Changes to bus services in and around Peterborough during 2004 (working up the page). For older news see the Archive page.
Christmas Service Alterations
Changes to bus services over the Christmas and New Year period can be found on the following pdf file kindly supplied by the City Council's Transportation team: Christmas Alterations. There will be no bus services on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day.
The decision not to run on New Year's Day has been somewhat controversial as many of the shops are apparently going to open that day (don't they know it's a Bank Holiday?). Stagecoach has countered by saying that its staff deserve some time off - quite right too. It won't bother me - I shall be in France where public transport continues to operate throughout the holiday
period.
19/12/04
Travelchoice Project and Website
Peterborough is one of three UK cities to be given the status of Sustainable Travel Demonstration Town, an award it won in April 2004, thank to the efforts of the City Council. Basically this means extra money to implement a whole range of initiatives to encourage the use of public transport, cycling and walking. The campaign has been given the name Travelchoice, and the recently launched bus timetable website has also been revamped as www.travelchoice.org.uk.
When I started this website in the Spring of 2000 there was precious little information about Peterborough bus timetables on the internet, and even the timetables at the bus station left a lot to be desired, with incorrect or out-of-date information on many of the bays. I am pleased to say that the situation is now very different, with excellent information at the bus station (and interactive touch-screen information kiosks being trialled), and the major operators now have decent websites, complemented by the new comprehensive Travelchoice website.
Nevertheless, I don't think that my job is yet done, and I intend to continue with my destination pages for now, as I know that many of you appreciate the easy-to-use format. If the Travelchoice site proves to be reliable and is updated promptly with changes, then I may decide to drop the timetables by route, as this duplicates the content of the Travelchoice site.
19/12/04
Free Park and Ride announced
The Christmas Park and Ride service will run every Saturday from October 23 to December 18 this year. Previously parking was free but a £1 fare was charged. This year the fare has been scrapped and the service will be entirely free! The car parks are located at Lynch Wood and Perkins as last year.
17/10/04
Experimental services extended
Peterborough City Council has announced that the experimental city services introduced at the beginning of August will be extended beyond the end of October until the end of the year, to give a chance for a more detailed appraisal. The routes affected are First Choice 6a, 15 and 33. Stagecoach service 6 and the additional evening journeys on service 2 will be similarly extended.
17/10/04
New Sunday service to Ramsey
Cavalier service 331 Peterborough - Ramsey will see four Sunday journeys each way from October 31 to January 30 on an experimental basis.
Departures from Ramsey will be at 1000, 1200, 1400, 1600, returning from Peterborough at 1100, 1300, 1500 and 1700. All journeys serve Whittlesey, Pondersbridge, Ramsey Mereside and Ramsey Forty Foot. Pages will be updated in due course.
29/09/04
Kimes Service 9
From August 31 there are some timing changes to Kime's Peterborough - Stamford - Oakham service. All journeys will now serve Castor and Ailsworth, and in Stamford the route will operate direct between the bus station and Great Casterton, with the College and Hospital only being served at peak times (this is due to timekeeping problems).
Sunday variant 9B will operate from Ufford via Bainton and the main road through Barnack due to problems getting through Barnack Village.
From the same date, the Uppingham service, Paul James R47, is rerouted via Longthorpe Parkway and the Castor by-pass, not calling at Castor or Ailsworth.
26/08/04, updated 29/09/04
New web address for Peterborough Bus Times
You can now use www.pbt.org.uk as an alternative address for this site. A bit easier to remember!
20/08/04
X94 becomes the X1 - timetable announced
The new half-hourly Excel X1 timetable (replacing the X94 from Aug 29) will give Peterborough an astonishingly frequent service to Wisbech, Kings Lynn, Norwich and Great Yarmouth, with many journeys continuing to Lowestoft. Thorney, of course, also benefits from the increased frequency (also Eye in the evenings).
