Norman Baker, the transport minister, is reported as having said that reopening the Luton to Dunstable railway would have been 'more attractive than the busway'. But that wasn't a choice he faced when asked for funding. Nevertheless, he thinks the busway will be good for the economy of Luton.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-24224674
Thursday, 26 September 2013
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
More about Cambridgeshire County Council's dispute with BAM Nuttall
A long letter in this week's Hunts Post (25 September, page 7) explores why the County Council's contract with BAM Nuttall may have gone wrong. There letter explores the variety of ways in which such contracts may be organised depending on circumstances. The punch line of the letter is that someone (or persons) in the Council made a mistake that was to the detriment of the Council's finances, and that person should be held to account. Read the letter here.
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Luton Dunstable Busway opening
The official opening of the Luton-Dunstable guided busway took place today. The opening was performed by Councillor Nigel Young and Secretary for Transport Norman Baker.
Public bus services start running on the busway tomorrow (25 September).
Read Luton Today article here.
Public bus services start running on the busway tomorrow (25 September).
Read Luton Today article here.
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
Busway neglect
In this week's Hunts Post (18 September, page 6) is a letter from a St Ives residence.
He suggest that the County Council is neglecting the busway, that the platforms at bus stops are overgrown with weeds, that several ticket machines are out of order, and that off-peak few people are using the buses.
He suggest that the County Council is neglecting the busway, that the platforms at bus stops are overgrown with weeds, that several ticket machines are out of order, and that off-peak few people are using the buses.
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
How has the guided busway affected traffic on the A14?
It seems that there is no agreement about what the recently published statistics for usage of the A14 mean and why they have declined.
West of Huntingdon, where the A14 doesn't parallel the busway, the decline has been greatest (5%). Maybe that is due to dualling of the A421 between bedford and the M1.
At Fen Drayton, traffic fell by 2.7%, or 2526 vehicles.But Councillor Mike Mason, thinks it's due to the decline in economic activity.
Read about this on the Cambridge News website here.
West of Huntingdon, where the A14 doesn't parallel the busway, the decline has been greatest (5%). Maybe that is due to dualling of the A421 between bedford and the M1.
At Fen Drayton, traffic fell by 2.7%, or 2526 vehicles.But Councillor Mike Mason, thinks it's due to the decline in economic activity.
Read about this on the Cambridge News website here.
Friday, 13 September 2013
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?
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?
On-bus information
I travelled in to Cambridge this morning on a Stagecoach A. This vehicle had a small electronic information screen mounted on the wall behind the driver giving the time, and details of what stop the bus was at or where it would be calling next. Its the first time I'd seen such a feature and I'm guessing that Stagecoach will be rolling this out to all their busway buses in due course. A very useful addition to Stagecoach's already good buses, and particularly helpful to passengers who are not familiar with the bus routes.
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