Fewer busway passengers after speed limit lowered



Fewer passengers have been using a guided busway since speed limits were lowered as part of a raft of new safety measures.

The limit on Cambridgeshire's network - where three people have died - was reduced to a blanket 30mph (48km/h) in October while permanent fencing works were carried out.

Meeting documents sent to Cambridgeshire County Council's highways and transport committee stated passenger numbers were "down due to the increased journey time".

While bus companies Stagecoach and Whippet said they were "supportive" of the fencing works, they "expressed concern over the longer-term impact of the current works," the papers added.

The guided busway takes a modified bus along a dedicated track - in some sections previously up to a speed of 56mph (90km/h) - and serves Cambridge, St Ives and Huntingdon.

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

The county council was fined £6m earlier this year after the deaths, and a judge criticised the authority for its "rigid and blinkered response" to the fatalities.

In meeting documents, the authority said speed monitoring was currently underway, and on-bus equipment also governed speed. "The increased journey times can have an impact on the attractiveness of busway services and have resulted in operational difficulties for the bus companies," it continued.

David Boden, commercial director of Stagecoach East, said: "We are fully supportive of works to ensure safety, but, in delivering these works, every effort needs to be made to minimise as far as possible the impact on busway customers. At our most recent data, we are down 6.8% year-on-year on Busway A customers and 8.6% on Busway B customers. This is a result of the significantly increased journey times caused by the works. This increase in journey time, of between 40 and 50 minutes, has seen us introduce three extra buses, and our team put in huge efforts, to try and offer a guaranteed frequency where we can, and also to ensure that Trumpington Park & Ride to the Biomedical Campus has sufficient buses."

He apologised for the impact on customers and said it was working with stakeholders to ensure the works were delivered as quickly as possible. He also asked other infrastructure providers to think about the scheduling of their work while the fencing was being installed.

The Tiger T1 service run by Whippet, which takes passengers from Huntingdon to Cambridge, "has been able to largely maintain the previous journey frequencies", but passenger numbers were down, council documents said. "However, both companies are supportive of the fencing works and welcome the safety benefit it will bring."

Whippet has been contacted for further comment.

An MP has been left "quite bemused" about why a major rail junction upgrade still has not happened.

For 25 years campaigners have argued that improving Ely North Junction in Cambridgeshire would make it possible to run more freight and passenger services and help grow the local economy.

The local Liberal Democrat MP Charlotte Cane claimed "for every £1 spent [the project is] likely to bring back nearly £5", ahead of hosting a debate in Parliament on Wednesday.

A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesperson said it recognised the scheme's importance and fully anticipated Ely North "will be part of a pipeline of projects to be considered as part of future funding decisions". They added: "There is a strong case for Ely Junction, and we are committed to working with a broad range of stakeholders to support its inclusion in the future pipeline."

Lines from Norwich, Cambridge, King's Lynn, Peterborough and Ipswich all meet at Ely North junction.

The project has received the go-ahead from previous governments on at least two occasions, but the work is yet to start.

In 2020, it was revealed the cost of the project had risen from £25m to £500m, while complicated engineering and a slowness to make decisions have also been blamed.


Five rail lines from across the East of England converge at Ely North junction

Cane, the MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire, said she was hoping Wednesday's debate would "get across the real importance of this project".

She said it would take freight off the roads and benefit not only the local area but also "the Midlands and further north".

"It's an amazing project... I'm still quite bemused as to why it hasn't happened yet," she told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

The DfT said when the previous Government announced Network North - of which this scheme was a part - it did not set out any plans for how to fund it.

I got A as soon as I saw it, but eightonedee had already seen it, about half an hour before me.

New delay for Turkish-built CalMac ferry MV Isle of Islay

The first of four new CalMac ferries being built in Turkey has been delayed again.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) said it still hoped to take delivery of MV Isle of Islay before Christmas but warned this would be a "challenge".

CMAL had previously told MSPs it expected the ship to be handed over in November, before making the two-week voyage to Scotland.

The government-owned ferries agency says a number of issues are still being addressed before the ferry can be signed off by UK regulators.

