Changes to bus services in and around Peterborough during 2003 (working up the page). For older news see the Archive page.
302/303/313 operated by Cavalier Travel
Translinc's Peterborough - Wansford - Stamford services 302/3 are now operated by Cavalier Travel (under subcontract from Translinc) from December 22. This also affects Saturday service 313 via Thornhaugh. The arrangement will last at least until April. The Sunday service is, of course, already operated by Cavalier.
01/01/04
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.
Stagecoach will be running a Saturday service on December 29 to 31 and January 2 (although service 47 will also operate). On New Year's Eve, however, the last evening departures from Queensgate will be at 2015.
Delaine will be running a normal service (no service 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. On Saturday Dec. 27 the last bus will leave Peterborough at 1830 (Bourne at 1730).
Morleys will be running a normal timetable on Dec. 24, 27 - 31, except that on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve there will be an additional journey from Whittlesey at 1945, returning from Peterborough at 2010. On Saturday Dec. 27 the last departure from Peterborough will be the 2010.
First Excel will run a normal service on Dec. 27 - 30. On Dec. 24 and 31 the last bus from Peterborough will be the 2055 to Kings Lynn.
The NewEye Flyer will finish early on Dec. 24 and 31 with the last journey being 1845 Peterborough - Newborough, returning from Newborough at 1944.
All other operators are running a normal service on Dec. 24, 27 - 31.
21/12/03
Rambler's evening service 20 to Stanground withdrawn
Evening service 20 to Stanground and Park Farm was withdrawn after operation on November 22 without replacement. Relevant pages have been updated.
Rambler's other service, the schooldays 879 (Ramsey St Mary's - Peterborough) was withdrawn after operation today, December 19, and will also not be replaced. This marks the end of Rambler, due to the retirement of the proprietor, Doug Ely.
19/12/03
Christmas Park and Ride
The Park and Ride service will once again run on Saturdays prior to Christmas, from October 25 to December 27. This year the car parks will be AMP at Lynch Wood and Perkins in Eastfield. For further details see the Park and Ride page.
12/10/03
Arrivederci Arriva - replacement operators announced
Arriva is shutting its Stamford depot (the former Fen Travel premises at Ryhall) and is therefore pulling out of the Peterborough area altogether after Friday September 26th. As the services involved are tendered services (paid for by local authorities), the Councils have arranged for other operators to take over, with minimal changes to timetables:
Service 301 (a single journey each way between Peterborough and Thornhaugh) will be operated by First Choice Travel from Saturday Sept 27th - timetable unchanged.
Services 308/309 (Peterborough - Helspton/Maxey/Etton) will also be operated by First Choice to the existing timetable. However, this will start from Monday Sept 29, and there will be no service on Saturday 27th.
Service 310 Peterborough - Marholm - Stamford (and the 312 variant) has been operated by Mark Bland Travel drivers since September 1 as already reported, but using Arriva vehicles due to a requirement of the Traffic Commissioners. From September 27 Mark Bland will take over for real, and the 1730 Stamford - Peterborough and 1820 Peterborough - Stamford journeys will finally be withdrawn (see earlier news for new Delaine journeys in partial replacement).
Service 311 (a single journey Peterborough - Stamford on Saturdays at 1610) will be withdrawn, but there is a replacement 308 journey running Peterborough - Maxey in the same timings.
Service R47, Peterborough - Uppingham - Belton, will be operated by Roberts Tours from Sept 27 - timetable unchanged. This operator previously reached Peterborough on the Sunday service from Leicester, until it was withdrawn in March 2002.
For the record, Arriva has been operating the R47 from its Leicester depot since September 1, although one driver has remained at Ryhall (until Sept 26) to operate the 301/308/309.
24/09/03, updated 26/09/03
New Cavalier website
Cavalier Travel has relaunched its website, which now has complete timetables, including the new Peterborough - March - Chatteris service 337. This route is being operated by newly acquired vehicles - Dennis Darts and ECW bodied Olympians have been noted. There is a picture of an Olympian on the Cavalier website, which can be found at www.cavaliertravel.co.uk
02/09/03
Further news of Aug. 31/Sept. 1 changes.
Contrary to earlier information supplied, the last Peterborough - Huntingdon departure on new service 46 will be at 1810, not 1710.
Latest news is that there will, after all, be a Sunday service between Peterborough and March, operated by Cavalier Travel service 337 (as is the weekday service). This will commence on August 31. Sunday departures from Peterborough will be every 2 hours 1000 - 1800 (0900 - 1700 from March). The first journey to Peterborough will commence from Ely at 0805, and the last journey from Peterborough also extends to Ely arriving at 1940. Destination pages have now been updated.
