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.

Christmas 2012 bus timetables on busway

Stagecoach Cambridge have announced their special timetable for the Christmas and New Year period. Click here.

Bus services over the Christmas and New Year period are as follows:

Sunday 23 December 2012	Sunday service
Christmas Eve	Saturday service*
Christmas Day	No service
Boxing Day	No service
Thursday 27 December	Saturday service
Friday 28 December	Saturday service
Saturday 29 December	Saturday service
Sunday 30 December	Sunday service
New Year's Eve	Saturday service*
New Year's Day	No service
Normal service resumes on Wednesday 2 January 2013

*Last buses on Christmas Eve as follows:

Route A	2012 - Trumpington park&ride to Central Cambridge
Route A	2038 - Central Cambridge to St Ives Hill Rise
Route B	2011 - Huntingdon to Central Cambridge
Route B	2020 - Peterborough to Huntingdon

Traffic congestion in St Ives

The  road at Earith, closed by flood water, seem to be having a knock-on effect on traffic in St Ives, and buses heading for the busway are being severely held up during the morning rush hour.

This image ( by Brendan Boyle) shows two buses in stationary traffic in Ramsey Road, St Ives, this morning ( 28 November). There were three As, two Bs, a C and a 22 in the traffic jam. The bus due to leave Station Road, St Ives at 0737 for Cambridge did not arrive in Cambridge until about 0900 - for the second day running!

And this one shows huge numbers of passengers waiting at Station Road, St Ives, for the buses that were held up in the traffic. Around 0830.

New busway from Waterbeach proposed

There has been a proposal to build 12,750 new house on the site of a former barracks at Waterbeach. In order to cope with the extra travel needs of this housing development  a new stretch of guided busway has been suggested linking Waterbeach with the existing busway. See article on Cambridge News website here .

Parkside Bus Stop

The Parkside bus stop in Cambridge, served by route A west bound is closed until 30 November due to road works.

Flooding on busway

The water level in the River Great Ouse has risen since yeaterday.

The previously flooded section of the cycle track is now even deeper under water - the small concrete bridge over the floodwater channel  (immediately east of the Ouse Viaduct) is totally submerged and the nearby brick art installation is under water.

There is now a long flooded section  east of Fen Drayton Lakes, so, as at 26 November, the cycle track is effectively out of commission from St Ives to Swavesey.

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.