Buses leave Queensgate (Mon-Sat) every 30 minutes between 0759 and 1929, then hourly to 2329. The last through journey to Lowestoft is the 1429, the last to Norwich and Yarmouth is at 2029. After that, late-evening buses terminate at Kings Lynn. All buses start from the railway station 10 minutes earlier.
Sunday departures are hourly 0829 to 2329; last bus to Norwich and Yarmouth is the 2029. The service starts unexpectedly early for a Sunday - there's a bus at 0701 from Kings Lynn to Peterborough, that's 0754 from Thorney. Almost tempted to get up to see it - on second thoughts I think I'll stay in bed.
Maximum day fare is the £7 First Tourist ticket, which also gives unlimited travel on other First services in East Anglia (and is also accepted on Stagecoach X4 Peterborough - Milton Keynes for some reason).
Interesting to see that Peterborough to Wisbech and Kings Lynn has the same evening frequency as many parts of the city, Werrington included (whoops, nearly fell off my hobby horse there)!
All destination pages affected by the change now have two versions, one showing the new timings.
19/08/04, updated 26/08/04
X98 to Hunstanton and revised link
A visit to the bus station has revealed the return of Stagecoach trips to Hunstanton on Sundays until August 29, leaving at 1015 (return from Hunstanton Seagate Car Park at 1745). Although more of an excursion than a bus service, the use of route number X98, and the fact that tickets can presumably be purchased from the driver, merits its mention here. Return fare is £8 (children £4, two adults and two children £15). Publicity does not indicate when the service started.
Postscript - Graham Lord of the Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire Transport Review adds the following: "The X98 Peterborough - Hunstanton commenced operation on 18 July and
on more than one occasion thus far the spare driver and an additional bus
have been sent out to pick up passengers that won't fit on the main
vehicle. Last Sunday there were an additional 40 passengers wanting to
travel after the main vehicle had left fully-laden."
02/08/04, updated 04/08/04
Additional City Routes from August 2
Peterborough City Council has organised several new services to start from Monday August 2, to run on an experimental basis until the end of October. This follows the Council's welcome decision to make more money available for bus services after Stagecoach withdrew from certain routes in April. Copies of the City Council's timetable leaflets are available in pdf format by clicking on the links below (or on the Timetables By Route page). Most destination pages on the site have also been updated to show the additional journeys.
Stagecoach Day Rider, Megarider and Goldrider tickets are valid on these new services.
Stagecoach Service 2 will be doubled in frequency during the evenings (Mon - Sat) to give a bus every 30 minutes from Queensgate to Gunthorpe and Paston between 1845 and 2315. The 2245 departure will run only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (also the 2213 from Paston). All journeys extend beyond Queensgate to the District Hospital.
Stagecoach Service 6, originally guaranteed only until July 31, will be extended to run until Oct. 31, this time with City Council funding.
FirstChoice Service 6A is a new route designed to restore a service to Ravensthorpe during the hours when the 6 does not run. Route is via District Hospital, Audley Gate, Atherstone Avenue, Hampton Court and an anti-clockwise loop of Hartwell Way. It runs every 30 minutes during the peak hours (from Queensgate 0715 - 0845 and 1545 - 1745) and hourly during the evenings (1845 - 2145, also 2245 Thurs, Fri, Sat), also hourly during shopping hours on Sundays (from Queensgate 0945 - 1645). Evening journeys extend to Bretton Centre via Edith Cavell Hospital, giving these destinations a half-hourly evening service, co-ordinated with service 3.
FirstChoice Service 15 takes the same route number as the daytime service operated by Cavalier but is an evening (Mon - Sat) route between Queensgate and Orton Centre via London Road, Serpentine Green and the Orton busway. From Queensgate it runs hourly 1845 - 2145, with a 2245 on Thurs, Fri, Sat. Along with service 1 it gives Orton a half-hourly evening service, and Serpentine Green Shopping Centre at Hampton also gets a boost to its rather sparse evening service.