Stagecoach are also making some minor changes to service 36. The 0715 Thorney - Peterborough will run 5 minutes earlier and will start back from Guyhirn at 0656 (and will also run on Sats). The 1735 Peterborough - Thorney and 1805 Thorney - Peterborough will run 10 minutes later.
Although fares are generally outside the scope of this website, I feel I should warn parents of AMVC children travelling on the 713 and 715 that fares on these routes will be considerably higher now that Kimes are taking over. There will be flat fares on these routes applying to all journeys (and with no child discount) of £1.10 single and £2.00 return, with a weekly ticket of £9.00. This means that fares will double for children travelling every day from Werrington, who previously paid 90p return for their journey to school of less than 2 miles. Stagecoach Megarider tickets will not be valid.
27/08/03, updated 29/08/03
Arriva changes from September 27
There will be changes to services 301, 308, 309 and R47 from September 27 in connection with the closure of Arriva's Stamford depot. No further details are available at present.
23/08/03
Major changes from September 1 (updated information)
Stagecoach will be cutting back certain services from September 1, some of which will be replaced by other bus companies. A summary of the changes is as follows. All destination pages have now been updated with the new timings.
Service 5/5A will be reduced in frequency from every 20 minutes to half-hourly, running Westwood - Queensgate - Hampton Hargate only, numbered 5 (xx29, xx59 from Westwood, xx20, xx50 from Hampton Hargate). The hourly extention to Sawtry via Yaxley will be withdrawn, as will the off-peak hourly 5A extension to Orton (Newcombe Way). These portions will be replaced by First Choice Travel service 15, running hourly Orton (Newcombe Way) - Hampton Serpentine Green - Yaxley, operated on behalf of the City Council. Megarider tickets will not be valid.
Service X46 Peterborough - Huntingdon - Bedford will be cut back to Peterborough - Huntingdon and renumbered 46, running hourly, and operating via London Road instead of Thorpe Road. With the withdrawal of the 5 south of Hampton, the off-peak service to Stilton and Sawtry will therefore be cut to hourly. The last bus to Huntingdon will be at 1810 (not 1710 as previously stated), with a later bus to Sawtry at 2010. The last bus from Huntingdon will be at 1940. Glatton will be served by 5 journeys to Peterborough and 3 journeys southbound; Folksworth has 2 morning journeys to Peterborough and one back. South of Huntingdon there will be a new operator running to St Neots, and Stagecoach will continue to run St Neots - Bedford.
Service X6 (a single journey at 0635 Peterborough - Huntingdon - Cambridge, returning at 1745) will be withdrawn without replacement.
Another long-distance service is also getting the chop, service X7 Peterborough - March - Ely - Cambridge (last day will be August 30). The Peterborough - March section will be replaced by Cavalier Travel 337, running from Peterborough at 0730 and hourly 0840 to 1740. The last two journeys extend to Chatteris. From March it will run 0640, 0745, 0835 and hourly to 1635 - the last bus from March will therefore be earlier than at present. One journey will start back from Chatteris at 0722, whilst Turves and Coates will continue to be served by one journey each way as now. There will also be a Sunday service operated by Cavalier from Aug. 31.
Lynch Wood will lose one of its extra peak-hour journeys - the 1649 to Queensgate on service 42.
Stagecoach had already announced the withdrawal of the 714 to Arthur Mellows Village College before the end of last term, and this service will not be replaced. However, they are also giving up the 713 and 715 and these two journeys will now be operated by Kimes to an slightly amended timetable and routeing. The Arthur Mellows page has already been updated with these details. Stagecoach Megarider tickets will not be valid.
16/08/03, revised 26/08/03
Arriva, Delaine, Kimes and First Choice changes from September 1
Arriva services 310 and 312 Stamford - Peterborough will be withdrawn and replaced by Mark Bland Travel using the same route numbers. Timings will be the same except that the 1730 Stamford - Peterborough and 1820 Peterborough - Stamford journeys will be withdrawn.
In replacement for the withdrawn journeys above, there will be an extra Delaine 201 from Stamford to Peterborough at 1715, and the 1750 Peterborough - Stamford will run 10 minutes later. A minor change to Delaine 101 will see the 1905 journey from Bourne running 5 minutes earlier. On Thursdays there will be an additional 1830 Bourne - Peterborough on the 101, returning at 1930 as a 102.
Kimes service 11 Peterborough - Stamford will be revised. The 0625 from Stamford will run 20 minutes later, the 0900 from Stamford will start from Wansford at 0918, the 1400 from Peterborough will be withdrawn, the 1730 will run 5 minutes earlier, and there will be an additional Stamford - Peterborough journey at 1435. The 1125 and 1325 journeys from Peterborough will set down at Sutton on request.
