Route News 2024
Changes to bus services in and around Peterborough (latest items first). For older news see the Archive page.
For details of temporary route diversions and changes (due to roadworks, special events, weather etc) see the local Stagecoach page, Delaine's Twitter page, First's Current Issues page for Excel alterations, and Central Connect's Service Updates page.
Christmas and New Year Alterations 2024
STAGECOACH Includes X4
Tuesday December 24 Christmas Eve - normal Monday to Friday service but with an EARLY FINISH (see below for last buses).
Wednesday December 25 Christmas Day - NO SERVICE.
Thursday December 26 Boxing Day - NO SERVICE.
Friday December 27 - SATURDAY service.
Saturday December 28 - Normal Saturday service.
Sunday December 29 - Normal Sunday service.
Monday December 30 - SATURDAY service.
Tuesday December 31 New Year's Eve - SATURDAY service but with an EARLY FINISH (see below for last buses).
Wednesday January 1 New Year's Day - NO SERVICE.
Thursday January 2 - Normal services resume.
DELAINE AND FIRST EXCEL
As shown above for Stagecoach, but on Tuesday December 24 (Christmas Eve) - a SATURDAY service will operate with an EARLY FINISH (see below for last buses).
On December 24, 27 and 30 route 102 will run normal service from 0853 towards Peterborough, and from Peterborough hourly 1015 to 1515 then 1715.
CENTRAL CONNECT
Details to follow.
29/11/24
Early finish on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve
STAGECOACH PETERBOROUGH - last journeys depart as follows:
Route 1: Orton Paulsgrove 1948 --> Queensgate 2022 --> Werrington Centre.
Route 1: Werrington Centre 1945 --> Queensgate 2019 --> Orton Wistow.
Route 2: Paston Pittneys 1920 --> Queensgate 1952 --> Thorpe Wood --> City Hospital.
Route 2: City Hospital 1935 --> Queensgate 2005 --> Paston Ridings.
Route 3: City Hospital 1905 --> Bretton Centre 1916 --> Queensgate 1936 --> Stanground.
Route 3: Stanground Ellwood Ave 1948 --> Queensgate 2010 --> Bretton Centre --> City Hospital.
Route 4: Thorney 1915 --> Queensgate 2004 --> City Hospital.
Route 4: City Hospital 1920 --> Queensgate 1947 --> Eye 2015 --> Thorney.
Route 5: Yaxley Windsor Rd 1935 --> Queensgate 2020 --> Dogsthorpe Lavender Crescent.
Route 5: Dogsthorpe Lavender Crescent 1945 --> Queensgate 2010 --> Yaxley.
Route 5A: Manor Drive 1905 --> Welland 1915 --> Queensgate 1940 --> Amazon.
Route 5A: Amazon 1917 --> Queensgate 1950 --> Welland.
Route 6: Queensgate 1955 --> Serpentine Green 2008 --> Hampton College 2013 --> Serpentine Green 2024 --> Queensgate.
Route 33: 2125 and 2325 to Whittlesey will NOT run. 2004 and 2204 from Whittlesey will NOT run.
STAGECOACH MIDLANDS (route X4) last journeys on December 24 (Tuesday service):
Last buses from Peterborough: 1603 to Northampton, 1650 to Corby, 1750, 1900 and 1940 to Kettering.
Last bus to Peterborough will be at 1603 from Northampton (1810 from Corby, 1846 from Oundle).
STAGECOACH MIDLANDS (route X4) last journeys on December 31 (Saturday service):
Last buses from Peterborough: 1700 to Northampton, 1800 and 1900 to Kettering.
Last bus to Peterborough will be at 1533 from Northampton (1735 from Corby, 1808 from Oundle).
DELAINE last journeys:
101/2 - from Bourne 1630; from Peterborough 1730.
201/2 - from Bourne 1545 (from Stamford 1620), from Peterborough 1715.
FIRST EXCEL last journeys:
Last bus Peterborough to Norwich will be 1710; last bus Peterborough to Kings Lynn will be 1840.
Last bus Norwich to Peterborough will be 1500; last bus Kings Lynn to Peterborough will be 1655.
29/11/24 updated 03/12/24
Route 37 no longer serving Peterborough One Retail Park
Due to the introduction of new barriers at the retail park, Stagecoach route 37 Peterborough - Spalding - Springfields will no longer serve the Peterborough One Retail Park from Sunday November 3rd. Alternative stops are available on Eye Road, between the roundabout and the entrance to the site.
