Changes to services arising from the latest lockdown (commonly referred to as “Lockdown 3”) will be posted here as we become aware of them. This includes the reintroduction of, or revision to services impacted by Lockdown 3.

Final update: 16th June

FROM MONDAY 17th MAY ALL FORWARD-FACING SEATS ON BUSES CAN BE USED (EXCEPT THOSE BEHIND THE DRIVER). Social distancing must still be observed otherwise.

Stagecoach: The Milton Road Park & Ride service is re-introduced from Sunday 20th June.

Stagecoach: The City Sightseeing Tour is due to recommence on Saturday 29th May.

Stagecoach: From Sunday 16th May the Trumpington Road Park & Ride service will see an additional outbound service at 18.00 (Mon-Sat) and a corresponding additional service from Trumpington at 18.20. There are also minor changes to the Citi 4, 13, 18 and 915 services. See the Stagecoach website for more detailed information.

Stagecoach: From Monday 10th May the Milton Road Park & Ride service will be suspended. This is to free up buses for routes on which there is a greater demand (initially on the 13 and some other routes).

Stagecoach: There are a number of changes to services taking effect from 11th April. Most notable is the reintroduction of all of the Park & Ride services – but see above regarding a change from 10th May. But there are many – mostly minor – changes to a variety of services (some of these changes themselves resulting from the reintroduction of P&R routes). Some of these involve route changes. Services affected are: Busway A/B/C, Citi 4, Citi 5, Citi 6, Citi 7, Citi 8, 11, 12, 13/13A/13B/X13, 18, 22, 39, 66, 915.

Stagecoach: On the following Sunday 18th April, Stagecoach are making changes to services 904 and 905.

** For full details of the April 11th and 18th changes see Stagecoach documentation. And timetables can be found here. **

Stagecoach: The reopening of schools means that further changes are being introduced from 7th March. These affect services 16A, 19, 604, 606, 607 and 613.

And below is a summary of changes that were introduced in January:

• A revised 905 timetable.
• Park & Ride services are suspended (with the exception of the Stetchworth runs). Rural routes will divert to serve Babraham Road, Madingley Road and Newmarket Road sites. Milton Park & Ride will not have any bus services. The Trumpington site continues to be served by other routes (but see below regarding Busway changes).
• On the Busway, route C is suspended, and there will changes to the frequency of services on routes A & B.
• Other routes: A reduced frequency will operate on the 18 and 66, essentially resulting in a two-hourly service, whilst the 905 will operate only hourly. There are also minor changes to times of the 915 and V5 services. Duplicate school services on route 904 are withdrawn.

For full information and revised timetables go to the Stagecoach website.

Whippet:

• From Monday 7th June, the U will revert to a slightly reduced frequency during the morning and evening peak, with buses operating every 15 minutes. The new timetable can be viewed here.
• From Monday 12th April, the U will operate with buses every 12 minutes in the morning and evening peak. The new timetable can be found here.
• From Monday 8th March, Whippet services X2, X3 and 478 are returning to the timetables and routes operating prior to the 25th January changes. More information can be found on the Whippet website. Or, if you just want the timetables, follow this link.
• On the U, a reduced frequency was introduced from Monday 11th January. The announcement can be found here. And here’s the revised timetable. (This operates only until Sunday 11th April.)
• From Monday 25th January (but only until Sunday 7th March), there are significant changes to the X2 and X3 service, and the 478 is withdrawn. See the Whippet website for the announcement outlining these changes. And here’s the new X2/X3 timetable.

A2B and other local operators: No changes notified.

Express services: National Express routes serving Cambridge are due to restart on Monday 21 June. Megabus services in this area remain suspended.

Stagecoach have announced changes to services taking effect in January – but on different dates, as the services in question are operated by different parts of the Stagecoach empire!

On 3rd January, there will be changes to Busway services. These involve a number of route C journeys beginning/terminating at Huntingdon rather than St Ives. But this only applies to some route C journeys, so please check the new timetable carefully! This will provide additional capacity during peak travel times. Check the Stagecoach website for further details and to view the new timetable.

On 10th January, a revised timetable will be introduced on the 905 (Cambridge/Bedford via Cambourne and St Neots). This is in an attempt to improve reliability. Follow this link to view the revised timetable.

One consequence of the new timetable is that off-peak daytime journeys from St Neots that, back in mid-March (when the service ran as the X5), were scheduled to take 45 minutes to Cambridge Parkside, are now booked to take 55 minutes on the 905.

The changes planned for 15th November have been postponed!

Stagecoach are revising this summer’s new service 905 (Cambridge-Cambourne-St Neots-Bedford) with effect from Sunday 15th November, principally arising from the need to provide a more reliable service. The changes to departure times are fairly minor on Bedford-bound journeys, but they’re much more substantial on journeys coming into Cambridge. In addition, the first Cambridge-bound service, Monday-Friday – now retimed to 0416 – will no longer serve CRC and the Science Park.

