As previously reported, Stagecoach completely withdrew several bus routes, including No.18 which serves Bourn and Kingston. It also drastically reduced other routes including Citi4, withdrawing services along St Neots Road to Bourn Turn, Caldecote Turn and Hardwick Turn.
Stagecoach completely withdrew the No.18 bus service as one of 19 that it stops running throughout Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
It was a sneaky withdrawal of service on the Citi4 – as Stagecoach basically created a new route yet called it Route 4, misleading us to begin with. I raised this particular sneaky withdrawal at SCDC full council on 22 September and asked that the Council raise it directly with the CPCA, as I previously reported. This resulted in Citi4 and these type of routes being put in the tender process.
Thankfully, the CPCA has confirmed at its meeting on 19th October that these two services No.18 and Citi4 have received tenders to run them.
BUT for legal reasons around the tendering process, the Combined Authority has said it is not yet able to confirm which bus operators are the preferred bidder for each route and nor is it able to confirm the route timetables.
You can read the formal notifications from the CPCA directly on their website here.
Operators and new timetables will be confirmed at the end of what is called a standstill period lasting 10 days. This is a legal requirement attached to this tendering process which allows suppliers an opportunity to challenge any decision. That means the names of the bus operators and timetables can only be made public from October 24. Timetables may change as a result of the tendering process. New contracts with bus operators will run until the end of March 2023.
So please keep an eye on the CPCA website and social media channels for official updates. Nothing is sure until the CPCA publishes the final list and route timetable on 24 October.