Trapped driver wants council to pay car repair bill

This post is based entirely on a story which appeared earlier today on the Cambridgeshire Live site.

A driver whose vehicle was damaged when caught in a Busway car trap last Wednesday afternoon is claiming that the signage doesn't meet the required standard and that "Cambridge Borough Council" [sic] should pay his "significant" repair bill. The incident happened in Kings Hedges, near to the Travis Perkins site.

The County Council has responded that signage meets DoT standards.

The driver is also looking to be compensated for the "considerable stress and inconvenience" suffered.

Ticket machines vandalised

Cambridgeshire County Council has appealed for help in catching thieves who caused damage to the Busway ticket machines at Histon and Longstanton earlier this month. One consequence is that the County Council has now decided to remove the facility to pay by cash at the machines - cash fares can be paid on the bus instead. Indeed, the necessary work had already been carried out when I travelled along the Busway yesterday.

Busway damage - even more pictures

Here are some I took today in the Histon area.

This one looks as if it has already been patched:

Here is an example of what you get in the middle of every long concrete beam. There is a stress crack, which suggests that the beams are flexing every time a bus goes over them. If water gets into these cracks, and we have hard frosts in the winter, I can see the concrete disintegrating even more:

More patching:

Typical example of flaking of the concrete at  a beam end. Presumably this is caused by friction of the guided wheels:

An example disintegration of the vertical surface of the  guide 'rail'. Maybe it's cosmetic. Maybe it's more serious:

Flaking of the guide rail:

Shows the disparity in gap widths between the two running tracks:

Busway damage - pictures

I've been out a couple of times in the past few weeks, and here are some of the shots I took (all taken from the bridleway).

Damage falls into various categories:

a) kerb damage

b) beam-end damage

c) step-damage (rubber pad fall-out)

I've also included some examples of pock-marking and surface stones, which might in the long-term cause issues of unevenness.

Kerb Damage:

i) to kerb-top

 ii) to side-wall (location west of Histon)

These are more extreme examples, but in general I wonder how long it will be before the kerb-wall starts to become as rough as the main running-way. The kerbs are smooth at the moment, but will the guide-wheels start to wear out much faster once the surface they run on becomes rough?

Beam-end damage - caused by expansion in hot weather

i) just east of Histon Stop - this one had only just occurred when I saw it

 ii) this type of damage possibly caused by small stones falling off and getting jammed between the beam ends, then causing further damage as and when the beam expands with heat.

Step-damage (rubber pad fall-out)

location: Trumpington

Pock-marking:

 Now some areas where the top surface has worn away, exposing more aggregate. How long will it be before these stones start popping out, and if so, will it produce an uneven surface over time?

 ...or, like this bit (with different concrete construction), will none of them pop out?

Comments appreciated!

Track faults

I was sent a couple of photos of faults on the busway track which are reproduced here.

This one shows an irregular crack developing in the concrete near the corner with the cross beam:

Photo by Stephen Lawrence

And this is a 'step fault' where the track panel on the right has settled by perhaps 0.5cm compared with its neighbour:

Photo by Stephen Lawrence

I'll be happy to post more photos of damage to the busway track, so please send them in.

However the blog can only include photos that are taken from the public footpath/cycle track or bus stop platforms i.e. do not trespass on the track itself