The new timetable results in there being one additional journey a day in both directions compared to the current service.

The new timetable can be viewed and downloaded here.

Stagecoach are making a considerable number of changes to services in Cambridge and the surrounding area from 1st November. Full details (including links to revised timetables) are available on the Stagecoach website, and there’s also a booklet available for downloading.

The Busway changes are essentially being introduced to:

• provide more capacity (additional services);
• provide additional travel options on the feeder routes;
• improve service reliability (retimings).

Service B is being extended to serve the Railway Station and the Biomedical Campus. As a result, this service will usually be operated by single-decker vehicles. An additional double-decker, peak-time service (Monday to Friday) – service C – will be introduced between St Ives Park & Ride and Cambridge City Centre. Some of these journeys will serve the Railway Station and (during college terms) Long Road Sixth Form College.

Service A will start earlier in the morning (every day) and continue to late evening (Mon-Sat) or early evening (Sun), operate to an increased frequency for much of the time, and extend to/from Trumpington Park & Ride on Sundays.

Service B will operate to/from Trumpington Park & Ride, via the Railway Station and Biomedical Campus, start earlier in the morning (every day) and continue to early evening (Sun), operate to an increased frequency for much of the time, and provide additional evening services between Trumpington and St Ives (Mon-Sat). These services will be operated by single-decker vehicles.

Service C is a new service operating only during morning and afternoon peak times (Mon-Fri). All buses will operate between St Ives Park & Ride and Cambridge City Centre, with some journeys running to/from Cambridge Railway Station and a smaller number to/from Long Road Sixth Form College (via Hills Road, not the Busway) during college terms. This service will usually be operated by a double-decker vehicle.

We have received a query about stopping stopping points in Cambridge.

These have been promptly clarified for us by Stagecoach. (See the comments section, below.)

Secretary, Cambridge Area Bus Users

What this means in terms of overall frequency is that there is a bus between St Ives and Trumpington every 10 minutes, Monday to Saturday daytime, and every 15 minutes on Sundays. Peak hour Monday to Friday services are, of course, more frequent than this. Monday to Saturday evening services now run every 20 minutes between Trumpington and St Ives, and every half-hour in the other direction.

Changes to the feeder services include additional journeys on services 915, V1 and V3 and minor timetable changes on the V3 and V5.

It’s impossible to capture all of the changes in a brief blog post, so would-be passengers are encouraged to read the much longer explanation provided by Stagecoach and to consult the new timetables. The relevant links are provided at the top of this post.

Stagecoach are making a considerable number of changes to services in Cambridge and the surrounding area from 1st November. Full details (including links to revised timetables) are available on the Stagecoach website, and there’s also a booklet available for downloading.

The non-Busway changes are essentially being introduced to:

• provide more capacity (additional services);
• compensate for increasing congestion on the roads (additional services and retimings);
• improve service reliability (retimings).

In addition, commuter services withdrawn in late-March are being reintroduced on a couple of routes, and the southbound Citi 1 will relocate to Emmanuel Street stop E1. Brampton passengers should note that the last departure from Huntingdon is being brought forward by 30 minutes and the first morning departure to Huntingdon by 5 minutes (please don’t miss your bus!).

Here’s a full list of services whose timetables will be changing on 1st November:

• Citi 1
• Citi 2
• Citi 3
• Citi 5
• Citi 6
• Citi 7
• Citi 8
• 8H
• 9/X9
• 13/13A/13B/X13
• 19
• 39
• 66

Whippet have announced changes to the timetable for the U (Universal) service, which operates between Eddington and the Biomedical Campus, via the Railway Station. The changes take effect on Monday 19 October.

Peak-hour services will operate Monday-Friday every 12 minutes. The frequency of services at other times of day and at the weekend continue unchanged. Journey times are being extended to reduce late running (or the risk thereof). Weekend operation to/from the Biomedical Campus, introduced in late March, is retained.

The new timetable can be downloaded from the Whippet website.

Services have returned to operating via Addenbrooke’s Outpatients, although first priority in this area is given to the Hospital’s needs.

The University’s Travel Newsletter reports:

The University will be increasing funding for the Universal Bus service over the next four months which, combined with funding from the Government COVID-19 Bus Service Support Grant (CBSSG) Restart package will enable the route to run every 12 minutes throughout the morning and evening peak periods, while maintaining the weekend services to CBC that we began running during the national lockdown in March. The additional funding will allow the level of service provided by the Universal to be maintained as the roads get busier again and the number of passengers carried on each service is reduced due to social distancing requirements on board.