FirstChoice Service 33 is a further new route restoring links from Millfield to Bretton and Dogsthorpe, albeit hourly. Buses leave Chestnut Avenue for Millfield and Bretton hourly 0816 - 1816 (Mon - Sat), returning from Bretton Centre 0845 - 1745. From Bretton Centre the route is via Bretton Way (North Bretton), and after crossing the railway it reaches Millfield by way of Bourges Boulevard and Taverners Road (despite the speed bumps) then northbound along Lincoln Road. After the Triangle it takes St Pauls Road, Birchtree Avenue, Western Avenue and the whole length of Chestnut Avenue, returning in a clockwise loop via Eastern Avenue, Sycamore Avenue and Central Avenue back to Chestnut Avenue. Despite the use of the number 33, I can confirm that Stagecoach's peak-hour service 33 was still running as normal on the first day of the new services.
Passengers are being encouraged to let the Council have their views of the new services, and timetable leaflets include a comment form with pre-paid postage. Comments can also be emailed to buses@peterborough.gov.uk.
27/07/04, updated 02/08/04
Destinations added to site
Oakham has now been added together with three destinations between Stamford and Oakham, namely Empingham, Rutland Water Visitor's Centre and Whitwell. Two additional X4 destinations have also been added - Weldon and Wicksteed Park.
27/07/04
Excel routes reorganised from August 29
As part of a major reorganisation of First's network of Excel limited stop routes, the Peterborough - Wisbech - Kings Lynn - Norwich - Great Yarmouth - Lowestoft service X94/X95 will be renumbered X1 from August 29.
Frequency will be every 30 minutes on Monday - Saturday daytimes, which represents a doubling in frequency as far as the Peterborough end of the service is concerned. Evening and Sunday frequency will be hourly (on Sundays it currently runs every 2 hours).
25/07/04
Just for the Record
Not previously mentioned is the withdrawal at the end of March of Rutland Travel service 172, which ran on alternate Saturdays from Stocken to Peterborough via Stretton and Market Overton.
Norwich Bus Station is currently closed whilst a new bus station is being built. The X94 currently serves Ber Street (John Lewis) instead. It is believed that this change happened from January this year.
Stops in Corby have been reorganised and a new X4 leaflet was issued by Stagecoach dated June 13 (timings are otherwise unchanged). From Peterborough the X4 calls at Elizabeth Street then George Street outside McDonalds. Travelling towards Peterborough, buses call at George Street outside Willows then Elizabeth Street.
25/07/04
Peterborough Bus Timetable Booklet
The City Council has issued a revised edition of its excellent comprehensive timetable, which also includes several maps, and timings for the CrossCounty services in Rutland. It is free, and can be obtained from libraries, the tourist information office, the bus station, and the Council offices at Bridge House just over the Town Bridge.
There have been some departure bay changes recently, which should now be correctly shown on this site.
10/06/04
CrossCounty Day Rover
A useful piece of information regarding fares is the availability of a new Day Rover ticket on the Rutland CrossCounty services. It is valid throughout on Kimes service 9 (Peterborough - Stamford - Rutland Water - Oakham, including Sunday variant 9A/9B) as well as on many other services in Rutland, and can be bought from the Kimes driver. It is also valid on service R47 (Uppingham - Peterborough) but cannot be purchased on this service, so a round trip Peterborough - Oakham - Uppingham - Peterborough would be possible using the ticket, but not the other way round. The price of the Day Rover is £4.50, and there is a child version price £2.50.
The new timetable book (see above) makes little mention of this new ticket, except to say that it is valid on the NewEye Flyer and Local Link services (although I doubt they could issue one). The CrossCounty map implies it may also be valid on First Choice 38.
I hope to start a page giving sample fares for the area in due course, time permitting, which will include details of the various day and rover tickets available.
05/06/04, updated 10/06/04
Country services from May 30
Major changes to the Stamford and Uppingham services take place from May 30, as follows.
