'Significant' drop-off in busway passengers

Bus frequencies will decrease on a busway after a "significant" drop-off in the number of passengers linked to safety fencing work.

Cambridgeshire County Council has been putting up fencing along the 16-mile (26km) busway, which links Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives, after it was fined £6m in the wake of three deaths.

The speed limit on the network was reduced to a blanket 30mph (48km/h) in October while permanent fencing works were carried out.

Darren Roe, managing director of Stagecoach East, one of the bus operators on the busway, said it supported the safety work, but the extended journey times had led to people "changing their travel patterns".

He said this had resulted in a "significant loss of people travelling on the busway".

"As such, it is impossible for us to maintain services at their current frequency, and so, from 1 January 2027, frequencies will reduce from every 10 minutes to every 15 minutes at peak times, and from every 20 minutes to every 30 minutes off-peak," he said.

The guided busway takes a modified bus along a dedicated track - in some sections previously up to a speed of 56mph (90km/h) - and opened in 2011.

Jennifer Taylor, Steve Moir and Kathleen Pitts were killed in collisions on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway between 2015 and 2021.

In June, it emerged that the cost to install fencing had nearly doubled to £12.5m.

Jamie Cooke, the council's transport director, has previously said if the authority did not put up fencing, "there's an argument that we may not be able to continue to operate the busway".

In response to Stagecoach East's announcement, a council spokesperson said: "The safety of everyone using the guided busway remains the county council's highest priority.

"Decisions regarding timetables and service frequencies are a matter for Stagecoach as the operator.

"However, we remain committed to working closely with Stagecoach and other partners to support reliable public transport services and minimise disruption for passengers wherever possible."

Paul Bristow, the Conservative mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, oversees bus services and said: "I was disappointed to hear that the buses along the busway are reducing in frequency.

"I understand the frustration this must have caused passengers, and I am calling for the schedule to return to previous levels as soon as possible."

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