Cambridge Area Bus Users welcome the progress towards construction of this key transport link. We are, however, concerned about details, particularly interchange with bus services – both conventional and guided – and the planned Cambridge Autonomous Metro, of which the Cambridge South East Transport scheme – a project to link the Biomedical Campus with a new Park & Ride the other side of Babraham village, near the A11, is a precursor.

Our main concern as Cambridge Area Bus Users would be that there will be high-quality sheltered provision for passengers transferring between train and bus (both guided and conventional) as close as practicable to the station entrance.

In addition to high quality provision for bus services, we would wish to see every effort made to minimise conflict between public transport transferees and car, cycle and taxi movements.

To avoid congestion which would impact on the operation of buses around this area, there should be no long-term car parking for passengers (other than Blue-Badge holders). Moreover, the use of private cars, for kiss-and-ride should be carefully regulated to make this mode of transfer rather less attractive than a public transport transfer.

Bus transfer facilities at Cambridge (city) station are appalling.

Bus stops are positioned some considerable distance away from the station entrance along a side street, with different services serving the same popular destinations (in particular Addenbrooke’s, and the city centre) departing from different, stops. Intending passengers need to be physically fit, to walk the considerable distance to the bus stops and be able to sprint between widely-spaced stops in order to catch the next available bus to their destination. They will, of course, also need to have prior knowledge of the bus services. To the best of our knowledge, these deficiencies are a result of decisions taken by the station area developers, not Network Rail, nor Greater Anglia who run the station.

By contrast, Cambridge North Station, which was developed by Network Rail (and is similarly operated by Greater Anglia) has bus connections available a short distance from the station entrance, across a pedestrian plaza.

Many commentators have suggested that Cambridge South Station would be, largely, a destination station, used by patients, visitors and staff of the nearby hospitals and by workers at other establishments on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, in particular AstraZeneca. We, Queen Edith’s Community Forum, and local councillors have, however, pointed out that this station will most likely become the railhead of choice for residents in an area stretching from Cherry Hinton and Fulbourn through to Trumpington and Grantchester.

We were delighted to be contacted by Sophie Moeng, Consultation Manager for Network Rail, who has recently provided an article for the Autumn 2020 issue of Queen Edith’s magazine, which you can read/download here. Sophie’s article is on pp4-6 of the magazine. Sophie has also sent Cambridge Area Bus Users an updated article, which we are pleased to publish, in full, below.

Cambridge South Infrastructure Enhancements Scheme

By Sophie Moeng
Consultation Manager
Network Rail | 1 Eversholt Street | London | NW1 2DN

On 22 June 2020 Network Rail announced the preferred location of the proposed new railway station south of Cambridge. The chosen location corresponds with the northern option presented to the public earlier this year and follows a review of engineering and design information together with the results of public consultation.

The new station is proposed to be located adjacent to Addenbrooke’s Bridge which carries the spur of the Guided Busway across the railway, and will provide a new transport choice for patients, visitors and employees when travelling to and from the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC).

The Scheme has evolved and enhancements to the nearby infrastructure to maintain service reliability have been identified. The infrastructure at Shepreth Branch Junction (where the lines from King’s Cross and Liverpool Street meet) and the southern section of tracks into Cambridge Station will be modified as part of the Scheme. 

The station will also provide direct access to a range of potential routes on the rail network for people in South Cambridgeshire, and better connections across the southern fringe of the city. It is anticipated that the new station would be served by train services already running on the route.

Accessing the station

Many people who responded to the consultation earlier this year did not want vehicles accessing the station from the Hobson’s Park side.  Road access is proposed to be via Francis Crick Avenue with vehicles using the Campus road network. 

Similar to drivers dropping off patients at hospitals, it is anticipated that vehicles coming into the Campus to drop off passengers for the station would not be fined by the route enforcement system which is in place to prevent Francis Crick Avenue being used as a through route. Parking would be restricted to Blue Badge holders, station staff and maintenance vehicles. There will be pick-up and drop-off facilities for passengers and taxis. 

The station and its facilities are expected to be operated by a train operating company who would also manage the parking facility. 

New paths are proposed for pedestrians and cyclists from both sides of the railway, and the signals at the intersection with the Guided Busway and Francis Crick Avenue by the Green and the Gardens will need to be modified. Details of this are being worked through with the CBC estate management team and the County Council. 

Bus interchange will be provided from the existing Guided Busway bus stops at the Circus. We’re engaging with Greater Cambridge Partnership on the Cambridge South East Transport (CSET) scheme on the east side – CSET proposes to provide stops on the segregated public transport lane on Francis Crick Avenue just south of the station access entrance and also modify the intersection to a much larger degree. 