Kimes service 11 is renumbered 9 and extended through to Oakham as part of the high-quality CrossCounty network jointly sponsored by Peterborough City Council and Rutland County Council, and operated by low-floor buses. Amongst the places served are Stamford Hospital and the Rutland Water Visitors Centre. At Oakham there will be connections with service 19 to Melton Mowbray and Nottingham, operated by Paul James Coaches. For the record, the new Stamford - Oakham portion of the route replaces services 10 and 19A.
Service R47 to Uppingham will be completely revised and increased in frequency from three to five journeys each way. It will once again be possible to make a day trip to Leicester by bus, changing at Uppingham. Roberts Tours will no longer operate this service - the new operator is Paul James Coaches.
The Sunday service to Stamford will be operated by Kimes and, like the weekday service, it will continue to Oakham. Service 9A will run via Wansford and Wittering, 9B will go via Edith Cavell Hospital, Barnack and Burghley House. In summer there will be three journeys by each route (an increase in service) but a reduced service will operate in winter. The new service replaces Cavalier Travel 300/302/303.
The recently introduced First Choice services 11/13 will also be revised, and the evening journeys which run on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays will run 10 minutes earlier.
Bettacars will operate a partly demand-responsive taxibus branded as Village Link, running between Stamford and Edith Cavell Hospital via Barnack and Castor. This will replace Mark Bland Travel services 310 and 312.
As a result of changes to Stagecoach services last month, Pererborough City Council are responding by withdrawing Service 34 operated by First Choice Travel and increasing Service 38 to operate up to 4 times a day. As well as serving the Maxey and Etton area, this service also links the Welland Road and Dogsthorpe area to Millfield and partially replaces Stagecoach service 8. On Wednesdays and Saturdays it also operates via Deeping Gate, Werrington Bridge Road and Werrington Centre to restore the link lost by the withdrawal of service 309 in April.
Full timetables for the new services can be found on the Timetables by Route page - the layout is basic at the moment but all the information is there. Most of the individual destination pages have now been updated.
27/05/04, updated 05/06/04
Local Link and NewEye Flyer revised
New timetables for the Local Link and NewEye Flyer services operated by Cavalier Travel on behalf of Peterborough City Council start on May 30. There are links to the full timetables on the Timetables by Route page.
The section of the Local Link route between Walton (Safeway) and Werrington Industry is withdrawn.
Certain NewEye Flyer journeys now serve Crawthorne Road, and some journeys extend to Fletton via London Road, Fletton Avenue, Glebe Road and Queens Road as a partial replacement for Stagecoach Service 6, withdrawn in April. During the evenings and on Sundays the NewEye Flyer will operate via Fengate to complement the Local Link.
27/05/04
Cavalier changes from May 10
From May 10 there are some changes to service 337: the 0835 March - Peterborough runs 15 minutes later, and the 1535 runs 25 minutes later. The 1640 from Peterborough is retimed to 1700 and curtailed at March, as is the 1740, instead of running through to Chatteris. Neale Wade School is now served on schooldays.
There is also a minor change to the 331: the 1010 Peterborough - Ramsey journey leaves 5 minutes earlier and runs via Whittlesey. Relevant pages have been updated.
10/05/04
Latest on new timetables from April 18
All city and country destinations listed have the new timings (further city destinations will be added in due course). There is a late change to First Choice service 11/13 where the two daytime journeys have reverted to the old 808 timings and route.
All complete timetables shown in the "Timetables by Route" section have the new timings, with the exception of Stagecoach X4, which is expected to appear on Stagecoach's website in a day or two.
Changes to the NewEye Flyer and Local Link have been postponed and they are unchanged for now.
Printed timetables are available from the bus station, together with a city-wide map and guide to frequencies.
City service 1 is branded "one" and double deckers have started to appear with the new branding. I understand that new low-floor double deckers are expected for this route early next year. Services 2 to 5 are branded "citi" and are operated with low-floor single decker buses, including 20 new Dennis Darts. Not previously mentioned is that the X4 has brand new double deck buses (which came into service a few weeks ago) with X4 branding.
