Timetable changes from 21 May - mostly Cambridge North-related

As anticipated, there are various timetable changes planned in connection with the opening of the Cambridge North railway station on 21 May. New timetables can be found on Traveline and the Stagecoach website, but there's no written description of the changes on the latter's "Latest Updates" page. Here's my attempt to summarise for you (although perhaps it would have been simpler just to wait for Stagecoach's own write-up!).

The easiest to describe is the new route "N", which runs Cambridge City Centre-Longstanton (and reverse), Mon-Sat only, and via Cambridge North. There are three journeys in each direction that extend to/from St Ives. The service runs every 20 mins from around 0700 to 1900 (since this service operates out of the Fenstanton depot, the earliest departures are from St Ives, and the latest from Cambridge). Within Cambridge, buses will do an anti-clockwise look - Emmanuel St, St Andrew's St, Gonville Place, Parkside, Emmanuel St. Note that this service does NOT serve the main railway station in Cambridge.

There is another new service "D" (not to be confused with the now defunct Whippet route "D"). This operates a rush-hour service from St Ives to Cambridge Railway Station (via Cambridge North) in the morning, and the reverse in the afternoon. There are 7 or 8 departures each day, Mon-Fri only, but significantly fewer during school holidays. However, the extent to which this is genuinely a "new" service is arguable, since it seems to incorporate some journeys that were formerly running as "A". So it's probably best to consider the "D" in conjunction with the revised "A". It's impossible to summarise the changes overall in this context, so I suggest eager readers simply have a look at the timetables and see how their journeys are affected.

One very specific change to the "A" is that the last three St Ives-bound departures, Mon-Sat, will divert via Cambridge North. For those heading out into the countryside, this is scheduled to add 2 minutes to your journey.

Sundays: more significant changes are coming here. The current "B" service on Sunday operates every 20 minutes. This will be reduced to a half-hourly frequency, with half-hourly "A" services (via Cambridge North) being added to the timetable. So an overall increase in frequency, with half of the journeys running via Cambridge North. Passengers from Histon and beyond will realise that the "A" is a quicker way to make it to Cambridge City Centre than the roundabout route the "B" takes (it can be quicker to take the Citi 8 from Shire Hall to Histon than the B).

Finally, the "R" continues to make its circuit around the station development - in from Trumpington via the Busway, then Station Rd, Hills Rd and back to the Busway. Rather late in the day, Stagecoach has decided to add the Hills Rd stop (opposite the Botanic Garden - opposite, indeed, the old Eastern Counties garage for those who were around in those days) to the schedule.

New busway timetable booklet

Today I picked up a copy of the latest Cambridgeshire busway timetable dated to start from 9 September 2013. This is published by Cambridgeshire County Council.

There don't seem to be many alterations as compared with the previous timetable issued in December last year. But I suggest that you check out your regular journeys before travelling.

But beware - there are a few printing errors on pages 20 and 21 - the timetable for Whippet's routes C and D, plus Stagecoach's A journeys that start from Chatteris, Ramsey and Somersham. The 0731 C from Somersham and the 0802 C from Hill Rise are shown as calling at Histon Road/Akeman Street AND Milton Road/Union Lane They are then shown as not calling at Drummer Street and terminating at Regent Street rather than the Railway Station. The following four C journeys are shown as not serving that rail station and terminating at Addenbrooke's Outpatients.

A footnote on this page mentions that the 0720 from Somersham contiues to Long Road College. In fact, there is no bus leaving Somersham at 0720. This note actually refers to the 0725 from Somersham The Trundle and 0731 from Somersham Cross.

The correct times are given on the large sheet timetables at bus stops and  presumably also on the Whippet website here.

In the reverse direction the 1725 Whippet from Drummer Street is shown on page 24 as a C travelling via Histon Road. However, the Whippet website shows this service as a C via Milton Road.

Not sure I can even trust the timetable that appears here on the official busway website. It gets the 1725 C wrong.

There are a couple of other oddities with this timetable leaflet that I'd like to mention.

First, the map on pages 6-7 doesn't show the bus stop at Houghton Road, served by both A and B services, and shown on the maps that appear at bus stops. It's a potentially useful changing point for passengers from Ramsey Road to Huntingdon.

Second, on page 35 is a map showing the bus stops in St Ives.  Why isn't the bus stop at the start of Houghton Road just round the corner from the Seven Wives not shown? Buses on route B certainly stop there.

And lastly, the map on page 35 shows the Whippet C running along Chestnut Road. Several times I've seen the C turning off Ramsey Road along Houghton Road. Is this Whippet drivers doing unofficial variations from the route? Has any reader of this blog used that section of the C route?