"Busway South reopening will radically reduce journey times"

Cambridge’s largest bus operator has welcomed plans that would see the Southern Section of The Busway reopened, in a move that could see journey times between the Biomedical Campus and Cambridge Railway Station radically reduced to less than 5 minutes.

The Busway and its maintenance track are currently planned to fully re-open on Saturday 30th March. Currently the journey between the Biomedical Campus and the Railway Station, travelling along Hills Road, can take over 30 minutes at peak times because of congested traffic.

As The Busway runs on its own unique track, buses are not caught in traffic, so journey times will be both reduced and more reliable.

Darren Roe, Managing Director of Stagecoach East, which operates on The Busway, said: “The Busway provides a rapid and convenient way to get to work or meet friends and family in Cambridge, so we are pleased for our customers that this important piece of the local transport network will soon be reopened. It will help to cut journey times and reduce the congestion that is such a blight on our city centre.

“However, of course safety must be our highest priority so we will continue to work with the relevant authorities to ensure that we abide by the highest standards of safety. For example, our ISA is a world-leading safety system that automatically reduces a bus’s speed in line with speed limits. This is already in operation on our Busway buses.

“While the new fence is being built, our buses will be on diversion, so customers will need to leave more time for their journeys. We will keep customers up-to-date with the changes through our website, Twitter and signs at key bus stops.”

The inbound track on The Busway between the Biomedical Campus and Cambridge Railway Station has been closed since February 2022 to allow a temporary fence to be installed.

Since then, bus operators, the county council and emergency services have worked together to risk assess and design a fence. It has been specifically designed with removable sections to allow for safe evacuation.