The 20 new low-floor Darts were moved from storage at IKEA's Stanground warehouse to the bus depot during the course of Sunday and entered service on Monday 19th April. Two of the Metrorider midibuses are being retained for use-it-or-lose-it "Neighbourhood links" service 6.
10/04/04 - 20/04/04
Country services from April 18
The changes to city services have been detailed below. Many country services are also changing, and brief details are as follows:
Stagecoach service 12: as mentioned elsewhere, this is the replacement for the D1/D2, but extended to Hampton, and diverted via Lincoln Road in Werrington. There is a later Saturday journey, but the 2010 from Queensgate, retimed to 2020, will only run on Thursdays. The morning journey which takes schoolkids to AMVC appears to be unchanged, but as before there is no indication in the timetable that it diverts to the school.
Stagecoach X4: extended hourly beyond Northampton to Milton Keynes. New early Kettering - Peterborough journey (from Oundle 0623). Sunday service also extended to Milton Keynes and increased to every 2 hours.
Kimes 11: expanded hourly service Peterborough - Stamford; replaces Translinc/Cavalier 302/303.
First Choice 11/13: direct replacement for 808, also new evening service Peterborough - Stamford on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
First Choice 31: direct replacement for 301 (1 return journey Mon - Fri Thornhaugh - Queensgate).
First Choice 34: partial replacement for 306/309. 1 return journey Mon - Sat Helpston/Maxey - Deeping Gate - Peakirk - Glinton - Millfield - Queensgate. Also serves Scott Estate in Glinton.
Stagecoach 36/37: a late afternoon journey on each service is rerouted via Dogsthorpe.
First Choice 38: direct replacement for 308, 2 return journeys Mon - Sat.
Stagecoach 42: diverted in Peterborough via Oundle Road instead of Thorpe Road. Extra peak hour journeys to/from Lynch Wood are 42A via Thorpe Road.
Stagecoach 46: diverted via Hampton Vale. Early evening journeys also serve Hampton Hargate.
Stagecoach 47: first evening journey (to Etton) diverted via St Pauls Road and Chaucer Road in New England. The other evening journey performs on service 4 between Queensgate and Parnwell before continuing to Etton.
Newborough Coaches 306: reduction to 1 journey each way on Wednesdays and 2 on Saturdays.
10/04/04, updated 13/04/04
Easter bus services
Good Friday, April 9 - Stagecoach and Morleys 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, 1715; from Peterborough 1000, 1200, 1400, 1615, 1800), also there will be Saturday times on Translinc/Cavalier 302/303/313. First Eastern Counties X94 will run a Sunday service, whilst Local Link and the New Eye Flyer have a Saturday service. Cavalier will not be running the 331 to Ramsey but the 337 to March has a Sunday timetable. Confused?
Easter Saturday, April 10 - normal Saturday services.
Easter Sunday, April 11 - there will be normal Sunday services on most routes, except that Delaine and Kimes will not run.
Easter Monday, April 12 - Sunday services on all routes.
07/04/04
Aardvark service 60 withdrawn
Pressure on the Council's public transport budget means that it has been decided not to fund the Flag Fen - Queensgate - Ferry Meadows minibus service this year. In 2003 it ran four days per week between Easter and October.
07/04/04
Major route and schedule changes from April 18
April 18 will see the biggest shake up of Peterborough's bus services for some time, despite the major changes which took place not much more than a year ago.
As far as Stagecoach's city services are concerned, the thinking behind it is to provide a high-frequency core network with less routes, a formula that has apparently met with success in Cambridge. The idea, no doubt, is that passengers can turn up at a stop without having to consult a timetable. Unfortunately, it leaves many passengers with quite a long walk to their nearest stop, and the controversial proposals have already met with strong opposition, notably from residents in Ravensthorpe. Stagecoach has agreed to run an additional off-peak service to fill in some of the gaps in the network, but this will be on an experimental "use it or lose it" basis.