First Choice Travel withdrew its schoolday services 27 and 27A at the end of term (July 20). These ran Stanground - Orton Longueville School and Hampton - Yaxley - Stanground College respectively. A new schoolday service 27 will run at 0745 Hampton Vale (Eagle Way) - Orton Longueville School - Lynch Wood - Orton Southgate, returning at 1510 from Orton Longueville School to Hampton Vale. This will be the first bus service along Eagle Way in the new Hampton Vale development.
16/08/03, revised 23/08/03
Changes to Rambler 352, 353 and 415
The rural services south of Peterborough operated on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council have revised timetables from Saturday July 26 (services 352/3) or Wednesday July 30 (service 415), and are operated by First Choice Travel. The timetables on this site have been updated.
On service 352 (Saturdays only), the second of the three journeys has been withdrawn. Both of the remaining journeys operate an anti-clockwise loop as before via the old A1, Conington and Holme, where journeys reverse at Holmewood before running through the village and on towards Yaxley and Peterborough via Hod Fen.
Saturday service 353 continues to run to Benwick and Puddock Bridge but is rerouted between Peterborough and Pondersbridge via Whittlesey. The two inbound journeys run slightly earlier but the single journey from Peterborough at 1305 is replaced by two journeys at 1215 and 1615, giving the added possibility of an afternoon trip to Peterborough.
Wednesday service 415 (Woodwalton - Peterborough) ceases to serve Ramsey or Ramsey St Mary's, and therefore starts from Upwood, serving Great Raveley and Woodwalton in reverse order before travelling via a previously unserved road to the old A1 then Conington, where it rejoins the previous routeing (it used to have a 'double run' from Holme to Conington, where it reversed). The new arrangement will give Woodwalton passengers a much faster service to Peterborough, saving 20 minutes.
25/07/03
Demise of the 714, Bretton - Arthur Mellows
It is reported that Stagecoach's 714, one of the three school services linking northern Peterborough with Arthur Mellows Village College at Glinton, will be withdrawn at the end of term (tomorrow, July 17 will be its last day). This is the one from Bretton via Safeway and Werrington Church Street. Stagecoach cites cost and operational difficulties as the reason. No doubt the other two buses (713 and 715) will be rather overcrowded as a result. The AMVC page has been updated.
16/07/03
Complete Stagecoach and Delaine timetables
Stagecoach and Delaine have kindly allowed me to link directly to the individual timetables on their websites. These are in pdf format. Use the By Route item on the menu.
23/06/03, updated 27/06/03
Further FLF news
The open top Bristol FLF JAH552D (carrying fleet number 52) covered all the journeys shown below on Saturday, and spent Saturday night in Oundle shed, along with three Olympians. The previous weekend (June 13 to 15) it covered all journeys on the special X42 service between Queensgate and the Showground for the East of England Country Show, making 30 journeys over the three days.
It will also operate the bus rally shuttle service on Sunday (see below), but unfortunately the closed top FLF (JAH 553D) will not be in attendance due to brake problems.
21/06/03
Bristol FLF running on Saturday June 21
Stagecoach have announced that they will be running one of their 'vintage' Bristol FLF double deckers between Peterborough and Oundle on Saturday (June 21) in connection with the weekend's celebrations. Stagecoach own two of these vehicles, which date from 1966 (one is open top) and one will also be in service the following day, as noted in the item below on the bus rally.
The journeys to be operated on Saturday are as follows:
Service 42 Southwick 0922 - Oundle 0943 - Peterborough 1028
Service 42 Peterborough 1035 - Oundle 1120 - Rockingham Hills 1130
Service 42 Rockingham Hills 1130 - Oundle 1143 - Peterborough 1228
Service 43 Peterborough 1315 - Kings Cliffe - Rockingham Hills 1430
Service 42 Rockingham Hills 1430 - Oundle 1443 - Peterborough 1528
Service 43A Peterborough 1750 - Kings Cliffe - Oundle 1906.
20/06/03
Bus Rally in Peterborough on June 22
Peterborough City Council, in conjunction with Stagecoach, are holding a bus rally on Sunday 22nd June to celebrate 100 years of public transport in Peterborough. This will be part of the Peterborough Festival and will be linked to the vintage car rally at Central Park. The rally will take place at Acland Street bus park, at the Westgate end of Queensgate Bus Station, between 1030 and 1630.
Preserved buses will be running on a number of services, the principal one being a shuttle service operating from Queensgate Bus Station (Bay 18) to Central Park. This will run every 20 minutes from 1110 to 1610, returning from Central Park every 20 minutes 1120 to 1620 (journey 6 minutes). This service will be provided by Stagecoach's open top Bristol FLF.
There will aslo be a number of trips over the original tram routes, also leaving from Queensgate Bus Station (Bay 18), and operated by Delaine's preserved Leyland Titan double deckers. Timings will be as follows:
Route A: Queensgate to Walton (via Millfield Bus Depot) at 1100, 1300, 1500 (journey 14 minutes), returning at 1118, 1318, 1518.
