A great deal has already been written about Cambridgeshire's Guided Busway. Even before its much-delayed opening in August 2011, there were enough articles about it to produce a fair-sized book. From the local newspaper to the specialist magazine, the New Civil Engineer (NCE), articles were published for and against the project.
Location and Layout
The structure is a series of concrete sections with grooves for small guidewheels mounted on the front axle of buses using the route. It stretches from St Ives to Cambridge uninterrupted and then again from Cambridge railway station to Addenbrooke's Hospital and Trumpington Park & Ride site in the south. There is an ‘unguided’ section around the new Orchard Park development in the west of the city where buses run along a specially constructed bus lane and also dedicated bus lanes along some of the road route. Although, this is not practical in the city centre so buses join the same roads as all other vehicles for this section.
The guideway sections allow smooth travel at 60mph, so smooth that the Project Delivery Director was able to drink safely from a full, hot, cup of coffee on the top deck of a double decker bus during tests. The smoothness also cuts travel noise so that passengers are able to speak at a normal volume rather than having to shout over engine roar. It enables easy use of laptops and smartphones, especially as the buses all have free wifi, and is far more pleasant than bus journeys have been known to be in the past.
The Busway bypasses the A14 from St Ives to Cambridge, the most congested road in the area, and permits extended travel hours from 6am to midnight. It seems as if there are plans to bring in local bus connections as the project matures, judging by the signs on the bus shelters being erected in the nearest Park and Ride location to my house.
Attitudes For and Against the Project
Television crews and engineers from Australia and Finland, among other countries, showed a keen interest as the project unfolded and parallels were often drawn with the Edinburgh Tramway project, also enduring a difficult time. A vocal opposition to the whole idea was mounted by many individuals as well as such groups as pro-railway lobby CAST.IRON and other local organisations. Protests from these and others included a long-running campaign in the local press as well as more radical moves such as driving vehicles onto the track and leaving them there. There was very little positive coverage to be had locally, indeed at the height of the coverage it seemed as if the local newspaper was finding a negative story per day about it. The wider issues with the project, such as the delays, the cost and the still on-going rumblings between the contractor and the client, made national headlines from time to time. When the Busway, as it was named, finally opened on 7 August 2011 the general public almost expected it to be an unmitigated disaster. However, within a few weeks of opening, the service has proved so popular that extra buses have been deployed to cope with demand and the timetables have been revised to reflect the increased frequency.
Further Development Already Planned
The Busway has been open only a few months, but developments are already planned. The ‘Kiss and Ride’ drop off zone at Swavesey has been slated for upgrading to a limited ‘Park and Ride’ with 10 spaces. This was originally planned but was dropped through perceived lack of interest and for monetary reasons. There has been talk of expanding the service to further towns and villages too. For many people the service was unpopular in principle but has proved useful in reality, allowing easier commuting between St Ives and Cambridge and A14-free travel to Cambridge station. Pedestrians and bicycle riders find the track alongside the Busway a safer route than braving the traffic-choked streets of the city, although one bike rider found out the hard way that bus drivers don’t always stop for cyclists riding on the Busway itself. Personally it simplifies my journey to work as instead of having to cross several busy roads, I simply step out for the shorter, more direct walk down the Busway from the station and enter my workplace through the specially constructed gate between the Busway and the campus. This route is far more peaceful, less congested and quicker than the road route and provides the ideal bookend to my working day.
Future Success Envisaged
The Busway was built with a design life of decades, and it was envisaged at the planning stage that development and therefore renewal would be ongoing. Several housing developments are in planning which would be exclusively served by the Busway, and it is not beyond possibility that the route could be expanded in years to come. That would be the final vindication for a project that was so unpopular in development, and the ultimate proof of a dedicated team’s years of work.
Sources:
The Cambridge Evening News website. Accessed 25 October 2011.
- Guided Bus a success - Chris Havergal, 19 October 2011
- Car park could be built next to village guided bus stop - 25 October 2011.
- Bike crushed by guided bus - 6 October 2011.
The New Civil Engineer website. Accessed 25 October 2011.
- Contractor to tackle Guided Busway delays - Jo Stimpson, 28 April 2010.
Cambridgeshire County Council website. Accessed 25 October 2011.
- How the Busway works - Bob Menzies, 30 June 2011.
Edinburgh Tramway website. Accessed 25 October 2011.
CAST.IRON website. Accessed 25 October 2011.
Paula Thomas - Paula is, among other things, an editor & proofreader. She also enjoys technology - retro or modern - travel, music, motorsport and ...
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