News Archive 2001
Changes to bus services in and around Peterborough during 2001 (working up the page). For older news see the Archive page.
Christmas and New Year holiday services
There will be no buses running in Peterborough on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day.
On December 24 Stagecoach will run a normal service, but the last evening departures from Queensgate will be at 2015 (2045 on services 2A, 18 and 52). Last arrivals at Queensgate will be around 2110.
Stagecoach will be running a Saturday service on December 27, 28 and 31, but on New Year's Eve the last departures from Queensgate will be at 2015 (2045 on services 2A, 18 and 52). Last arrivals at Queensgate will be around 2110. A normal service will run on December 29 and 30.
Delaine will be running a normal service (except on December 25, 26 and January 1). However, on December 24 and 31 Peterborough - Stamford route 201 will run a Saturday service, and the Peterborough - Bourne services will finish early with last departures from Peterborough at 1700, 1730, 1800 and 1830. Last bus from Bourne will be the 1730.
Morleys will be running a Sunday service on Thursday December 27, and a normal service on December 28 to 30. On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, the last Morley's bus from Queensgate will be at 2010.
Kimes, Rambler, Translinc and Newborough Coaches are running a normal service (but no buses on December 25, 26 or January 1).
No National Express services will run on Dec. 25, 26 or Jan. 1 except that a special service to London (service 848) will operate on Dec. 26 and Jan. 1 departing at 0925 and 1525, returning from Victoria Coach Station at 1230 and 1830.
22/12/01, amended 24/12/01
Bretton pages improved
The old Bretton page has been replaced on this site by separate comprehensive pages for Bretton Centre and North Bretton. There is also a new page for South Bretton, which (together with the Edith Cavell page) completes coverage of the Bretton area.
22/12/01
Air Express X6 to Cambridge and Stansted withdrawn
Regretably Stagecoach X6, introduced in April, was withdrawn from November 11, apart from one Monday to Friday peak-hour journey each way between Peterborough and Cambridge leaving Peterborough at 0635 and Cambridge at 1745.
From November 11 the following Stagecoach timetables have also been reissued with minor changes (see also X4 item below): X4 42 43 44; X6 X46 48 and X7 X8 X9 36.
Pages on this site have now been updated accordingly (apologies for the delay).
27/11/01 - 09/12/01
X4 changes
The Peterborough - Oundle - Corby - Kettering - Northampton service X4 is operated entirely by Stagecoach in Northants from November 11. As a result there are timetable changes affecting early morning, evening and Sunday journeys. On Mondays to Saturdays the early morning journey from Peterborough (0635) is withdrawn, as is the last journey from Northampton (1845) which now only reaches Corby. There is, however, a later journey from Peterborough to Kettering at 2010.
On Sundays the first journey from Peterborough (0910) is withdrawn, as is the last Northampton (1900) - Peterborough journey, which now terminates at Corby.
25/11/01, revised 09/12/01
New destinations
New destinations on the site are Ramsey St Marys, Ramsey Heights, Pondersbridge, Upwood and Morton.
25/11/01
Christmas Park and Ride
The Park and Ride service will run on a similar basis to last year, on Saturdays October 27 to December 22.
25/10/01
Peterborough - Ramsey
From Monday October 22, Cavalier will run a new service 331 between Peterborough and Ramsey via Whittlesey replacing Stagecoach's 330/1. Frequency is similar to before, but new low-floor buses in a distinctive blue livery are used. The Ramsey, Ramsey Mereside and Whittlesey pages have been updated.
The service forms part of a new 'Cambridgeshire Key Network' based on Ramsey. A new colour North Huntingdonshire leaflet is available showing all the services (330-334). The Ramsey - Huntingdon portion of 330/1 is replaced by service 330, and there are additional journeys available with guaranteed connections at Warboys.
Whippet's saturday service 10 (St Ives - Ramsey - Peterborough) was apparently withdrawn some months ago, even though the timetable still appears on the Whippet website.
21/10/01
Miscellaneous updates
Not previously mentioned is that First Choice Travel has become Rambler, believed to be from August. This is now a one-bus operation, with the spare bus being a rare Bedford JJL which was exhibited this year at Showbus, Duxford at the end of September. The First Choice name, together with many of the vehicles and contracts, has been sold to Aardvark coaches, which has a base in Fengate.
Some of the news items below, particularly those relating to the September changes, have been expanded with further information 'for the record'.
The Bus Station page - a list of departure bays and routes - has been further updated. The lack of accurate timetables on certain stands together with conflicting information on the list of bays produced by the City Council makes this a difficult task, but I hope to have the definitive version soon.
21/10/01
Lynch Wood added
A new page has been added for the business park at Lynch Wood, listed under City Services.
