Busway to “significantly increase” capacity and get up to 10-minute service; Park & Rides to get extra trips

August 2, 2024

A major investment is set to be made to significantly increase capacity and also increase the frequency of buses on the Busway to up to every 10 minutes on both sides of the track in peak times, amidst other timetable changes to come into effect this September

Stagecoach East, Cambridgeshire largest bus operator, will see enhanced Busway services that will provide an up to a 10-minute frequency along the northern track section between St Ives Park & Ride and Cambridge city centre, from Sunday 1st September.

During morning and evening peaks, all Busway A and B Services will operate through to serve Addenbrookes Hospital and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. This will allow an up to 10-minute frequency on either side of the track and introduce over 428 seats’ capacity at peak times. This upgrade has been supported by funding from the Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA), and discussions are underway with other key stakeholders to support the long-term sustainability of these improvements.

All B services at morning and evening peak times will serve the hospitals on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the B service will continue to serve Long Road College at college times. More services to St Ives will be available from Addenbrookes Bus Station.

B services will need to use Hills Road as double-decker buses cannot use the Busway track because of the low bridge. The H and R services will be withdrawn and will be replaced by more A and B journeys.

Elsewhere, Madingley Park & Ride (PR1) will have an extra round-trip added at 08:20 from Madingley in response to customer feedback.

Also, extra journeys have been added at Trumpington Park & Ride (PR3) to extend the 10-minute frequency back to Trumpington until 18:55. The service will then run every 20 minutes from 19:10.

On Monday to Friday from 11:00 to 15:00, Trumpington Park & Ride will observe all stops.

David Boden, Business Development Director of Stagecoach East, said: “We are so excited, for our loyal customers, to introduce these changes. On the Busway, the improvement to services involves adding three extra buses on top of those already operating.

“Today, together with the Park & Rides, the Busway is an essential part of Cambridgeshire’s transport network, and it is on its way to becoming the ‘turn up and go’ service that we all want it to be. So, there has never been a better time to get on board to get to work or to meet friends and family!”

Meanwhile, on other changes to the local network,

• Service X13 – Thanks to funding from CPCA, there will be additional journeys between Linton and Addenbrookes to give a 15-minute service in the off peak.
• Service 1 – As a result of congestion challenges getting out of the city, this service will now do one loop around Fulbourn village. Buses coming from Cambridge will now change their destinations to say ‘Cambridge’ at the start of the village and customers will be able to travel through the end of the route.
• Service 4 – On the Cambourne to Cambridge service, and following funding from the CPCA, Stagecoach East will enhance the frequency of this service, which will now operate every 20 minutes. Please check the timetable for specific journey times.
• Service 6 – Due to severe ongoing and challenging traffic congestion in the city – especially record levels of road works by utilities companies – timetables will need to be changed to reflect the frequency customers are actually experiencing today. This means peak-hour journeys will now be every 40 minutes, rather than 30 and off peak every 70 minutes rather than 60. This will be reviewed if traffic circumstances change.
• Service 7 – Severe ongoing challenges with traffic congestion in the Hills Road area have forced further amendments to journey times. In response to customer feedback from Pampisford, the 19:36 and 20:36 departures from Addenbrookes will now serve Pampisford, thus ensuring those on a 07:00-19:00 shift at Addenbrookes get a prompt journey home.

Service 604 and 607 – The route and timetable will be updated to better meet the needs of Impington Village College and Sawston Village College. However, these services are open to all customers, not just students. The changes will allow a better service not just for students, but also for those people who need to attend the Science Park and Cambridge Regional College. The 604 service will now start at Milton College of West Anglia and pick up on the opposite side of the road though Milton.