Diversions Sunday 3rd March

The Cambridge Half Marathon is on Sunday 3rd March and will result in a number of diversions to Stagecoach buses.
Full details can be found at here.
This is what it says about Busway routes:

Busway A/B Services - 

Towards Cambridge: We will be unable to serve stops located on Castle Street, Round Church Street, New Square and at Drummer Street Bus Station until 10:30. During this time, passengers are advised to board at Milton Road (near the Westbrook Centre) or on Victoria Road. After this time, we will be able to serve Round Church Street and Drummer Street bus station. We will return to normal service from 16:00.

Towards St. Ives: We will be unable to serve Drummer Street bus station, New Square, Jesus Lane and Castle Street bus stops. During this time, passengers are advised board at Milton Road near the Westbrook Centre. We will return to normal service from 16:00.

But, please note, service A no longer runs on Sundays. It has been replaced by the D route, but that information seems not to have reached whoever compiled this update.

Whippet return to Busway

Whippet are returning to the Busway! With effect from 18 February the Swavesey-based operator will be running a new Monday-Friday service, "P", which provides 3 morning rush-hour journeys from Swavesey Busway stop to the Biomedical Campus - with corresponding return journeys in the evening - supplemented by a (generally) 4-per-hour "shuttle" between Drummer Street and the Biomedical Campus via the southern portion of the Busway. The shuttle operates to a slightly less frequent (and more irregular) schedule around the edges of the rush hour (rather like the "U" timetable), to take account of likely traffic conditions (in so far as traffic in Cambridge is ever predictable).

Elswhere there's been speculation that this is tied to the imminent opening of the new Royal Papworth hospital (hence the service "number"), but I've been unable to confirm that.

The route around the Biomedical Campus is the same as that taken by other Busway services - currently that's in an anti-clockwise loop. (That route is likely to change in the spring, I guess, when the new road in front of the Papworth hospital is open and there are new bus stops to serve.)

Trapped driver wants council to pay car repair bill

This post is based entirely on a story which appeared earlier today on the Cambridgeshire Live site.

A driver whose vehicle was damaged when caught in a Busway car trap last Wednesday afternoon is claiming that the signage doesn't meet the required standard and that "Cambridge Borough Council" [sic] should pay his "significant" repair bill. The incident happened in Kings Hedges, near to the Travis Perkins site.

The County Council has responded that signage meets DoT standards.

The driver is also looking to be compensated for the "considerable stress and inconvenience" suffered.

The times they are a-changing' (yet again...)

I'm sure Bob Dylan didn't have Stagecoach in mind when he wrote his influential song (and yes, I do realise Stagecoach didn't exist in 1964). But it's certainly appropriate, as another clutch of timetable revisions is set to be introduced on 13 January.

Here are the details from the Stagecoach website:

"There are minor adjustments to morning peak hour departures to accommodate additional journeys between St. Ives and Cambridge. There are also changes to journeys in the evening peak to accommodate additional journeys between Cambridge and St Ives. There are additional minor changes to evening peak journeys from St. Ives Hill Rise, Marley Road and Ramsey Road towards St Ives Town Centre. Route A departures on Sundays have been re-named to Route D and will serve Milton Road stops. The Route A to Buckden will now depart St. Ives Bus Station at 18:08 and will serve stops 12 minutes earlier throughout the journey. The 1450 from Huntingdon to Peterborough (M-F) journey will now depart 5 minutes later and will serve stops 5 minutes later throughout."

The revised timetable is also available for download from Stagecoach.

Christmas and New Year bus services 2018/19

Details of Stagecoach bus services during the festive period can be found here

Last Stagecoach buses on the busway on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are at
https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/east/christmas-2018/busway-christmas

Cycle track flooded?

I assume the Swavesey - St Ives section of the cycle track is flooded? If not, it soon will be, I guess, according to flood warnings in the Alconbury area...

County Imposes 30mph Speed Restrictions on Southern Busway

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/notorious-guided-busway-stretch-speed-15566425

"A reduced 30mph speed limit has come into force along a notorious stretch of Cambridgeshire's guidedbusway, three months after the death of a cyclist.

Steve Moir, 50, of Plantation Road, Sawston, was cycling along the Long Road stretch of the busway at about 4.50pm on September 13, when he was killed after being hit by a bus.

Cambridgeshire County Council announced this morning (December 18) that the speed limit of the buses will be reduced from 52mph to 30mph on the stretch of the city bound track from the Hills Road bridge, for a distance of around 875 metres, towards Long Road Bridge.

The safety measure follows increasing pressure on the council to take action."

This danger-point has been complained about since before the busway was opened in 2011 - wonder why it's taken so long?