18/10/01
Extra Delaine journeys
From October 1 there will be changes to Delaine services leaving Peterborough for Bourne in the evening rush hour. The 1710 and 1745 journeys (Mon-Fri) will both run 5 minutes later, and there will be a new 101 journey at 1740 (Mon-Fri only). The 1800 (Mon-Sat) also becomes a 101, giving faster journey times for Bourne passengers.
There will also be additional Sunday buses on route 102 in the run-up to Christmas, starting on November 1 and finishing on December 23. The extra journeys will leave Bourne at 1030, 1230 and 1430, returning from Peterborough at 1130, 1330, 1530.
Delaine will also run an additional Stamford - Peterborough journey via Helpston at 1710 on Mondays to Fridays from the same date. As with other journeys on route 201 it will also serve the estates on the western side of Stamford before leaving the bus station.
All relevant pages have been updated.
25/09/01 - 29/09/01
747 reprieved
Arriva Fox County service 747 (Peterborough - Leicester) was reprieved and was not withdrawn after September 22 as expected, its demise having been announced prematurely by the City Council's Bus News at the beginning of the month. The timetable continues unchanged at least until Spring 2002.
24/09/01
Stagecoach Strike
The Stagecoach drivers' strike took place as planned on Monday September 24. Stagecoach management brought in drivers from other areas and the majority of services ran.
A settlement has now been reached and the strike proposed for Tuesday October 2 has been cancelled.
For the record, an earlier strike was averted on Thursday September 20 when drivers were offered an extra 25p per hour at the last moment, dependent on the first day's strike being cancelled.
24/09/01 and 01/10/01
National Express Winter Timetable
The Express Coach pages now show the National Express winter timings valid from September 24 to March 24. There are no changes, other than a few minor retimings. The 0910 to Liverpool (from Cambridge) is retimed to 0920, the Clacton journey at 1530 (from Liverpool) leaves 5 minutes later, and the 2000 to Cambridge (also from Liverpool) is 5 minutes earlier.
16/09/01
Updates completed
Somewhat belatedly, the pages for Ailsworth, Castor, Etton and Maxey have finally been updated, which means that all pages should now be correct following the September 3 timetable change (see below).
15/09/01
Peterborough - Stamford
The Stamford page has been rewritten into "Summary" style showing all departures in chronological order, irrespective of operator. The new timings from September 3 are shown.
On Mondays to Fridays from September 24, there will be a new service 808 with one morning journey Wittering - Stamford - Peterborough, continuing on schooldays to John Fisher School. This is operated by Goodmans of Eastrea, trading as Aardvark. The return journey (also serving the school) provides a Peterborough - Wittering - Stamford journey, returning direct to Peterborough. (Note: this service was partly intended to replace 747 journeys between Peterborough and Wansford, but in the event the 747 was not withdrawn - see above).
10/09/01, expanded 20/10/01
Changes to rural services from September 3
From September 3 there is an improved service on Kimes service 11 (Peterborough - Wansford - Stamford) with 8 departures from Peterborough on Mondays to Fridays instead of 6, and 4 departures on Saturdays instead of 3. On Mondays to Fridays one journey each way diverts via Sutton (between Ailsworth and Wansford), a village not previously served by public transport.
The Shaws (Newborough Coaches) service between Peterborough and Milking Nook now runs on Mondays and Thursdays as well as Wednesdays and Saturdays, and is extended to Peakirk, Deeping Gate and Market Deeping (Tescos), except on Saturdays. This means that buses once again serve the Wildfowl Trust at Peakirk. The Saturday service is unchanged, with the first journey to Peterborough starting from the Shaws depot at Maxey, and both outbound afternoon journeys similarly extending to Maxey. All journeys now carry the service number 306.
There are also revisions to rural services 308, 309, 310, 311 and 312. Five new 'Autumn 2001' leaflets have been produced by Peterborough City Council, and there is a new edition of 'Bus News' describing the changes.
Wittering appears on this site for the first time, having been added to the Wansford page.
07/09/01, expanded 20/10/01
New page for Edith Cavell Hospital
Edith Cavell Hospital in Bretton has been added to the City Area part of this site, showing the three Stagecoach services linking the hospital with Queensgate.
30/08/01
Nostalgia returns
The latest Nostalgia page features two pictures from the 1950's and 1960's, both of defunct operators. The original intention of adding a new page each month has not proved possible, but new pictures will be added when time permits.