MV Isle of Islay, which will will operate on the Kennacraig to Islay route, is the first of four 95m-long ferries being built for the CalMac fleet at the Turkish Cemre shipyard.

When the contract was awarded it was due for delivery in October last year, but construction has been hit by a series of delays which CMAL says were due to supply chain issues and labour shortages.

In an update letter to Holyrood's net zero, energy and transport committee, CMAL said the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) carried out a final survey in the last week of October, and the shipyard is addressing issues that were raised. MCA inspectors are due to carry out another final survey on 8 December.

The update letter said: "If all completion activities go smoothly, the shipyard is targeting delivery of MV Isle of Islay prior to the Christmas period. This will be a challenge but CMAL, CalMac, Cemre and the regulatory authorities are all working hard and collaboratively towards reaching this target date for vessel delivery just before the Christmas holidays."

The journey to Scotland will involve a refuelling stop at Gibraltar and a journey across the Bay of Biscay. After arriving in Scotland, CalMac will carry out crew familiarisation and berthing trials at various ports before the ship enters service.

Work is continuing at the Cemre shipyard on MV Loch Indaal - also destined for the Islay route - and two other ferries MV Lochmor and MV Claymore will eventually serve the Western Isles.

CMAL said costs remained "on budget".

Level crossing under review when boy hit by train

A consultation on whether to close a footpath level crossing opened the day before a 14-year-old boy was fatally struck by a train, documents have shown.

Josh Travis died when he was struck by a train in Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire, on Wednesday.

Network Rail had applied to Nottinghamshire County Council to close the Chestnut Grove level crossing on safety grounds in March, warning it posed a "very real risk of serious incident".

As part of the application to "extinguish the public right of way", authority launched a consultation on 25 November. The council has been contacted for comment.

Josh's death is not being treated as suspicious, and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch said it was conducting a "preliminary examination".

Tributes, including dozens of floral messages, have since been left at the level crossing.

Network Rail added on Thursday that the council had agreed to an emergency closure of the footpath, which would initially be in place for 21 days. A document submitted as part of the application from Network Rail to the council said there was a "very real risk of a serious incident at Chestnut Grove level crossing if it remains open".

The report confirmed that, as of March 2025, there had been 19 near-misses at the crossing since 2020. It added a near-miss in this instance was an event in which the train driver had to apply the emergency brake for fear of hitting a person who was crossing. "Misuse occurs on a daily basis and it is only a matter of time before a person is hit at the crossing," it stated.

The report detailed that Network Rail had submitted "repeated applications" to the county council to temporarily stop the public right of way over the crossing to remove the risk to users while permanent solutions were explored.

Mark Budden, Network Rail's route director, East Midlands, said: "Our thoughts remain with the family and friends affected by this tragic incident. Safety is our top priority, and we are supporting the Rail Accident Investigation Branch in its inquiries.

"The level crossing is a public right of way, and Network Rail does not have the legal powers to close it - that decision rests with the local highways authority and needs a formal application and public consultation. We submitted an application in spring this year to close the level crossing on safety grounds, and the council had recently launched a public consultation for this."


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Did they all go from the station down to The Blue Ball and still there?

I note that the train ran ecs to Westbury. What happened to any passengers?

So it's Limerick-Rosslare that's your subject,then.

Gosh, a very deep dive!

That song has come into my head a couple of times recently while waiting at St Erth for the train to St Ives.

Beeching's report probably got it about half-right, on balance. The half he got wrong will still be haunting us 100 years from now..

Close but not a bullseye.

I think F is the Dublin-Rosslare railway line.

What a farce 

Not quite correct in saying no direct services on Saturday as there is one Plymouth to London train in both directions diverted between Exeter and Castle Cary via Yeovil.

But I guess better to say no direct trains in case the one train does get cancelled.

It’s a pity, particularly for Pewsey passengers, that no effort is made to run some direct services between Castle Cary and Paddington on the weekend. I would guess that will be down to reliability of having enough train crew on the weekend to operate them.

B is East West Rail.