Route B: Queensgate to Newark at 1140, 1340, 1540 (journey 9 minutes), returning from Newark at 1153, 1353, 1553 (via Sainsburys, journey 15 minutes).
Route C: Queensgate to Dogsthorpe (Bluebell) at 1220 and 1420 (journey 8 minutes), returning at 1232, 1432.
20-25 vehicles are expected to attend, ranging from a 1947 Daimler CV new to Northampton Transport, to a new Renault Master owned by Peterborough City Council and operated by Cavalier Travel. It is hoped that some other vehicles may be operating such as Dew's OB and Aarvark's Bedford JJL.
17/06/03
NewEye Flyer and 12A
Kimes will finish on service 12A after Friday June 20, and
Aardvark will finish on Service 38 (the 'NewEye' Flyer) after Sunday June 22. From June 23 both services
will now be operated by Cavalier Travel using new Renault Master vehicles owned by
Peterborough City Council.
One of the vehicles will be on display on Friday 20 June from 11am to 2pm in Cathedral Square, and publicity material, including the new timetables, will be available.
Timings for the NewEye Flyer will be altered to make them more uniform. See the new NewEye Flyer timetable. The photo will be updated shortly!
Service 12A will be replaced by a new type of service known as Local Link.
This will operate a fixed route at peak times from Queensgate - Fengate -
(Showcase/Carr Road) - Eastern Industry - Sainsbury's - Welland - Dogsthorpe
- Fulbridge Road - Paston Church - Walton - Safeway - Werrington (Papyrus
Road). Between 0900 and 1600 on Mondays to Fridays and all day Saturday the
route will divert to pick up in certain roads within 400 metres of the
fixed route between Welland and Walton 'on demand'. See the 12/12A timetable in pdf format.
17/06/03, updated 19/06/03
Express Coach Services
There were minor timing changes to National Express services 308 and 350 from April 7. The new timetable appears to be valid to February 29, 2004, a change to the normal Summer and Winter pattern. Summer Saturday service 683 (Birmingham - Peterborough - Great Yarmouth - Hemsby) has been withdrawn, as has the seasonal extension of the London - Mablethorpe service through to Golden Sands.
Tourmaster's summer Saturday service from Peterborough to Mablethorpe will not run this summer.
07/06/03
Arriva 310 and 312
Not previously reported is the change to Arriva service 310 (Peterborough - Stamford via Marholm) from March 31. One journey each way is rerouted on Tuesdays and Saturdays via Castor, Upton and Southorpe, numbered 312. This replaces Rambler service 313, which is withdrawn. Like the old 313, the new journeys serve the Silvester Road area of Castor.
07/06/03
Bus Rally in Peterborough on June 22
Peterborough City Council, in conjunction with Stagecoach, are holding a bus rally on June 22 to celebrate 100 years of public transport in Peterborough. This will be part of the Peterborough Festival and will be linked to the vintage car rally at Central Park. It is hoped that vintage buses will run over the original tram routes plus a shuttle service to Central Park.
13/05/03
X4 evening cutback from April 27
The X4 now finishes earlier in the evening. Details are that the 2000 is extended to Northampton instead of Kettering, and the 2100 to Northampton runs 30 minutes later and is curtailed at Kettering, whilst the remarkably late (and only recently introduced) 2325 journey to Kettering (arrive 0035) has been withdrawn.
Coming towards Peterborough, the last journey is now the 1845 from Northampton (2023 at Oundle); the 2115 is withdrawn. The only later journeys run Northampton - Corby only.
13/05/03
Sunday services 36 and 37 withdrawn
The Sunday journeys to Thorney and Crowland on services 36 and 37 respectively have reached the end of their trial period (having been introduced in November) and the City Council has decided not to continue funding them. The journeys were withdrawn from Sunday April 27.
13/05/03
Service 60 to Flag Fen and Ferry Meadows
This minibus service recommenced on April 15 and will run until the end of October. It will run on Saturdays and Sundays, and will now also run on Tuesdays and Thursdays rather than Wednesdays. However, on Tuesdays and Thursdays during school terms it will run only until 1330 hrs. As before, it is operated by Rambler and is funded by Peterborough City Council through a Rural Bus Grant. The full timetable has been updated.
Woodston is now served by all journeys on this service and not just on Sundays, following the withdrawal of other routes from this area in February. Day Tickets are available, including a family ticket priced at £5.00.
The Showcase Cinema page has been rewritten into the style which shows all buses in chronological order, and of course service 60 is now included.