15/08/01
Delaine route revised in Stamford
From 6 August, Delaine's 201 has a revised routeing in Stamford. Timings are unchanged between Peterborough and Stamford Red Lion Square, but the circular town service on which the buses continue now runs via Empingham Road, Rutland Heights (Sidney Farm Lane), Old Great North Road, Arran Road, Aberdeen Close, Perth Road, Caithness Road, Sutherland Way and Casterton Road. Buses continuing to Peterborough then return via Red Lion Square to the Bus Station.
13/08/01
Revised web links
Delaine has a new web address (www.delainebuses.com instead of .co.uk) and the site has been completely revamped. All Delaine timetables are now included, in both Acrobat PDF and HTML formats. There are new photographs, and the fleet list has been updated this month to include the new Volvo B7TL double decker 135 (Y8 OCT) which was delivered on August 10.
Lincolnshire County Council also has a new web address for its travel pages. Our web links page has been updated accordingly.
13/08/01
New Rural and Hospitals Booklet
Peterborough City Council finally issued its new Rural and Hospitals timetable booklet in late June, although it is dated April 2001 on the cover. It is produced in conjunction with Peterborough Hospitals NHS Trust.
Several destinations on this site have again been rechecked from latest sources and minor changes have been made to the pages for Castor and Ailsworth, Coates, Maxey and Whittlesey.
13/08/01
Newborough Coaches
The Wednesday and Saturday Peterborough - Newborough service operated by Shaws (officially Newborough Coaches as far as this service is concerned) was altered and cut back from May 5. The last journey into town is now 1320 on Wednesdays and 1310 on Saturdays. Both Saturday afternoon journeys from Peterborough extend to Maxey.
12/06/01
Queensgate Departure Bays
Just added is a list of Queensgate Bus Station departure bays showing all services. Click on Bus Station.
Several routes changed departure bay in April and these have finally been updated on relevant pages.
Details for Ailsworth, Castor and Wansford have been rechecked and updated to show the latest changes (the new 42/3 timetable from April was unfortunately overlooked earlier).
Minor changes have been made to a number of other destinations.
11/06/01
Minor update
I am grateful to Geoff Beall for some corrections to the Morley's timetable. The Whittlesey and Coates pages have been updated.
The May Nostalgia page looks back to 1990 and a variety of different double deck liveries.
Note that many bay numbers have changed at Queensgate Bus Station and may not yet be correctly shown on these pages.
03/05/01
Stagecoach changes from April 22
Hot on the heels of the changes to tendered services on April 8 comes a major service revision by Stagecoach on Sunday April 22. Highlight is the X6, a new limited-stop Peterborough - Huntingdon - Cambridge - Stansted service which will run every two hours, including Sundays. First journey from Peterborough is 0505 (2 hours later on Sundays) giving an arrival at Stansted of 0715 (last coach back is 2010). Sawtry and Addenbrooke's Hospital are also served. New pages for Cambridge and Stansted have been added to the site showing the new service.
Service 48 Peterborough - Sawtry is reduced to a handful of journeys and no longer works cross-city to Welland, but Sawtry itself keeps two buses per hour due to the new X6 calling there (non-stop to/from Peterborough). Stilton also has an hourly service (more when the 48 runs) as the X46 Peterborough - Huntingdon - Bedford service is retimed and diverted via the village. Less fortunate are Folksworth and Glatton which lose their hourly service in favour of two hourly, which reverts to the position of a few years ago I believe.
Service 11 (Walton - Millfield - City Centre) is extended to Lynch Wood via Rivergate and Woodston. Services 12 and 42/3 are retimed and, together with service 11, will give a bus every 20 minutes to Lynch Wood. Service 18 Welland - City Centre - Hampton - Orton - Lynch Wood will run half hourly throughout (thus replacing the 48 Welland - City Centre - Hampton - Sawtry).
Evening and Sunday services 51 and 52 will be operated by Stagecoach instead of Cavalier Travel. Timings will be revised, with service 51 to Welland and Parnwell leaving at 15 minutes past the hour, and route 52 to Paston and Gunthorpe at 45 minutes past each hour. Since both routes serve different parts of Dogsthorpe, this will in effect give a half-hourly service to this area of the city. The railway station will be served on inward journeys on service 51 and outward journeys on the 52. There are also changes to the other evening and Sunday city services.
Peterborough - Oundle services 42 and 43 are once again retimed, and there are minor changes to the Northampton service X4.
Mentioned here for the sake of completeness, being operated by outstations of Peterborough depot, are Stagecoach changes in the Stamford area. New service 44 runs Stamford - Oundle, with one journey each way on Mondays to Saturdays via Kings Cliffe and Southwick. On Schooldays there are two additional journeys to Kings Cliffe via Duddington, one of which continues to/from Oundle. In Stamford itself, Stagecoach's town service S1/4 is withdrawn, being replaced by Mark Bland Travel's service 182. This also means that the 1715 to Deeping St James (service 314) now leaves at 1725 and operates direct rather than via Arran Road. This journey now terminates at Deeping St James Cross rather than returning to Market Deeping.
