Busway changes (soon)

Following upon the Stagecoach feedback session, on 28^th November 2019 at the Tamburlaine Hotel, it is confirmed that the service is to be improved and capacity strengthened through the purchase of 12 100-seat tri-axle, double-door double-deckers, for route A and six additional single-deckers for route B.

At peak times the ‘core’ of the route – St Ives P&R – Central Cambridge – Railway Station – Biomedical Campus (including Addenbrooke’s & Royal Papworth) – Trumpington P&R will see a five-minute frequency.

There is also a planned Sunday service on route A along the southern busway – Central Cambridge – Railway Station – Biomedical Campus (including Addenbrooke’s & Royal Papworth) – Trumpington P&R. A welcome new development.

If passengers were wondering how a 100-seat tri-axle, double-door double-decker would navigate the Jesus Lane / Bridge Street corner or the Round Church Street corner, the answer is that Stagecoach plan to swap the A and B routes with in Cambridge, with the B serving Cambridge North station and continuing via Milton Road, whilst the A is planned serve Orchard Park and continue via Histon Road.

These planned upgrades will, unfortunately, be delayed until the A14 upgrade works on the Histon Road and Milton Road roundabouts have been completed and the section of the northern busway. Thereafter, Greater Cambridge Partnership’s remodelling of Histon Road will commence, meaning that there will be further diversions for route A…

Whilst Stagecoach stressed that the timetables are not ‘set in stone’ it seems certain that route R Railway Station – Trumpington P&R direct will be withdrawn. The loss of the Station Square roundabout in the redevelopment has already had a detrimental effect on this service, with the need for buses to make time-wasting ‘loops’ via Hills Road, Station Road and Brookgate.

This development has not pleased Trumpington Residents’ Association who have written to Stagecoach East, saying (inner alia):

While pleased to hear of possible improvements to the busway service, the Association is very concerned to hear of the proposed cancellation of Route R, to which we are opposed.

Many passengers who use the guided bus wish to go direct to the Rail Station and beyond, not having to detour to Addenbrooke’s Hospital which takes a minimum of six minutes – often significantly exceeded at peak times. In our view, the R service should be extended to allow this. We are, therefore, very concerned to hear that Stagecoach intend to cancel the R service in favour of more route A services, all of which make the minimum six-minute detour round the Biomedical Campus. Residents will not be impressed with this.

We understand from last week’s feedback event that the logic is to provide extra buses/drivers to improve the frequency and reliability of the Route A service, thus offering a “turn up and go” ability which is intended to more than offset the minimum extra six minutes. Psychologically, this does not work for passengers. For anyone not actually heading to the Campus, the detour will in practice undermine the Busway’s USP as an otherwise express service by forcing it to grind around the Campus serving a number of stops on a 20mph internal road system which, not infrequently, is gridlocked at peak times. This is an impossible sell for many actual and potential passengers.

It conflicts directly with the intention of the Cambridge Autonomous Metro which demands direct travel from the Trumpington Park & Ride and the new Cambridge South West Travel Hub – in addition to, not instead of a good service to the Campus – to which of course the R does contribute in its service to Astra Zeneca and others on the short loop it presently follows. It will be a disincentive to the significant change in people’s mode of travel which is the overriding objective of the Greater Cambridge Partnership and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority/Mayor. This makes little sense to us and we ask that it should not proceed.

David Plank
For Trumpington Residents’ Association
2^nd December 2019

What is unclear at the time of writing, is whether route A will be permitted to serve passengers along Histon Road. Histon Road Area Residents Association have long campaigned for restoration of their former direct bus link to Addenbrooke’s. The Cambridge Area Bus Users view is that allowing route A services to pick up and set down along Histon Road would be an excellent New Year’s present for local residents.

Similarly, Milton Road residents and, in particular, Hurst Park Estate Residents’ Association would welcome route B serving at least some stops on Milton Road.

We understand that the new vehicles will be in a are in the a Stagecoach ‘Limited stop’ livery of ‘Duck Egg Green’. Cambridge Area Bus Users wonders if these ‘Limited Stop’ (express) services will still be required to give longer-distance passengers a scenic tour of Huntingdon’s Oxmoor Estate en-route between Huntingdon bus station and St Ives.

It is pleasing that passengers will be benefitting from Stagecoach’s multi-million-pound investment in new, high-quality vehicles. Cambridge Area Bus Users welcomes this, and hopes that route improvements will be of benefit to all.