The new Stagecoach city network will be as follows:
Service 1: Werrington - Walton - Millfield - Queensgate - Orton Centre - Orton Wistow
Every 10 minutes daytime, hourly evenings, half-hourly during Sunday shopping hours.
North of the city centre this route is an amalgam of services 1 and 9, running at an increased freqency. Runs as old 9 via Millfield and Lincoln Road to Safeway (soon to become Morrisons I believe), then turns right at the roundabout into Mountsteven Avenue past Walton School where, speedbumps permitting, it will turn left into Dover Road/Arundel Road to rejoin the existing route 1. After Amberley Slope all buses will follow a one-way loop anti-clockwise via the normal route 1/9 (Werrington Green, Werrington Centre, Hodgeson Avenue, Southwell Avenue, Lincoln Road) - incidentally this is the opposite way round the loop to the existing evening/Sunday service. At the Cock Inn the route turns left into Church Street and right into Amberley Slope where it retraces its steps into town.
Comment: passengers from Werrington Green will have to get used to going all the way round "New Werrington" to get to town. Similarly passengers heading for The Mill on Lincoln Road will have to go right round the loop, although this section of Lincoln Road will gain an hourly service on the old D1/2, which will take this route in preference to the Parkway (and Delaine's Stamford service also serves this road of course). Passengers used to congregating at the Cock Inn stop opposite the Jet Garage will have to remember to walk around the corner into Church Street, where hopefully a stop will be provided. The new routeing (and the loss of service 10) means that there will be no buses linking Werrington or Walton with Paston or The Park (but see service 6). Passengers from these areas for the Regional College (which was accessible with a short walk) and Deacons School will also be disappointed, whilst Kings School pupils will have a slightly longer walk from Burghley Road. Alexandra Road loses its service. On the plus side buses between Queensgate and Werrington will be evenly spaced out at 10 minute intervals (at present the 1 and 9 leave Queensgate at the same time every 20 minutes, and from Werrington Centre only 3 minutes apart).
South of the city, service 1 takes its existing route via Oundle Road, Shrewsbury Avenue and the busway to Orton Centre, terminating with an anti-clockwise loop of Orton Wistow. All buses will divert through Orton Southgate before 9am and between 4pm and 6pm on Mondays to Fridays.
Comment: service 4 is withdrawn so there will be no off-peak service to the Orton Southgate industrial area, and no buses along Celta Road/Morley Way past Hotpoint. Shrewsbury Avenue gains a doubled frequency, as does Orton Brimbles. Service 2 to Orton Wistow and Lynch Wood is withdrawn (it will be a long journey to Orton Wistow compared to existing route 2, especially if you have to go via Orton Southgate). However, service 42 is rerouted between Orton Mere and Queensgate via Oundle Road. Lynch Wood loses its current frequent service but as well as the hourly 42 there will be additional peak period journeys numbered 42A running via Thorpe Road.
Service 2: Gunthorpe - Paston - Queensgate - Longthorpe - South Bretton - Edith Cavell Hospital - Bretton Centre
Every 10 minutes daytime. Evening and Sundays runs hourly Gunthorpe - Queensgate - District Hospital.
North of Queensgate this is basically a replacement for the 7, but includes parts of the old routes 1 and 10. From town it thinks it's the old 1 via Broadway and Park Road to Park Road Corner, from where it follows the current 7 routeing via Dogsthorpe Road and Fulbridge Road. After crossing the Parkway it performs a large clockwise loop covering the entire Paston and Gunthorpe area previously covered by the 10 and 7, namely Paston Ridings, Hallfields Lane, Coniston Road, Gunthorpe Ridings and Paston Ridings.
