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.

Busway derailments - FoI request

In the three weeks following the 21 June derailment on the Busway south of Cambridge railway station, four Freedom of Information requests relating to various aspects of the Busway and its operation were submitted. I will attempt to track them and to provide more information as responses to these requests are posted.

First up in this mini-series is a request from Sam Webster, who asked the following of the County Council:

There have been a number of derailments on the guided busway. For each of these, could you please provide:
1. Date, time, location and type and operator of the bus
2. A brief description of any damage to the busway caused by the derailment
3. The cost of any repairs to the busway (a rough estimate is fine)
4. Copies of any reports compiled on the derailment
5. Details of any penalties applied to operators as a result of the derailment
6. Details of any changes made to the operation of the busway as a result of the derailment

The County Council's response details four such derailments:

A: 20/11/12 15:00 St Ives-bound guideway north of junction with B1050 at Longstanton Single decker bus operated by Stagecoach
B: 22/2/16 13:59 St Ives-bound guideway north of Trumpington cutting Single decker bus operated by Stagecoach
C: 7/7/16 07:33 Northern end of single guideway section in Trumpington cutting Single decker bus operated by Stagecoach
D: 21/6/17 15:47 Trumpington-bound guideway south of Hills Road bridge Single decker bus operated by Whippet Coaches

Reports were compiled on B and C - these have been in the public domain for some time. A report on D is currently in preparation. No report was ever produced on derailment A, even though the cost of repairs for that one (ca. £100,000) cost twice the anticipated combined totals of the three other incidents. No penalties have ever been imposed (although it's too soon to say what might happen regarding the most recent derailment).

Anyone wanting to read the full response - or to have a handy link to the two reports referred to - is advised to follow this link. The Cambridge News also picked up on this request - its story based on the information provided can be found here .

Accident at Longstanton

This week's Hunts Post has a short report about the accident  on 20 November in which a bus was derailed and the track damaged. See Hunts Post ( 28 November, page 15). Stagecoach are conducting an investigation. There are comments from one of the  passengers in the damaged bus. Passengers had to walk to the longstanton bus stop to board another bus which was then diverted via Ramper Road.

Damaged busway track at Longstanton

Following  my earlier posting about the recent accident (a bus failed to enter the guideway correctly and became derailed), I have taken the opportunity of a dry Saturday morning to cycle to the site and take a few photos (from the safety of the cycle track, I hasten to add). Stephen Lawrence and Kevin have both added comments to this blog describing the damage to the busway track.

In this photo you can see where the edges of the guide track have been damaged  and patched with new concrete.

This photo shows some damage to the inner edge of the running track which has not so far been patched

Here one of the cross beams has been swivelled out of position by the accident.

The damage extends along five or six of the concrete track sections. A 10mph speed limit continues in place through the accident site.

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.