19/04/03
Easter bus services
Good Friday - Stagecoach, Morleys and Cavalier (331) are running a normal Friday service. Delaine is running a Saturday service on 101/2 Peterborough - Bourne, except that the last bus from Bourne is 1730, and from Peterborough 1830. Kimes will not be operating between Peterborough and Stamford, but Delaine has a special 201 timetable (from Stamford 0745, 0900, 1100, 1300, 1500; from Peterborough 1000, 1200, 1400, 1615, 1750), also there will be Saturday times on Translinc 303/313 and Sunday times on Cavalier 302/3! First Eastern Counties X94 will run a Sunday service and the New Eye Flyer (38) has a Saturday service. Aardvark 60, Arriva and Rambler have no service.
Easter Saturday - normal Saturday services.
Easter Sunday - there will be no Delaine or Kimes buses running, but there will be a normal Sunday service on Stagecoach, Morleys, First Eastern Counties, Cavalier 302/3, Rambler 38 (New Eye Flyer) and Rambler 60 (Flag Fen - Ferry Meadows).
Easter Monday - Sunday services on all routes.
17/04/03
List of departure bays updated
Click on Bus Station for an updated list of departure bays.
10/03/03
Stagecoach country services from February 24
Previous analysis of the changes concentrated on city services, so here at last is a more detailed look at the changes to Stagecoach's country services around Peterborough.
As previously noted, the 42 service to Oundle is rerouted within the city via Thorpe Road and Longthorpe Parkway, also most journeys serve Church Drive in Orton Waterville. The 0735 from Peterborough is withdrawn, but is partly replaced by diverting the first X4 journey via Elton and Warmington. The first inbound journey (0640 from Rockingham Hills) is similarly replaced by diverting the first X4, but this means that the first bus from Rockingham Hills is now 0722. The service to Glapthorn and Southwick is reduced from two journeys each way to just one.
The X4 is unchanged, apart from the early journeys mentioned above. Both Stagecoach's leaflet and the new City Council timetable book show evening journeys on the X4 running via Church Drive in one direction - this is a mistake!
Service 44 (Stamford - Kings Cliffe - Oundle, one journey each way) is withdrawn without replacement. The 43/43A is a shadow of its former self, with only two journeys each way serving Kings Cliffe and the surrounding villages.
A number of X46 journeys have been retimed, and there is a later Peterborough - Huntingdon journey at 2015 (previously to Sawtry only). There are also new early morning journeys from Huntingdon to Peterborough at 0615 and 0645, allowing arrival into Peterborough as early as 0709. For those interested in operations, this marks an increase in involvement by Huntingdon outstation, which is an outstation of Bedford depot and has an allocation of 5 vehicles.
Service 48 to Sawtry via Glatton is replaced by service 5, mentioned under city services below, which now runs through Yaxley village. It no longer calls at Folksworth, which is now only served by two morning X46 journeys into Peterborough and three afternoon/early evening journeys from Peterborough.
The single Peterborough - Cambridge X6 journey at 0635, returning from Cambridge at 1745, will run additionally on Saturdays, previously Mondays to Fridays only.
To the north of the city, the D1/D2 has minor changes, mostly affecting Saturday mornings when the 0840 D2 from Peterborough is replaced by a D1 at 0900. Werrington Cock Inn is no longer served by the 1720 or 1750 D2 journeys northbound. The inbound morning journeys were also to be diverted along Werrington Parkway (hence the Cock Inn times missing in the Stagecoach timetable leaflet) but these were changed back at the last minute, as correctly shown in the Council book.
The 7B and 13B to Newborough and Etton are renumbered 47 and the former 13B journey is routed via Paston to match the other journey. Timetables for the new service 7 show these journeys as taking the same route as the 7, but this was changed at the last minute and they in fact stick to the old 7B routeing for the benefit of King's School. I understand the 1600 from Peterborough runs Mondays to Fridays, not just schooldays as shown in the publicity.
Service 36 has a new 1745 Peterborough - Thorney journey, and the 37 has new journeys from Peterborough to Spalding at 1005 and 1205 on Mondays to Fridays, returning at 1105 and 1305 and therefore giving an hourly frequency until early afternoon. Saturday service 35 is unchanged.
For the sake of completeness I will mention that Stagecoach service 314 Market Deeping - Stamford (two journeys each way Monday to Friday) is withdrawn, and partly replaced by new journeys on Delaine's 203 route. With the withdrawal of the 44, I believe this means that Stagecoach no longer serves Stamford at all, other than an Arthur Mellows Village College contract journey, and presumably the outstation there has closed.
26/02/03
The NewEye Flyer - a new rural service from February 24
As if there wasn't enough happening bus-wise, the City Council are launching a new rural minibus serving Eye and Newborough via the Showcase Cinema. There will be evening and Sunday journeys as well as a daytime service. Aardvark will be the operator.
Some journeys extend out to Crowland, and others will go there if booked in advance by telephoning 0800 032 0281. Some of the bookable journeys ('demand-responsive' to use the jargon) will also serve the sparsely-populated area inbetween, giving places such as Nene Terrace, French Drove, English Drove, Speachley Drove and Willow Drove an unprecedented level of service, and in some cases their first bus for many years, if not ever. If you live in this area give it a try - if you don't use it you'll lose it! Details are shown on the Eye and Newborough pages on this site and further information will be added in due course.