Most of the new timetables were on display at Queensgate bus station prior to Easter and timetable leaflets are now available, except for the evening and Sunday services. Some services have changed bays at Queensgate bus station.
15/04/01, expanded 26/01/02
Easter bus services
Good Friday - normal Friday services, except that a reduced service will operate on Peterborough - Stamford routes operated by Kimes (service 11) and Delaine (service 201). Kimes will run its early morning and evening peak journeys, and the City Council has organised journeys at 1000 and 1400 from Peterborough, 0900 and 1300 from Stamford. Delaine 201 will run two-hourly.
Easter Saturday - normal Saturday services.
Easter Sunday - normal Sunday services except that Delaine's Peterborough - Bourne service will not operate.
Easter Monday - Sunday services on all routes.
A Sunday service will also operate on the May Day and Whit Bank Holiday Mondays.
04/04/01
Changes to tendered services from April 8
A major package of changes from Monday April 8 affects most rural services operated on behalf of Peterborough City Council, namely those in the Newborough, Peakirk and Maxey areas, and in the Peterborough - Stamford corridor including Helpston, Bainton, Barnack, Marholm, Castor, Ailsworth, Wansford and Wittering. Services affected are numbered 301 to 303 and 308 to 313 (also Stanground - Lynch Wood schoolday service 27, not shown on this site).
The main innovation is an extension of service 309 to run on 6 days per week (Mondays to Saturdays), linking Maxey, Etton, Glinton, Peakirk and Milking Nook to Werrington Centre, Bretton Centre, Edith Cavell Hospital and Peterborough District Hospital. Services 308 and 309 are operated by Arriva Fox County, the major Leicestershire operator (successor to Midland Red) and operator of the Peterborough - Leicester service 747.
Sunday services in the Peterborough - Stamford corridor are revised, with two journeys via Marholm and Barnack and two via Castor and Wansford. The former serves Burghley House in preference to Uffington. The poorly used Sunday journeys to Flag Fen, Newborough and Peakirk are withdrawn.
Peterborough - Wittering - Stamford service 303, formerly operated by Searles and First Choice Travel, is now operated by Translinc (which is the same company as Elseys). Searles has therefore ceased to operate scheduled services, and First Choice's operations are somewhat reduced (they still run school service 27, also the 313 which runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays).
All relevant pages have now been updated for the 8 April change (Castor/Ailsworth and Wansford having finally been dealt with over Easter). Some bay numbers at Queensgate remain subject to confirmation. The changes apparently took place on Sunday 8 April and not Monday 9 April as originally advised by the Council.
04/04/01, updated 15/04/01
National Express Summer Timetable
National Express services are now valid to September 23. There are no changes other than the reintroduction of Summer Saturday service 683 Birmingham - Peterborough - Hemsby.
15/03/01
Further destinations added
This site continues to expand slowly with the addition of pages for Bainton, Helpston, Marholm and Ufford.
March's Nostalgia page looks at a couple of unusual liveries.
A link has been added to The Lincolnshire & East Yorkshire Transport Review, an interesting enthusiast site with several items relating to the Peterborough area.
03/03/01
Latest updates
From February 12, the Elseys/Translinc Boston - Peterborough - London express service no longer extends beyond Boston to the villages of Swineshead, Bicker, Donnington or Quadring.
Elseys are retiming their last Peterborough - Stamford journey yet again. The 1745 journey (Mondays to Fridays) will leave at 1715 from March 12. All journeys will serve Wittering Post Office as the twice daily diversion via Wittering RAF will be withdrawn.
Tourmaster's Summer Saturday service to Mablethorpe will run again this year, from May 12 to September 8.
24/02/01
Destinations Added
New pages covering Farcet and Yaxley have been added.
10/02/01
More Nostalgia
The February Nostalgia page looks back at buses operated by Peterborough Electric Traction alongside the trams.
28/01/01
Green's service withdrawn
The long established Peterborough - Thorney service operated by Green's Saloon Coaches ran for the last time on December 23, according to the City Council.
J.C. Gillham's article in Transport World August 1961 says that Mr. J.L. Green started the service in 1923 and used the fleet name Pioneer. At the time of the article there were 17 journeys on Saturdays, 7 on Wednesdays and 4 on Sundays. The Sunday service survived relatively late (into the early eighties I think) but in recent years there have been 6 journeys on Saturdays and 4 on Wednesdays.
The Thorney and Eye pages have been updated accordingly.
04/01/01
Page updated 29/12/09