The new timetable can be found on the Routes page. Departure times from both ends of the route are unchanged, but there are amendments to intermediate timings.
31/10/24
Further changes to route 904 from October 14th
Route 904 Peterborough - Sawtry - Huntingdon is being retimed once again from Monday October 14th, with the 0730 Monday to Friday departure leaving Peterborough 10 minutes earlier, and departures 0940 to 1840 leaving 5 minutes earlier. Saturday departures from Peterborough are unchanged. Timings towards Peterborough are also changing, notably the first two Monday to Friday departures from Huntingdon, which will run up to 15 minutes earlier.
The route continues to be operated by Dews on behalf of Stagecoach. See the Routes page for the full pdf timetable, and the Destination pages for lists of departures to and from major points served.
07/10/24
Major changes to X4 route and timetable from September 1st
Route X4 Peterborough - Oundle - Corby - Kettering - Northampton, operated by Stagecoach Midlands, has a new timetable from September 1st. In the Peterborough area there will be a new standardised routeing taken by all journeys, via Rivergate and Oundle Road rather than Thorpe Road, whilst Orton Waterville (Church Drive) will no longer be served, leaving the estate to Vectare. All journeys will run via Lynch Wood, Alwalton and Elton. Buses will start and finish at the railway station, calling at Queensgate Bus Station (Bay 9) in both directions.
The new timetable also features a late evening journey into Peterborough on Mondays to Saturdays, returning as far as Kettering. The new timetable is now available on the Routes page and Destination pages shown as provisional have now been updated.
10/08/24, updated 31/08/24
Route 4 extended to Eye and Thorney from September 1st
From September 1st, hourly journeys on Stagecoach route 4 City Hospital - Queensgate - Parnwell will be extended to Eye and Thorney all day on Mondays to Saturdays, and to Eye on Sundays, thanks to funding from CPCA. This will see Stagecoach buses once again serving Thorney, and the Eye - Thorney minibus service (operated by FACT) that was introduced when Stagecoach route 36 was withdrawn in July 2023 will no longer be required.
The terminus in Thorney will be Park Crescent, with buses presumably continuing empty to turn at the A47 roundabout. Journeys from Thorney start as early as 0525 (0535 from Eye), and continue late into the evening with the last journey leaving Queensgate for Eye and Thorney at 2317. On Sundays buses from Eye to Peterborough commence at 0750, and the last bus back is at 2317. One hopes that the new Eye and Thorney journeys will be well used in order to ensure their continuation.
On Mondays to Saturdays timings on the City Hospital - Queensgate - Parnwell section are largely unchanged, but on Sundays there is a new timetable, for example with Queensgate - Hospital journeys now leaving on the half-hour (0830-1730) instead of on the hour. The full timetable is on the Routes page, and revised Destination pages are also available.
02/08/24
Enhanced 904 timetable from September 1st
Route 904 Peterborough - Huntingdon, which was cut back to run every 90 minutes in October 2022, will have an enhanced timetable from September 1st with support from CPCA. The service continues to be operated by Dews Coaches on behalf of Stagecoach East. On Mondays to Fridays departures from Peterborough will be at 0730, 0855 then hourly 0940 to 1840, though the 0855 journey will miss out Stilton. Buses from Huntingdon to Peterborough will leave at 0610, 0745 then hourly 0900 to 1800, with the last journey missing out Stilton.
The Saturday timetable is unchanged and still runs every 90 minutes, but there is an additional journey from Peterborough at 1930 and from Huntingdon at 1815. See the Routes page for the full timetable.
02/08/24
New evening buses to Whittlesey and Manor Drive from September 1st
From September 1st routes 31/33 will serve Amazon en route to Whittlesey, adding five minutes to the journey time. There will be new Monday to Saturday evening journeys leaving Peterborough for Whittlesey Bus Station and Victory Avenue at 1925, 2125 and 2325. In the other direction, new journeys will leave Victory Avenue at 2004 and 2204 (2018 and 2218 from Whittlesey Bus Station).
A further change is that the 1408 from March to Peterborough is retimed 30 minutes later for the benefit of students attending Sir Harry Smith Community College in Whittlesey, whilst Ramsey to Peterborough journeys on route 31 run five minutes later.
Welland and Manor Drive will benefit from additional departures from Queensgate on route 5A at 1800 and 1830 (finally bridging the 1730 to 1850 gap in service to Welland), whilst the 1850 and 2250 Welland journeys will be extended to Manor Drive. All the new timetables are available on the Routes page.