Comment: As with the Werrington loop, some passengers will have to put up with a longer journey around the loop at least in one direction. This will be offset to some extent by the direct routeing into town, and passengers should find the frequent service and routeing via Broadway attractive. Sections of route to lose an all-day service (but see service 6) are Dogsthorpe Road (between Lincoln Road and Park Road corner), Garten End Road/Elmfield Road and the Chaucer Road area.
Moving onto the Bretton section of service 2, this is basically the old 4, but covering parts of Netherton (the old 5) on the way. It starts out as the present 5 via the District Hospital, Mayors Walk, Thorpe Park Road, Audley Gate and Ledbury Road. Here it gets interesting, making a foray into previously unserved teritory (Bradwell Road and Harewood Gardens, much to the surprise of the residents no doubt) in order to regain the normal route. Back on familiar territory in Longthorpe it sticks to the old 4 via Thorpe Wood and South Bretton to Edith Cavell Hospital and Bretton Centre.
Comment: A doubling of frequency for Longthorpe, Thorpe Wood and South Bretton, but extended journey times due to the Netherton deviation. Incredibly Thorpe Park Road and Netherton will see a bus every 10 minutes (previously half-hourly), and who would have thought 6 buses an hour in each direction along Harewood Gardens (can't wait to see what reaction that will get)! Part of Thorpe Road will lose out (beyond the hospital), especially as the 42 will no longer serve this road, although it will have other country services such as Kime's 11. Thorpe Hall will, I think, be a little further from a regular service as the section of Thorpe Road between Audley Gate and Harewood Gardens will not be served by the 2. The western section of Atherstone Avenue will no longer have a bus route along it. The 2 and 3 will be lnked across Bretton Centre.
Service 3: Bretton Centre - North Bretton - Westwood - Queensgate - Fletton - Park Farm or Yaxley.
Every 10 minutes (every 20 minutes to/from Park Farm and Yaxley). Hourly evenings and Sundays Bretton - Queensgate - Yaxley (half-hourly during Sunday shopping hours Bretton - Queensgate).
Queensgate - Bretton: this is a bit like the old 2, but completely replaces the 3 via Millfield, and avoids the District Hospital by taking Bourges Boulevard and Westward Bridge.
Comment: Westwood/Ravensthorpe loses its regular service along Hartwell Way but has a bus every 10 minutes to Hampton Court (6 buses an hour instead of 5) - probably the most controversial part of the scheme due to the number of elderly people in this area (but see service 6 below). North Bretton keeps the same frequency as now but loses its useful link across the railway to New England and Millfield, an area with many local amenities (Kings School pupils also have a problem).
Queensgate - Yaxley: no change in route or frequency from the existing 3.
Queensgate - Park Farm: The new 3 replaces the 6 and 7 and takes a single one-way loop around Stanground/Park Farm. Basically out via the old 7 (Chapel Street, Lawson Avenue, Southfields Drive, Coneygree Road etc, Park Farm Way) and back via the 6 (Whittlesey Road, Southfields Ave) as far as Lawson Avenue shops, then back the way it came.
Comment: a reduction in frequency from 4 to 3 buses an hour for Park Farm, although the simplification of the route will at least mean that people will know where to wait for the next bus. There will be no service along North Street.
Service 4: Queensgate - Reeves Way - Parnwell.
Every 20 minutes daytime. Evenings and Sundays: hourly on service 45 Queensgate - Welland - Parnwell - Queensgate.
A direct replacement for the Queensgate - Parnwell section of service 10.
Service 5: Queensgate - Eastfield Road - Welland/Dogsthorpe.
Every 10 minutes to Chestnut Avenue, splitting every 20 minutes to Dogsthorpe and Welland. Evenings and Sundays: hourly on service 45 Queensgate - Welland - Parnwell - Queensgate.
A direct replacement for service 9 along Eastfield Road, Eastern Avenue, Chestnut Avenue (but at double the frequency) then splits with alternate journeys going to Welland (the old 9) or performing a loop of Dogsthorpe (replacing the 8) via Central Avenue shops, Birchtree Avenue, Welland Road, Furze Ride, Eastern Avenue, Central Avenue.