19/02/03
Demise of Taxibus
Sadly, the Taxibus service linking the villages north of Peterborough with the railway station has proved less than popular, and will be withdrawn after this Friday, February 21. The vehicle will be used instead for the NewEye Flyer, described above.
19/02/03
Further news of changes to city services from February 23
Stagecoach's timetable leaflets are now available, together with an excellent free map and guide entitled Getting around Peterborough, which should have been delivered to households all over the city. The City Council have produced their own comprehensive timetable book, which was available from February 24, and is a big improvement on earlier editions. Timetable displays at Queensgate were all changed over for the Monday morning and are even better than the ones recently introduced. What with new on-line information as well, public transport information in Peterborough has gone from very poor a few years ago (when I started this site) to very good now. Well done to the City Council and Stagecoach. Maybe I don't need to do this website any more?
The new leaflet for the 25 differs from the early version (on the web) in that Orton - Queensgate - Bretton and Bretton - Queensgate starts an hour earlier on Sunday mornings. I have changed my pages accordingly.
The new service 12A to Fengate and Sainburys, organised by the City Council, will be operated by Kimes. As well as the peak hour service, which is shown on one of the Stagecoach timetable leaflets, there will also be an off-peak service (approximately every 90 minutes) calling at the Showcase Cinema and continuing beyond Sainsburys to Welland, effectively replacing part of the withdrawn Stagecoach service 5.
19/02/03, updated 26/02/03
New City Network from February 23
The biggest change to the city's bus network for many years will be introduced from Sunday February 23. The basic Monday to Saturday daytime network will be numbered 1 to 10, with most routes running every 20 minutes, and with routes co-ordinated to give 10 minute frequencies to many destinations. Timetables will be simplified so that peak-hour variations or cancellations will be largely eliminated. This will result in some school and works journeys being provided by dedicated services. Saturday timetables will be the same as Mondays to Fridays, apart from early morning journeys.
Another innovation is that there will be a 10 minute gap in the timetables around 0900 to help late running buses to get back to time following rush-hour delays. Unfortunately, one or two areas off the main routes will no longer receive a service, although in general the new network should represent an improvement, especially if it allows Stagecoach to run a more reliable service.
A new layout has been devised to show the revised city services on this site, which should hopefully be easy to use. An example has been added, showing the actual new times between Queensgate and Bretton Centre. Note that older browsers (Internet Explorer 4 for example) may not display the new layout exactly as intended, although the differences should be purely cosmetic. It is hoped that all pages will be updated before the changeover.
Full timetables can be found on the Stagecoach website. A summary of the changes follows below starting with Bretton and working anti-clockwise around the city. Evening and Sunday services are detailed separately at the end.
Bretton and Longthorpe:
The 17 is renumbered 3 and, along with service 2, continues to provide a bus every 10 minutes via North Bretton. The 2 reverts to serving the District Hospital instead of Westfield Road. Both routes will run cross-city; the 2 to Lynch Wood via Oundle Road, and the 3 to Yaxley via Stanground.
The peak-hour diversion via Thomas Cook at Coningsby Road will cease and will be replaced by additional service 33, which will provide one morning journey and two evening journeys on Mondays to Fridays.
Longthorpe and South Bretton route 14 is renumbered 4 but is otherwise much the same, except that peak-hour buses will no longer divert via Travelex at Thorpe Wood (the former Thomas Cook HQ), bringing this diversion to an end after nearly 30 years.
The Edith Cavell Hospital will continue to be served by all three routes as before, and the new 3 and 4 will still be linked, providing through journeys across Bretton.
Westwood, Ravensthorpe and Netherton:
Westwood (Hampton Court) previously had a bus every 15 minutes on services 3 and 15 (from Bay 2), and one every 20 minutes on service 2 (from Bay 1). Service 2 will continue as before (going on to Bretton), although it will now run via the District Hospital instead of Westwood Bridge. The other service will be the 5/5A running every 20 minutes from Queensgate Bay 2 on the old number 3 route via Audley Gate, and continuing after Hampton Court via the Ravensthorpe Loop.
Those clever timetable planners have arranged for the 2 and 5 to provide a coordinated service every 10 minutes from Queensgate, and also from Cranford Drive (St Judes) to town, although the number of buses per hour goes down from seven to six. Netherton (Thorpe Park Road, Audley Gate, Ledbury Road, Atherstone Avenue) gets an improved service - three buses per hour instead of two.
The new service 5 continues across town to Hampton, where one per hour also serves Yaxley and Sawtry, and another off-peak hourly extention (numbered 5A) heads for Orton Centre and Newcombe Way.