02/08/24
Nene Park Summer Shuttle Bus
Further news of this service (see July 5th item below) is that fares are not being charged on July 20th, 21st and 27th as a special promotion. When fares start from July 28th, concessionary passes will be accepted, as will Stagecoach Dayrider and Megarider tickets.
21/07/24
Delaine changes from August 4th
On college days the 0720 route 101 from Morton (0730 from Bourne) will extend to Park Road/Central Park for the Regional College, whilst the 1715 route 102 from Peterborough will start back from there at 1700, and will also extend beyond Bourne to Morton. Route 102 journeys from Peterborough to the Deepings will terminate at Towngate East/Health Centre to avoid causing congestion at the Charter Avenue stop, but will still pick up at Charter Avenue (near Tesco) on journeys to Peterborough.
Route 201 has an extra journey on college days from Peterborough to Stamford at 0745 and from Stamford Bus Station to Peterborough at 1700 (starting from St Pauls St at 1650).
Route 301 Stamford - Market Deeping - Spalding has a new timetable on Mondays to Fridays, with journeys which left Springfields between 0910 and 1310 replaced by hourly journeys 0840 to 1340. There are also changes to school and college journeys.
19/07/2024
Peterborough to Skegness X12
Stagecoach's summer weekend X12 Peterborough to Skegness will run on Saturdays and Sundays July 27th to October 27th, also on Bank Holiday Monday August 26th. Timings are the same as last year, leaving Queensgate Bus Station (Bay 9/10) at 0945, calling at Market Deeping Market Place (1005) and Spalding Bus Station (1035). Arrival at Skegness is at 1155, and the bus returns from Skegness at 1730 for the two-hour trip back to Peterborough. The full X12 timetable is linked from the Routes page.
Fares remain the same as the last couple of years - £14 return for adults, whilst under 19s, students with ID, and concessionary pass holders pay £9. A Group ticket is available for £35, valid for four people including up to two adults. Purchase your ticket from the driver using contactless, card or cash payment.
19/07/2024
New Summer Service to Ferry Meadows
The Nene Park Summer Shuttle Bus is a new service organised by the Nene Park Trust and operated by Central Connect (formerly Vectare). It will run on Saturdays and Sundays July 20th to September 1st, linking various areas of northern Peterborough and the city centre directly with Ferry Meadows. See the timetable and map for further details.
Buses will start from Manor Drive (Herald Way) and will then serve Gunthorpe Ridings, Paston Ridings, Fulbridge Road, St Pauls Road, and Lincoln Road through Millfield (as far as Craig St). After running non-stop along Bright Street, Bourges Boulevard and over Crescent Bridge buses will pick up along Thorpe Road, then run non-stop along Longthorpe Parkway and Nene Parkway. Buses will again pick up and set down at the remaining stops along Oundle Road.
Buses will call at all stops along the line of route, but note that the service will NOT serve Queensgate Bus Station. The nearest stop to the city centre will be Craig Street, which is the stop on Lincoln Road near Manor House Street, just north of the traffic lights at the Lincoln Road / Bright Street junction. Single fares will be £2 per person and children under 10 go free.
05/07/24
National Express withdrawing from Peterborough (again)
Last year National Express introduced two new routes serving Peterborough, but these have not proved successful. Route 767 Nottingham - Peterborough - Stansted Airport (introduced April 2023) has already been withdrawn (last day of operation was June 30th), whilst route 788 Peterborough - Luton Airport - Heathrow Airport, introduced as recently as October 2023, will cease after July 11th.
05/07/24
New Features on Peterborough Bus Times
The ROUTES page has been enhanced and now has a Quick Links section taking you directly to the current pdf timetables without having to scroll down. Secondly, as well as the operators' own pdf timetables, the ROUTES page now also features the timetables and departure lists which are specially prepared for display at Queensgate Bus Station.
With the introduction of new route 27 to Stamford via Wittering, my maps showing the City bus routes and the Rural routes around Peterborough have both been updated. In addition I have prepared a map to show the rather complicated routeing of service 27 in Wittering. Of course, the plan of the Bus Station showing which routes go from which bay has also been updated. All of these can be found by clicking on Bus Info in the Menu, then on Maps.
