The results of the tender by the Combined Authority for new bus services to replace those withdrawn or reduced by Stagecoach have now been formally published. The No.18 route will now be operated by Whippet Coaches Ltd, whilst the Citi4 route will remain as it is now. Good news for residents of villages in my ward, especially Caldecote, Bourn, Kingston and Longstowe who are directly affected by the changes.
Why did Stagecoach withdraw bus services?
As I explained in a previous post, Stagecoach reviewed its operations post Covid, deciding that some routes were no longer viable and some were partially viable. It claimed No.18 is not viable so withdrawing it completely and Citi4 only partially viable, so rerouting it to bypass Caldecote and Hardwick Turns. The Stagecoach announcement of the bus service changes just after the Queen’s funeral caused public outrage.
What actions taken to bring back bus services?
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) is the Authority responsible for Transport in our County, not District or County Council. But as it’s the District and County councillors that residents know, we were contacted for help and some asked what we were going to do about it!
In my previous post, I outline the steps I took to help my ward villages affected by the changes to the bus service No.18 and Citi4. The CPCA straightaway put the fully withdrawn bus service routes in a list to put out to tender to other operators. Then following my intervention through our Full Council, the partially withdrawn or revised bus service routes especially Citi4 got put on the list for tender.
Which bus services are saved?
The CPCA received tenders for all but one of the bus services on its list as confirmed at the Board meeting on 19th October. But for contract reasons including having a 10-day period when the tenders could be legally challenged, the final results were not published till this week.
To be clear, neither the District nor County Councils have put money into this, there none of your council tax is paying for these new bus service network. The CPCA does not yet levy council tax.
The new bus service timetables for services withdrawn and reduced by Stagecoach are now available as published by CPCA on October 25th 2022.
Citi4 Bus Service
For Caldecote, Citi4 will continue to run as before, so maintaining current route via Caldecote and Hardwick Turns.
Stagecoach had indicated this was an amber route, partially commercial, so it tendered for and received funding from the CPCA to continue to run the service along the current route.
No.18 Bus Service
The No.18 bus route is one that Stagecoach indicates as Red, not commercially viable for it. The new route is to be run by Whippet Coaches Ltd from 31st October, extending from Cambourne to St Neots to replace that section of the 905 route.
I can also confirm to communities along the route, especially Kingston and Toft, that the new No.18 service to be run by Whippet will serve both of them. This is in response to concerns raised as those two villages were not shown on the detailed time table. I raised this directly with Whippet and as you will see from the snapshots below, Whippet replied to confirm that all the stops along the old Stagecoach route will be served by their new bus service.
Other Relevant Bus Services affecting us?
Bus Service 905
The 905 route that goes from Cambridge to Bedford via St Neots is another bus service that has had a change that will affect some in our villages. The service still exists and will still run but Stagecoach has removed the stop at Cambourne. This means those who use it to get to Bedford or even just to catch the train at St Neots will now have a circuitous route to do that.
Some residents raised this as a concern, especially those who go to work or shop at Bedford, and those who use it to get to the Regional College. So I asked the CPCA transport team about it and this is the response I got back.
The Time table for 905 is now
Anyone going to Bedford from surrounding villages who currently uses the 905 will buy a ticket to use the No.18 Whippet to St Neots, then get another ticket to use the 905 from St Neots to Bedford. You will need to make sure you synchronise the timing on both to ensure you get to your final destination in time.
For those that use the 905 into Cambridge, note you will no longer be able to use it as it is now direct from St Neots, will come off the A428 to travel down on Madingley Rise into Cambridge. Use the Citi4 to get into Cambridge and then change to Busway B, Citi1 or PR5 (Milton P&R) to go to Science Park and CRC. Those going to Impington Village College should change to Citi8 or Busway A or B.
If you want to go to Oxford, you will see the X5 timetable here so you can plan on using the No.18 and 905 to get to Bedford where you can pick it up.
Conclusion
I hope the above is helpful for you and that the services continue to work as well as we hope. Provision of bus services for rural areas is much more expensive than providing for urban areas/towns/cities. This is why we have the situation we are now in. We hope that the CPCA, the Transport Authority will be able to provide long term solutions for transport, especially bus franchising so that this does not happen in future.
You can continue to find more information and keep updated by following the bus operators websites
Stagecoach: new east bus network timetable webpage
Whippet Coaches: New timetable webpage
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority: The transport authority for our County.