increase in journey times on the stretch between Orchard Park and St Ives town centre. How is this reflected in the timetable?

On city-bound trips, most services will depart St Ives 7 minutes (or thereabouts) earlier than at present, and operate 7 (or so) minutes earlier to Orchard Park. Thereafter timings seem unchanged.

On St Ives-bound trips, most services will depart from the city stops as at present, but after Orchard Park will run 7 (or so) minutes later than at present.

There seem to be changes to how the services are being organised in St Ives beyond the town centre. In addition to changes to the times of buses, there may be some switching of routes between the A and the D (and possibly changes to the routes themselves). Check the new timetable carefully!

The first Mon-Fri departure from Ramsey will be at 0605 (i.e. 15 minutes earlier than at present). Morning departures from other villages and towns into St Ives and Cambridge are 5-10 minutes earlier than previously.

There are changes to the routes taken by both services inside the Biomedical Campus. Southbound services will call at the Royal Papworth only as they leave the campus. Northbound services will call at the Royal Papworth only as they first enter the campus.

There are minor changes on route B, affecting - so far as I can see - only the indicative times at intermediate stops. So, for example, outbound services will notionally call at Shire Hall 3 minutes after leaving Drummer St, 2 minutes earlier than at present. (But this seems a pointless change, since it's rare for buses to arrive by the indicative time even on the 5-minute schedule, so why they're any more likely to reach the Shire Hall a full 2 minutes sooner defies logic!)

There seem to be no changes to services south of Trumpington, nor to route B services north of St Ives.

I apologise if I've missed something that's key to an individual reader's particular journey, but there was a lot of data to wade through. And I was aware that those of you heading off for your Monday commute might appreciate some advance warning.

(When I checked at 2300 on Jan 11 the new timetables were not available on the Stagecoach website, only from Traveline.)

Timetable changes from 17 October

As reported last month, a temporary timetable (and altered route) is due to be implemented on Route R on17 October. The revised timetable is available here. This change is expected to last for around 3 months.

There's also one change on Route A from the same date. The 0815 journey from Longstanton P&R will now depart at 0825, and operate 10 minutes later throughout. For the updated A/B timetable, follow this link.

I notice that Whippet has also posted a new timetable for Route C, valid from 26 September, although I haven't been able to find any information about what's changed. Here's a link to the new Route C timetable.

So that's a clean sweep of new timetables then!

Route R - temporarily reduced frequency

Acoording to a report in the Cambridge News, service frequency on Route R,  between the railway station and Trumpington Park & Ride, is to be temporarily reduced from 17 October. This service has to turn round at the station, and the turning circle is being moved (or, possibly, removed), one consequence being that Route R services will have to venture out on to Station Road and Hills Road, with all that this means for journey times and (un)reliable timekeeping. So the service will operate on a 30-minute frequency, instead of the current 15 (this is, of course, only a peak-hour route, Mon-Fri).

All the partners involved are reported to be committed to restoring the original service "in the New Year".

There's no news of this change as yet on the Stagecoach website.

Tour de France

The Tour de France cycle race will be in Cambridge on Monday 7th July. The city centre will be closed off to traffic for the whole day, and all busway services will be affected. Services A, B and C will not be able to serve the city centre.

Full details can be found here.

Service A from St Ives direction will terminate at Chesterton Milton Road all day on 7th July. Timetable here. Map of bus stops here.

Service A will also run between Cambridge Railway Station, Addenbrooke's and Trumpington P&R. Details at http://www.stagecoachbus.com/uploads/buswayapr88tdf.pdf Map of bus stops here.

There won't be any buses on route A between Milton Road and Cambridge Rail Station.

Route B will be terminating in Chesterton Lane. Timetable here and map showing location of set down and pick up point is here.

Whippet website does not yet give exact details of how their service C will be affected.

Information about road closures for the Tour can be found here and here