Major changes to routes and timetables from 30 August

Stagecoach have announced some major changes to Busway services from 30 August. Full details, all new/revised timetables, and a route map, are on the Stagecoach website. What follows is a summary.

There are two main changes:

Busway-fitted vehicles will, in future, operate only on the Busway, also between St Ives Park & Ride and either Marley Road or Hinchingbrooke Hospital, and - within Cambridge - between the two sections of the Busway. This means that Busway vehicles will no longer provide feeder services to the rural areas beyond St Ives or to Peterborough and Royston. Rural connections will be provided by new services V1-V4 (serving, respectively, Ramsey, Chatteris, Somersham and Boxworth), operating a similar service to the existing "through" workings, but requiring passengers to change at St Ives. Would-be passengers should note that Stagecoach do NOT guarantee these connections, which could be an issue for commuters heading home in the afternoon, as these are the last services of the day to these destinations. There's also a new service V5 providing a an early-morning service from Godmanchester and late-evening return journeys - but these will operate through from Cambridge (as a "B" as far as Hinchingbrooke Hospital), so no change of vehicle will be required. Peterborough will be served by service 904 from St Ives - this will operate via Houghton village, but otherwise follow the main road between St Ives and Huntingdon and not divert via the estates (which will continue to be served by route B). In a reversion to earlier practice, Royston will be served by a separate Royston/Cambridge service, the newly-established 915.

The A and B routes are being switched. In line with the revision originally planned for March (but not implemented at the time), the A will in future operate via Shire Hall (although, because of the Histon Road closure, Cambridge-bound journeys will travel via the Science Park for the next year or so). The B will serve Cambridge North station. The A (single-decker buses) will continue to serve the main Railway Station and the Biomedical Campus, whilst the B (double-deckers) terminates in Cambridge City Centre.

And, just to note, services D and R will cease completely from 30 August (the R has been suspended since the early days of the pandemic).

Finally, a reminder that maps and timetables, and more detailed explanations of the changes, are on the Stagecoach website

Busway reopens 30 March - but with temporary timetables

At last! The "temporary" diversion, avoiding the Busway A14 overbridge, is finally going to be lifted, and services will revert to their original routes on Monday 30 March. This will be particularly important for Orchard Park passengers, who have been using the "wrong" stops for 9 months.

However, as previously mentioned, the introduction of Stagecoach's improved Busway timetables has been postponed for a second time. Instead - and for reasons that don't need spelling out here - a reduced service will be introduced on that date. What Stagecoach term an "enhanced Sunday service" will operate Monday-Saturday. It's not quite as bad as that makes it sound - there are certainly additional peak-hour services, and the evening journeys have been retained as well. Service R will be suspended. Sunday services continue unchanged.

Full details, including links to the temporary timetables, are available on the Stagecoach website.

New bus timetables

The timetable changes planned for March 29 will now happen on an as yet unspecified date (although the timetables themselves are currently available for viewing on Traveline). See the revised announcement from Stagecoach:

https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/east/busway-service-changes-spring-2020-facts-and-questions

There’s going to be a huge shake up of Stagecoach’s busway services starting from 29th March. Full details at

https://www.stagecoachbus.com/media-library/files/east/busway_-_we_re_adjusting_our_timetables_-_leaflet_website.pdf?la=en

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...)?

New busway route starts 7 April

A new peak-hour bus route (service R) linking Trumpington park & Ride with Cambridge Rail Station starts tomorrow (7 April).

See article in Cambridge News.

New busway service between Trumpington and Cambridge Rail Station

Starting 5th April a new busway service (route R) will start, connecting Trumpington Park and Ride with Cambridge Railway Station during the morning and evening travel-to-work tomes Mondays to Fridays only. This is timed to give a 5 minute journey between Trumpington and the Station, a lot quicker than the existing route A which loops round Addenbrooke's Hospital.

There are links to the new service R timetable at
http://thebusway.info/serviceupdates.aspx

At the same time there will be a number of changes to service A and B, especially early morning departures from Hinchingbrooke and St Ives.

Timetables ( both before and after 5 April) for routes A and B can be found at http://thebusway.info/routes-and-times.aspx

During the Easter Weekend Stagecoach busway services will be as follows:

Good Friday 3 April - SUNDAY SERVICE
Saturday 4 April - NORMAL SATURDAY SERVICE
Easter Sunday 5 April - NORMAL SUNDAY SERVICE
Bank Holiday 6 April - SUNDAY SERVICE

Details here.