Cycle parking

Space for 1,000 cycles arranged on both sides of the railway is proposed and includes a variety of Sheffield stands, two-tier racks and parking for non-standard cycles. The precise location of the cycle stands will be finalised during detailed design.

At this present time, space for various facilities is being planned which will determine the footprint of the station buildings on each side of the railway. Proposals include a staffed station building with ticket vending machines, automatic ticket barriers, lifts and stairs to the connecting footbridge, a changing places facility, accessible toilets, a retail/catering unit, a waiting area and seating. There will be step-free access with two lifts on each platform covered by canopies.

Station facilities

On the east the station forecourt will accommodate a one-way vehicle route for cars and taxis to drop off and parking for Blue Badge Holders. Pedestrian access is provided towards the junction with Francis Crick Avenue and the Guided Busway and pedestrians from the South use an access path to the south of the station forecourt.

Tracks and platforms

The existing tracks of the West Anglia Main Line will be re-laid to allow an island platform to be installed. A loop on each side of the re-laid tracks will be installed with a single platform on the outer sides. Two platforms will serve northbound services (Down lines) and two will serve southbound services (Up lines) – see diagram.

Next steps

With the preferred location of the station selected, we will hold a second round of consultation this Autumn to seek views on our current designs, the access arrangements and the measures we need to implement to construct the project safely. We intend to submit an application for a Transport and Works Act Order to the Secretary of State for Transport in 2021 to support a funder target of the station opening in 2025.

From 14th September A2B are making a number of relatively minor changes to service 75 (Wrestlingworth/Orwell/Cambridge). But even minor timing alterations can sometimes mean the difference between catching and missing your bus!

Here’s a link to the new timetable.

Stagecoach are implementing a number of changes to non-Busway services from 30th August.

X5: The Cambridge/Bedford portion of the X5 is being replaced by a new service, 905, to be operated by double deckers and routed via Cambourne and (Mon-Fri up to 19.00) CRC and the Science Park. Unfortunately timetables still haven’t been published at the time of writing. Passengers to/from Oxford and other places west of Bedford will need to change buses at Bedford. It’s unclear whether these changes will be “connections”, whether buses will be held in the case of late running, or how much this will add to overall journey times. More information (minus timetable data and answers to any of the questions raised above) is available on the Stagecoach website.

Citi 6: This will return to its pre-lockdown frequency (two buses per hour) and timetable.

16A: The Saturday outbound working will revert to its original route (Cherry Hinton Road) and will no longer serve Addenbrooke’s.

School services: There are changes to a number of services that operate during school terms but which are available for use by the general public, including rerouting (to serve specific schools) on certain Citi 5 and 18 trips and additional journeys on the 13. Services 94 and 206, and the Citi 7’s school-specific trips, are being renumbered (to 604, 606 and 607 respectively).

Full details of the changes relating to the Citi 6, 16A and school services – including timetables for all of these services – are available on the Stagecoach website.

Major changes are coming to Stagecoach’s Busway services from 30th August. They’re different from the major developments announced last November but, for some passengers, no less significant.

Retained from that original plan is the switching of routes within the Cambridge city boundary: Busway A services will operate Trumpington Park & Ride/St Ives and travel via Shire Hall and Orchard Park (although inbound services will be diverting via CRC and the Science Park for the next year or so as a result of the Histon Road closure); Busway B services will operate Parkside/ Hinchingbrooke Hospital and go to Cambridge North, then out via the Science Park.

Each route will operate every 20 minutes – hourly on Sundays. The B will continue to operate an hourly service until late evening. As now, single deck vehicles will run on the A, and double deckers on the B.

The existing D and R services will be withdrawn (the R has already been suspended for several months).

All other existing Busway services are cancelled and replaced by non-Busway services. Busway-fitted vehicles will, in future, operate only on the Busway between St Ives Park & Ride and Marley Road or Hinchingbrooke Hospital, and between the two Busway sections within Cambridge.

“Feeder” services (or “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. The V4 will be adding a number of St Ives/Fenstanton trips on Saturdays. There’s also a new service V5 providing a an early-morning service from Godmanchester and late-evening return journeys, but this is operated as an extension of existing B trips, and it’s not necessary to change buses.

Huntingdon/Peterborough journeys are replaced by a new hourly Mon-Sat service, 904, operating from St Ives and routed to Huntingdon via Houghton Clock Tower, but skipping the St Ives and Huntingdon estates (which continue to be served by route B).

Cambridge/Royston journeys are replaced by a new 915 service, mostly hourly, operating to/from Drummer Street, skipping the Railway Station and Biomedical Campus and travelling instead down Trumpington Road and Trumpington High Street (connect to an A at the Park & Ride for the “skipped” destinations).

Stagecoach only made this information publicly available on 21st August. But their website has been updated and includes all of the new timetables, a route map and a set of FAQs.