04/06/24
New Stagecoach 27 Peterborough - Wittering - Stamford
In addition to the changes detailed below, new route 27 Peterborough - Wittering - Stamford will commence on Monday June 3rd with four journeys each way on Mondays to Saturdays. The service is operated by Stagecoach in Partnership with the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority.
There has not been a Peterborough to Stamford service via Wansford and Wittering since December 2019, when Delaine ceased running its route 205. They had taken over the service from Centrebus (route 9) in October 2018, and shortly before that it had been a Peterborough to Oakham service. Past operators include Kimes and Barton, who until 1988 ran it as route 103, with certain journeys continuing to Nottingham via Melton Mowbray (route 117) taking two and a half hours.
21/05/2024, updated 29/05/24
PBT is now part of Globe Studios
I have invested in additional security (SSL) but as a result have had to group all my websites under the Globe Studios banner. This means you will now see globestudios.co.uk in the address bar, but everything else should work as before and you can still access the site through www.pbt.org.uk.
Technical stuff: in fact my websites always were part of Globe Studios, but this was hidden by the use of addon domains. To obtain SSL certificates for each domain would have been too expensive, hence dropping the addon domains. Apologies for any inconvenience during the transition.
22/05/2024
Flixbus once again running daily
Flixbus route 002 London - Peterborough - Sheffield - Leeds - Bradford is once again running daily, having been reduced to four days per week earlier in the year. Timetables for this and other express coach services through Peterborough can be found at the foot of the Routes page.
13/05/2024
Fenland BusFest not going ahead
Sadly Fenland BusFest has been cancelled due to insufficient entries, but some vehicles may instead be on display at the Fenland Classic Vehicle Show in Ramsey which takes place on the same day, Sunday May 19th.
28/04/2024
Stagecoach changes from June 2nd
From Sunday June 2nd several Stagecoach routes will have a revised timetable, notably with an increase in service on route 1 Werrington - Queensgate - Orton and route 37 to Spalding and Springfields, and an additional journey on route 33.
Route 1 - the Monday to Friday daytime frequency is increased from every 15 minutes to every 12 minutes, matching the current Saturday frequency (which has some minor changes). At peak times it continues to run every 10 minutes. On Sundays departures from Werrington to Queensgate and Queensgate to Orton are five minutes earlier.
Route 2 - many journeys are retimed by a few minutes, particularly on Sundays.
Route 3 - morning peak journeys are retimed on Mondays to Saturdays and now serve the railway station. Other journeys are retimed by a few minutes, particularly on Sundays.
Route 4 - Monday to Saturday journeys are largely unaltered. However, on Sundays departures from Queensgate to City Hospital are retimed to hourly 0800-1700, returning from the Hospital hourly 0733-1733. Sunday departures from Queensgate to Parnwell are hourly 0810-2310, returning 0730-2230.
Route 5 - northbound journeys are retimed by several minutes, for example eight minutes earlier from Yaxley and Amazon and five minutes earlier from Serpentine Green and Queensgate, whereas southbound journeys are mostly unchanged.
Route 6 - on Mondays to Fridays departures are five minutes earlier between 0515 and 0805 from Queensgate to Hampton and between 0535 and 0825 from Hampton College to Queensgate. All inbound journeys throughout the day will serve the railway station en route to Queensgate.
Route 31/33 - several journeys have been retimed, notably from March and Whittlesey towards Peterborough, with a new journey from March at 1713 including on Saturdays.
Route 37 - the service through to Spalding and Springfields is increased to hourly, with journeys previously terminating at Eye being extended to Spalding. Journeys from Peterborough at 0510, 1730 and 1830 will run 10 minutes earlier, and there is a new journey at 0600 from Peterborough returning from Springfields at 0723. Several journeys from Spalding are retimed a few minutes earlier, including evening journeys. The last bus from Blue Diamond Retail Park to Peterborough on Mons to Sats is now two hours earlier at 1545.
Route 60 - the 1425 journey from Queensgate is retimed to 1415.
The new Stagecoach pdf timetables are available on the Routes page (as well as the Stagecoach website) and all relevant Destination pages have revised versions.
26/04/2024, updated 07/05/24
Bank Holiday Services
As usual, Sunday timetables will apply on the Early May Bank Holiday (Monday May 6th) and the Spring Bank Holiday (Monday May 27th).
26/04/2024
Stagecoach Fares from April 21st
There was a general fares increase to Stagecoach day, week and monthly tickets from April 21st - see the Fares page for details. The maximum £2 single fare, sponsored by the Government, will continue at least until the end of 2024.
