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Image source, Emma Howgego/BBC Image caption, The Cambridge Guided Busway has been running since 2011 By Aimee Dexter Cambridgeshire Punting, a top university, and cycling. Cambridge is famous for many things. Less well known, perhaps, is that it is home to the UK's first and the world's longest busway, spanning 16 miles (26km) from the city to other towns in the county.
With one busway in operation, three more have been proposed. But what are they, what problems may they solve and how are they splitting opinion? What is a busway?
Busways are dedicated routes, separate from roads, that are exclusively for the use of buses. Meanwhile, a guided busway sees vehicles drive on to dedicated concrete tracks. The aim is to provide speedier and more reliable journeys for passengers by avoiding road congestion.
The current Cambridgeshire busway, which connects Huntingdon and St Ives to Cambridge, has large sections where buses drive on to tracks. They require them to be fitted with guide wheels on their sides, meaning operators have to invest in specialist vehicles and training for their drivers. The busway also has cycle lanes and footpaths running alongside the tracks, at many points.
Other vehicles have been prevented from accessing the busway via the use of car traps, which has led to a number of mishaps over the years . How many busways are in Cambridgeshire? Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Cambridgeshire Guided Busway opened in 2011 Currently, there is just the one busway, which opened in August 2011 - two years late and at a cost of £116.2m.
Much of it was built on a former railway line, and it is made up of a longer section between St Ives and Cambridge, and a shorter section between central Cambridge and Addenbrooke's Hospital. It was introduced in a bid to ease congestion on the A14 and roads in the county's capital. An estimated four million passenger journeys are made each year, according to Cambridgeshire County Council.
But it has not been without its problems. In 2023, a long-running dispute over millions of pounds worth of alleged defects on the guided busway was settled out of court. And last year, Cambridgeshire County Council was fined £6m after the deaths of Jennifer Taylor, Steve Moir and Kathleen Pitts, who died after collisions on the busway between 2015 and 2021.
It has led to permanent fencing being erected along the route, to keep pedestrians away from the tracks. But Stagecoach East said the work had led to a steep drop-off in passenger numbers . Have new busways been given the go-ahead?
In September, the government gave the green light for a multimillion-pound busway to be built between Cambridge and the growing new town of Cambourne. The project, known as C2C, would cover 8.6 miles (13.8km) and aims to provide 10,000 daily passenger trips. It has been in the planning for more than a decade, with the proposal receiving more than 300 objections - with the route due to travel through a century-old orchard in Coton .
The busway will also serve the Bourn airfield site , which will see 5,000 new homes built. In total, about 13,000 extra homes have been planned for the area. The plans will be delivered by Cambridgeshire County Council, on behalf of the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) , external .
Last year's C2C inquiry heard that the anticipated cost of the project would be about £192m - based on information submitted in November 2024. The GCP confirmed during the inquiry that it had allocated £181m for the project. Are there plans for more?
Image source, Greater Cambridge Partnership Image caption, The proposed route for the Cambridge South East busway would run between a travel hub off the A11 and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus Yes - two more. The Cambridge South East Transport (CSET) busway is planned to be about five miles (8.5km) long, and will travel between Francis Crick Avenue at the city's Biomedical Campus and a new travel hub off the A11, at the Fourwentways junction. But an inquiry into the project has been delayed because of the scheme's proximity to a gas pipeline.
If it goes ahead, the busway, which has been developed by the GCP, will travel through Great Shelford, Stapleford and Sawston. The GCP confirmed a public inquiry would be held from 8 December, with a pre-inquiry meeting taking place on Tuesday. Image source, Greater Cambridge Partnership Image caption, An artist's impression of the proposed Waterbeach Busway Meanwhile, the Waterbeach to Cambridge busway will connect the new town at Waterbeach Barracks with Milton Park and Ride, before joining the existing guided busway.
Cambridgeshire County Council agreed to progress with the scheme on 13 October, and the project will be submitted for a Transport and Works Order , external . What do local officials say? Image source, BBC/South Cambridgeshire District Council Image caption, Labour MP Daniel Zeichner, Conservative councillor Heather Williams and Liberal Democrat councillor Brian Milnes have varying opinions on the busways Labour MP for Cambridge, Daniel Zeichner, said busways were an "important part of future transport solutions for the city", but said he was "concerned about the problems around the existing busway".
"Longer journey times make it much less attractive to passengers," he said. "It is important that required safety work is done, but more urgency is needed to get people back on the bus." Brian Milnes, the Liberal Democrat councillor and chair of the GCP, added that busways would "reduce congestion and make it easier for people to travel sustainably". He said: "While each of our busway schemes are at a different stage of development, they share a common aim - creating transport infrastructure [to deliver] a better-connected Greater Cambridge." However, Heather Williams, a Conservative councillor at South Cambridgeshire District Council, said the busway plans were "going to give local communities all the pain with little to no gain".
"If we are serious about getting the right results for residents, then light-rail is the way forward - and simply carrying on with busways out of a desperation to achieve anything does not get the right result for our area and those who live here," she said. Do you have a story suggestion for Cambridgeshire? Contact us below.
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Source: BBC