Orton, Lynch Wood and Oundle Road:
The basic service along the Orton Busway consistes of the 1 (ex 13) and the 4 (ex 14), combining to give a 10 minute service as before. The 4 continues to loop Orton Southgate, but the Saturday service now takes the same route instead of only serving the RNIB.
It is in the Wistow and Lynch Wood areas where big changes are afoot. Firtsly the new service 1 behaves like the old 13 as far as Brimbles, but then it will head for Lynch Wood (all day), only briefly skirting Orton Wistow by serving the Paulsgrove stop. Wistow Way itself will be served by the 2, which will run every 20 minutes replacing the 11 and 12 via Oundle Road, and which will also continue to Lynch Wood (in fact the 1 and 2 will be linked together at Lynch Wood if you want to stay on the bus).
The new 2 will run direct along Oundle Road, giving Orton Wistow a much faster service to town, but leaving the back-streets of Woodston (New Road, Orton Ave, Bakers Lane) without a service. Church Drive in Orton Waterville will be served by most journeys on the 42 (the Oundle route) so will continue to have an hourly service, although the 42 will now take Thorpe Road (serving the District Hospital) and the Longthorpe Parkway. There will be some short-workings of the 42 between Queensgate and Lynch Wood at peak times, replacing the 12A, but note the 0745 from Queensgate will now be an X4, and one evening journey (1704 from Lynch Wood) will be a 43A.
The 1 and 2 will together give a bus every 10 minutes along the section of Oundle Road east of Shrewsbury Avenue, which will be especially useful for the new Riverside development.
The Queensgate - Hampton - Orton Centre - Lynch Wood service 18 will be replaced in part by service 5A, an hourly extention of Ravensthorpe - Queensgate - Hampton service 5. The useful link between Orton and Hampton will therefore be cut to hourly instead of half-hourly, and it will only operate off-peak (0855 to 1355 from Orton). After Orton Centre it will serve new ground, in the shape of Newcombe Way (Dunblane Drive) instead of continuing to Lynch Wood (although the observant will have noticed that Orton to Lynch Wood is now the preserve of service 1).
Hampton
The 18 is replaced between Queensgate and Hampton by the 5/5A every 20 minutes, continuing hourly to Yaxley and Sawtry replacing the 48. Another off-peak hourly journey is numbered 5A continuing from Hampton to Orton (see under the Orton heading).
There is a new early-morning journey at 0645 (Mon-Fri) from Hampton, calling at the railway station.
Stanground and Park Farm
There is not much change to services 6 and 7, which continue to provide a bus every 15 minutes in similar timings. However, service 7 will run via Fletton Avenue and Princes Road instead of London Road and Fletton High Street (for which see service 3 to Yaxley). The 6 and 7 will still continue across town to Paston, but for changes to that leg see under the Paston heading.
Farcet and Yaxley
The previous service to Yaxley via Farcet consisting of a bus every 15 minutes alternating between service 3 and 4, is replaced by service 3 running every 20 minutes, all following a one-way loop around Yaxley via Main Street, Yaxley crossroads and Broadway. This service will continue beyond the city centre to Millfield, North Bretton, Bretton Centre and Edith Cavell Hospital (the old number 17).
The Bedford service X46 will continue to run hourly from Queensgate via Hampton Serpentine Green and Yaxley crossroads. However, the 48 to Sawtry via Yaxley will be replaced by the 5 (from Westwood and the District Hospital as well as Queensgate) which instead of sticking to the A15 through Yaxley will perform a loop of the village via a new housing development north of Broadway, Broadway shops, Windsor Road, Main Street and Church Street. As well as giving a better service to Serpentine Green, this will make up for the slight reduction in service via Farcet.
Fengate
Hourly service 12 serving Fengate, Showcase Cinema, Eastern Industry and Sainsburys (introduced only a few years ago) will be withdrawn. However, the City Council is running a peak hour service 12A covering this area, with two morning journeys and three evening journeys. The timetable appears on the Stagecoach website, so presumably it is being operated by Stagecoach on behalf of the Council. DayRider, MegaRider and Goldrider tickets will be accepted.
Although I don't yet have any details, I understand that the City Council plan to provide an off-peak service every 75 minutes.
Parnwell, Eastfield, Welland and Dogsthorpe
Service 4 via Star Road, Saxon Road and Reeves Way to Parnwell (every 30 minutes) will be replaced by service 10 every 20 minutes. This service links across town to Werrington Centre via Gunthorpe (basically the old 15 route).
Service 5 to Welland will no longer run, meaning that the Star Road/Saxon Road/Reeves Way area will only be served by service 4, a reduction from four to three buses per hour.