26/04/2024
Route 29 finishes on Easter Saturday, March 30th
Route 29 from Serpentine Green Shopping Centre to City Hospital via Orton Waterville is being withdrawn, with its last day of operation being Easter Saturday, March 30th. Originally operated by Stagecoach, this 'orbital' service was introduced on March 1st 2021 as an initiative of the Combined Authority Mayor, but has been poorly advertised and poorly used. Operation transferred to Dews Coaches on October 31st 2022, but from the start has been subcontracted to Fowlers.
25/03/2024
Route 6 changes in Hampton from April 14th
Route 6 was given extra running time from October 29th last year in order to serve Hampton Gardens, but apart from the first few days it did not prove possible to serve the main part of Hampton Gardens, and buses have been routed only via Hampton Avenue, London Road and Clayburn Road. From April 14th route 6 will revert to its old route, turning right from Silver Hill into Eagle Way. Departures from Queensgate bus station will not change, but timings from Hampton and Serpentine Green towards the city centre will now be 10 minutes earlier as a result.
The new timetable is available on the Routes page, and there are revised Destination pages for Hampton and Serpentine Green.
25/03/2024
Easter Holiday Arrangements 2024
Good Friday March 29th - Stagecoach East, Excel and Vectare are running a Sunday service; route X4 (operated by Stagecoach Midlands) runs to the Saturday timetable. Delaine 101 Bourne - Market Deeping - Peterborough runs from Bourne at 0730, 0900 then every 30 minutes until 1630; from Peterborough at 0900, 1000 then every 30 minutes until 1730 (no service on route 102). Delaine 201/2 Bourne - Stamford - Peterborough has a Saturday timetable but only runs between 0810 and 1545 from Bourne and between 1000 and 1715 from Peterborough.
Easter Saturday March 30th - Normal Saturday services.
Easter Sunday March 31st - Sunday service on Stagecoach, Excel and Vectare. No service on Delaine.
Easter Monday April 1st - All operators are running Sunday timetables.
15/03/2024
Queensgate Bus Station
From Monday March 4th until Saturday May 11th work will be underway at Queensgate Bus Station to improve the toilets and remove the former kiosk. The works necessitate the closure of Bay 15, so all Vectare services will be departing from Bay 18 instead of Bay 15 during this period.
29/02/2024
Flixbus and National Express
A recent change to Flixbus service 002 through Peterborough (London to Bradford) is that it now only runs on four days per week, namely Friday to Monday. The timings are unchanged, and can be found on the Routes page.
There are also a number of changes to the National Express timetable for route 788, Peterborough to Luton Airport and Heathrow Airport. There are still six daily journeys each way, and details can be found on the Routes page.
29/02/2024
Talk on Peterborough's Trams - March 7th
Not exactly route news, but some of you might be interested in an illustrated talk on Peterborough's trams and tram routes which is happening on Thursday March 7th at 7pm, as part of the local Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (RCTS) programme. Stagecoach in Peterborough has a direct line back to the Peterborough Electric Traction Company, and in fact the trams operated from what is now the Lincoln Road bus depot.
As well as the trams and the people who ran them, the talk will explore the three tram routes with plenty of photos of Peterborough as it was over a hundred years ago. We will also look at the horse buses that preceded the trams, and the motor buses that replaced them. The venue is St Luke's Church on Mayors Walk, and you can find further details here.
19/02/2024
New Vectare route 25 from 2nd January (and R4 reissued)
Vectare is to introduce a new route from January 2nd running between Queensgate and the Alwalton Hill Industrial Estate, which is situated south of the Orton South Interchange on Fletton Parkway. On some maps the area is also shown as Peterborough Gateway and is home to the likes of the LIDL Regional Distribution Centre, also Amazon's 'DPE2' delivery depot opened in 2021. Like Vectare's existing route 24, new route 25 will run along Oundle Road, and most journeys will also divert into Orton Waterville to serve Church Drive. The handful of journeys that omit Church Drive are numbered 25X, whilst there is also one shortworking to Church Drive numbered 25A.
Remarkably the new service will run on seven days a week, with journeys starting as early as 0520 from Queensgate, even at weekends. There will also be late evening journeys - see the Routes page for the full timetable, also a map of the route.
From the same date the R4 timetable is reissued and will no longer run between Christmas and New Year (including this Christmas) or during August due to low demand. Timings are unchanged as far as Peterborough is concerned, other than a two minute later arrival in Uppingham.
06/12/2023