Supplement to Newsletter 121: Because of the Temporary Closure Of
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Supplement to Newsletter 121: Because of the temporary closure of the copying shop we normally use (Staples at Mitcham’s Corner), delivery of paper copies of this newsletter has been delayed. If anyone not in receipt of the electronic copies would have liked to attend the climate lobby or the anti-austerity march (and hadn’t been made aware of these events through other channels), we apologise. There should, however, still be time to attend the Bedford Area Bus Users Society AGM on Sat 4 July, at which Claire Walters, the Chief Executive of Bus Users UK (to which we are affiliated), will be speaking. We have taken advantage of this delay to add some recent news (or items that have only recently come to our attention) – see below. Report on anti-austerity march: About 10 people assembled at the designated meeting point (EAT at 85 King William St, between Bank and Monument stations) and took the “Save Our Buses/Stop Cutting Buses” placards supplied by the Campaign for Better Transport. They also had a banner. Several other people expressed interest in our campaign and took further placards for use on the march – which was a start, though nowhere near enough to give the issue of buses the prominence it deserves. One campaigner from Fleet in Hampshire brought a cutout bus in the livery of what had been her local operator, Fleet Buzz, until it was taken over by Stagecoach. We then took our place in the march, arriving at Parliament Square about 15.20. As we weren’t at the front, by then the speeches had started, but they continued for over another hour, as more marchers arrived, ending about 16.40. An estimated 250,000 people participated. No violence or arrests were reported. Speakers in- cluded politicians (Caroline Lucas, Jeremy Corbyn et al), showbiz personalities (Charlotte Church, Julie Hesmondhalgh et al) and trade unionists (Frances O’Grady, Christine Blower et al). We need to work to get speakers at future rallies to highlight the importance of buses. Is there any other issue where current policy is taking us backward on so many fronts (social exclusion, climate change, local environment and economic efficiency)? Cambs bus changes: The Whippet changes will start on 26 July, and include the takeover of 45 and 63 from Stagecoach, who are also making some other changes. Here are details. St Neots town services: Currently a mixture of Stagecoach (63, 64, 75) and Whippet (61, 63) these will be replaced by Whippet 61, 62 and 63 plus an extension of Stagecoach 66 to Eaton Socon. The 61-63 will provide a half hourly off peak service between Eynesbury, St Neots and Eaton Socon, plus some peak journeys that loop via the bypass. The 61 will also serve the station, but not at times suitable for London and other commuters. Loves Farm will be served only by the X5, and on Saturdays Eynesbury (including Tesco) will only have a few rural buses. Huntingdon/St Ives local services: The 45 commuter rail link from St Ives will be taken over by Whippet, but with the loss of 1 journey in each direction. Whippet 7 will be renumbered 477, and with the 476 will provide a half hourly service to Godmanchester (down from every 20min at present). Stagecoach will continue to provide Godmanchester’s evening service by extending guided buses from Huntingdon. In St Ives there are minor changes to Whippet 12. Whippet 5 will provide an hourly service between St Ives and the Hemingfords – which will lose their link to Huntingdon. Guided buses: Changes to all routes of both operators. Whippet are abandoning of route D which provides a few journeys linking Orchard Park and the Shirehall with Cambridge station (but Stagecoach 8 and Whippet 1A provide all day alternatives). Some peak time Stagecoach A’s will extend to Huntingdon missing out Oxmoor, though the westbound morning journeys will leave too early to be usable by people from Cambridge. (Incidentally, an earlier change means that there is now an 06.45 journey from Cambridge to Peterborough Mon-Fri.) 1 Other services on Cambridge-St Ives/Huntingdon corridor: Whippet will provide the fastest journeys between Cambridge and Huntingdon on their hourly new X3 route via West Cambridge, Cambourne, Papworth and Godmanchester. Whippet 3 will provide peak time journeys to Hilton plus the supported Saturday service to the Graveley loop (which also serve Hilton). Whippet 1 will provide 5-7 journeys between Cambourne, Papworth, Hilton and St Ives, with peak time extension to/from Cambridge, but most journeys will not serve Fenstanton. Whippet 1A provides an hourly service between Cambridge and Huntingdon via Fenstanton, St Ives, Houghton and RAF Wyton, down from half hourly on the combined 1A/1B/5, and the original plan to supplement these with journeys between Fenstanton and St Ives on route 1 has been abandoned, probably because of public demand for extending this route from Papworth to Cambourne. However the 1A is extended to Cambridge station. Whippet rural routes: Minor changes to 2 and 8. 6 will provide a Mon-Fri shopping service from Fenstanton, Hilton, Papworth and Cambourne to St Neots, but will run nonstop on the A428 not serving Eltisley or Croxton. 9 increased from 2 to 5 days a week from Elsworth and other local villages to St Ives. 15 will lose its peak time locals between Fen Drayton and Fenstanton but the Monday and Friday shopping service from Over survives. 31 is recast to offer 4 off peak journeys between Fowlmere and Addenbrookes, where passengers will have to change to/from Cambridge. The peak time journeys between Cambridge and Barley will continue. We regard this as a significant improvement, however Trumpington will no longer be served. Less good news is the change to 75, with most journeys now terminating at Orwell. Passengers for villages beyond, including visitors to Wimpole Hall, do however have alternatives – Myalls 15 from Royston (Wed) and C2 from St Neots (Thur), peak time journeys on route 28 from Comberton to Gamlingay (to get back to Cambridge alight at Caxton and walk to Lower Cambourne for a Citi 4), and the Bike Bus Explorer on Sundays. Finally, no changes at present to the West Hunts network (400-9). Tor Bus: An additional service for visitors is the 196 Tor Bus at Glastonbury, running daily during the summer season between the town centre and the Tor. The town centre can be reached daily from Bristol (bus or rail stations) on route 376 – there are also various services from other towns in the area. Herts Rail Strategy consultation: Herts County Council is currently consulting on a rail strategy – see hhttp://www.hertsdirect.org/services/transtreets/railconsultationi for details. The closing date is 4 Aug. The strategy includes noises about improving sustainable access to stations and providing a high quality east-west coach service which are quite contrary to the Council’s actions in cutting services, as referred to earlier. This type of inconsistency is not untypical of strategy documents and casts grave doubt on their their value. It may be worth mentioning this point in your response. The strategy comes down clearly on the side of an east-west rail route via Luton and Steve- nage. This option looks highly circuitous and the countryside between Luton and Stevenage looks unsuitable for a new rail route, so we suggest asking for this to be replaced by “East-West 2” be- tween Milton Keynes and Stansted Airport via Ridgmont, Flitwick, Hitchin, Stevenage, Ware and Harlow, with possible eastward extension to Braintree and beyond. (We see this as supplementing rather than replacing East-West 1 between Oxford, Bicester, Claydon, Milton Keynes, Bedford, St Neots and Cambridge.) The Hertford Link element in East-West 2, in combination with upgrading the West Anglia main line, could bring considerable benefits to Cambridgeshire by creating a new strategic freight route between the Channel Tunnel (and some south-eastern ports) and eastern England via Barking, Seven Sisters, Ware and Stevenage. Note that you might have difficulty fitting comments into the space allowed! 2.