Welland will now be served by service 9, which will take the old 18 route via Eastfield Road and Central Avenue. This will run every 20 minutes (against half-hourly of the old 18) partly making up for the loss of the 5 to Welland. Service 9 runs across town to Werrington (the old 19).
Service 8 to Welland Road, Dogsthorpe and Sainsburys is basically unchanged, although the journeys to John Fisher School are withdrawn (the latter is served by school service 710 via Star Road).
Millfield, Park Road, New England
Lincoln Road Millfield will have a similar level of service, but passengers will have to get used to the new numbers, namely 3, 6, 8 and 9, of which the 6, 8 and 9 serve Broadway. The old 13 (now 1) continues to serve Park Road and Alexandra Road. Park Road, however, loses the 7, which now takes Lincoln Road and Dogsthorpe Road to Park Road Corner.
Routes along Garten End Road and Dogsthorpe Road (north of Park Road Corner) have swapped over - the 7 will take the direct route via Dogsthorpe Road, whilst the new 10 (ex 15) will divert via The Comet.
Hourly off-peak service 11 will be withdrawn, which has caused much comment in local newspapers. There will be no replacement in the Gladstone Street area, but Chaucer Road will be served by diverting Paston service 6 every 30 minutes via Scotney Street, Keats Way, Chaucer Road and Sheridan Road instead of via the Parkway. This will leave Thistlemoor Road and Belham Road unserved, although there is talk of a new Flexibus demand-responsive minibus scheme being introduced in due course by the City Council.
Paston and Gunthorpe
Services 6 and 7 run as before to Paston Sheepwalk and Gunthorpe Ridings respectively. However, because of the rerouting of the 6 via Chaucer Road (see above) it no longer serves Donaldson Drive, which is now the job of route 7. The latter service takes a more direct route from town via Lincoln Road and Dogsthorpe Road, no longer calling at Broadway.
New service 10 is the old 15 via Gunthorpe to Werrington Centre, but at a more frequent interval (every 20 minutes) and now serving Broadway. The diversion via Garten End Road is mentioned above. The other end of the route is now Parnwell (via Star Road) instead of Westwood.
Service 13 is renumbered 1, but the routeing is unchanged.
Walton and Werrington
The 19 becomes 9 and is linked across town to Welland via Eastfield Road, but otherwise continues every 20 minutes on the same route.
The 13 is renumbered 1 but is otherwise much the same, continuing cross-city to Orton.
As mentioned above, the 10 via Gunthorpe is the replacement for the 15, running every 20 minutes and diverted via Broadway (also via Garten End Road), and running across town to Parnwell. Werrington Centre will therefore see 9 buses per hour from town (an increase of one), all of which will serve Broadway as well as Queensgate.
Services 9 and 10 together provide a bus every 10 minutes to Werrington.
Service 11 to Safeway will be withdrawn, as mentioned under the New England heading above.
Services to AMVC will now be dedicated school buses numbered 713, 714 and 715.
Evening and Sunday services
These will be renumbered 21 to 26. The timings and roads served are largely unchanged, except that Woodston will no longer be served (in line with daytime services), the 21 going instead via Shrewsbury Avenue. The cross-town services now head for different destinations after arriving at Queensgate.
Services leaving Queensgate at quarter-past the hour are 21 (Orton Wistow and Werrington), 23 (Yaxley and South Bretton) and 24 (Parnwell). Those leaving at quarter-to the hour are 22 (Gunthorpe Ridings) and 25 (Bretton Centre and Orton Centre). The Sunday service to Werrington (hourly 0945 to 1745), recently introduced numbered 19, will be renumbered 26.
09/02/03, revised 13/02/03
Aardvark service 60 suspended
The Ferry Meadows to Flag Fen minibus service which was intended to operate on Sundays throughout the year, as well as on summer Saturdays, was suspended from January 5 due to lack of passengers. It will be reintroduced on Saturdays and Sundays from Easter Sunday, also on Wednesdays during school holidays (including April 16 and 23).
19/01/03, revised 09/02/03
Whippet Sunday service 1A
The information provided by the City Council about the demise of the Sunday service to Huntingdon was fortunately incorrect, and the service continues as before. Apologies for not double-checking this report earlier.
07/01/03
Rambler and Translink changes
Thursday journeys on Rambler service 313 will no longer run, effective from January 1. The remaining Tuesday journeys see some minor timing changes. The service will cease altogether from April 1.
There will be some changes to the Saturday timetable on Translinc service 303 from January 4. The 0930 Peterborough - Stamford journey is retimed to 1025, and there is an additional journey at 1235 serving Upton, Wansford, Thornhaugh and Collyweston (service 313). From Stamford the 0845 is retimed to 0925 and is numbered 313 via Thornhaugh and Upton, no longer serving Wittering or Wansford. However, there is an additional 303 at 1125 via Wittering and Wansford.
24/12/02, updated 19/01/03
Page updated 29/12/09
