Haverhill via the southern Guided Busway?

At the same time as Orchard Park resident Barry sent in his post earlier this month on the effects of "temporary" diversions on services to his part of the city, he also passed on some thoughts relating to the possible use of the southern section of Guided Busway in any plans for a busway (guided or not) to Haverhill - a topic that's currently under consideration. Here's what Barry has to say:

It’s a little over a year since the guided busway services expanded to take on the failing service to Royston, which had been suffering death by a thousand cuts and had been reduced to an irregular service mainly from Trumpington P&R. As it’s still here it looks like it succeeded in revitalising the route, and is another Busway success. 

Regardless of other controversies, all the evidence is that a success of the guided busway is that services are able to support a higher frequency when they move to it; whether it’s St Ives to Cambridge, Trumpington P&R to the station, or now Royston. The southern guideway would do a really good job of moving passengers quickly from the City centre and the railway station to Addenbrooke’s and Babraham P&R or on to Haverhill. The busway only being able to take single decker buses and these routes currently served by double deckers is unfortunate, and some Haverhill passengers might miss the intermediate stops on the way through the city. But is it time the Busway got the opportunity to see if it could shine by attracting passengers to support an increased frequency on these routes too?

Busway extension to Science Park Rail Station

The busway extension which will link Milton Road with the new Science Park rail station is to be an ordinary road, but there will be a short section of guided track at each end. This means that ordinary buses won't be able to us the route which will be suitable only for guided buses.

Read full article at
Cambridge News

Busway to the Science Park

As if to emphasise the rather vague definition of "busway", it seems that the extension to the Science Park may not be "guided", but simply a "bus only" road. A council spokesman is reported in the Cambridge News as saying "“No decision has been made on whether this section of the busway link will be guided or not." Meanwhile, some locals would clearly prefer that it weren't. The full Cambridge News story is to be found here.

Extension of guided busway to Cambridge Science Park Station

Cambridgeshire County Council is expected soon to approve construction of a 500-metre guided busway link between Milton Road and the new railway station at Chesterton on the northern edge of Cambridge.

The likely contractor is named in a Cambridge News article as Balfour Beatty, and construction of the track beams is likely to be on site, rather than brought in from elsewhere.

If the scheme proves too expensive, ' a road with guided entry and exit points to prevent trespass' may be built instead.

It is not clear from the article what provision is likely to be made for ordinary buses to serve the new station, nor indeed what specific bus routes may run.

From my perspective, as a St Ives resident, I am wondering if the existing bus routes A, B and C may be diverted to the new station - which would inevitably slow down their journey times. Or are some new routes being planned? What connections are planned between guided buses and the train, especially with regard to late night train arrivals from London? Up to now, evening guided bus connections at Huntingdon Station with trains from London have proved poor, and they do not run until late evening.

Busway extension to Science Park Station

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg has visited Cambridge to announce spending of £6million for the new Cambridge Science Park railway station at Chesterton, including extension of the guided busway to the station.

Mr Clegg also signed a 'memorandum of understanding' which would allow Cambridge to keep a  bigger share of tax revenues raised locally with over £1 billion to be spent on housing and transport projects. The local authorities have pledged to explore the possibility of an underground bus or rail system for Cambridge

To read full story click here and here.

Extension of busway to new railway station at Chesterton

The planning application for the new railway station at Chesterton was published a few days ago by Cambridgeshire County Council. You can view it here.

It includes erection of a station building, platforms, footbridge, lifts, car and cycle parking, and new vehicle access from Cowley Road.

An extension of the guided busway  will be built from Milton Road to the new station.

Read Cambridge News article about the new railway station here.

Chesterton railway station

Plans for the new railway station at Chesterton, which will be linked by an extension to the guided busway, have been revealed by Cambridgeshire County Council, according to the Cambridge News (12 June). Government approval for the station, which will open in 2015, has now been granted. The Cambridge News article has an annotated aerial view of the new station site and its surroundings.