Comment: Students at the Regional College will appreciate the service every 10 minutes.
Service 6: Ravensthorpe - Queensgate - Garton End - St Pauls Road - Chaucer Road - Paston - Gunthorpe - Werrington Centre.
This off-peak service will run hourly between 9am and 3pm covering various roads not covered by the new all-day network. It will link the Hartwell Way loop in Ravensthorpe with Queensgate, continuing via Dogsthorpe Road, Garton End Road, Elmfield Road, St Pauls Road, Lincoln Road, Chaucer Road, Paston, Gunthorpe (not sure of exact route), Werrington Green and clockwise around the Werrington loop (Church Street, Lincoln Road, Southwell Avenue, Hodgeson Avenue, Werrington Centre, Fulbridge Road).
Comment: This service was going to serve Hampton rather than Ravensthorpe, but following complaints from residents in Ravensthorpe, it was decided to route it there (Hampton will be served by the 12 instead).
Service 12: Hampton Hargate - Queensgate - Glinton - Market Deeping - Deeping St James.
This is the old D1/D2, still running hourly but extended from Queensgate to Serpentine Green and Hampton Hargate, replacing service 5. Note that the 12 will serve Lincoln Road in Werrington rather than the Parkway. The Peterborough - Huntingdon route (46) will be rerouted via Hampton Vale, and evening journeys will also serve Hampton Hargate. On Sundays the 12 will run Queensgate - Hampton - Orton Centre.
Comment: Between the 12 and 46, there will be 2 buses per hour between Queensgate and Hampton (same frequency as on the old service 5). Eventually, when roads are completed, buses will be able to serve Hampton Hargate and Hampton Vale without having to backtrack to the main road.
Service 33: Queensgate - Millfield - North Bretton (Thomas Cook) - Bretton Centre.
This peak-hour service will be extended to Bretton Centre, partly to meet the needs of school children, following the withdrawal of service 3 to Bretton via Millfield. In the morning there will be just one journey as now, and in the afternoon there will be three journeys, with the addition of an earlier departure suitable for school children.
Most of the new evening and Sunday services will mirror the daytime routes, leading to further simplification of the network, although services will be less frequent in certain areas.
The new Stagecoach guide and map is expected to be available from Tuesday (13th), and area guides for different parts of the city will also be available before the changeover. Stagecoach will have representatives in Cathedral Square on Wednesday and Thursday April 14/15 between 10am and 3pm, hopefully armed with all the literature (a notice at the bus station say timetables will be available from Thursday).
A fleet of 20 brand new low-floor single deck buses will enter service on the first day of the new timetables, running on services 2,3,4 and 5 (also evening 45) which will be branded citi. Service 1 will revert to double deck operation due to heavy patronage, although low-floor double deckers are planned for this service from next year.
Service 15, Orton Southgate - Hampton - Yaxley will have a revised timetable and a new operator, Cavalier Travel (previously First Choice Travel). On Mondays to Fridays it will be extended around the industrial area in Orton Southgate, due to the withdrawal of the off-peak Stagecoach service here, and will also serve the new area of Hampton, Hampton Vale (where it will terminate instead of Yaxley). On Saturdays it will run as now between Orton (Newcombe Way) and Yaxley via Serpentine Green. Cavalier are to acquire a low floor bus for this route. School service 27 will also be operated by Cavalier.
The Council sponsored Local Link and NewEye Flyer services will also be altered. The Local Link will be increased in frequency, running hourly between Queensgate and Safeway, whilst the New Eye Flyer's evening journeys will divert to serve Fengate as well as the Showcase Cinema.
Kimes service 713, Paston to Arthur Mellows Village College, will be withdrawn without replacement. Only the 715 remains of the three school services which used to run from northern Peterborough to AMVC.
04/04/04, updated 07/04/04, 10/04/04
New National Express timetable from March 1
National Express routes and destinations are basically unchanged in the new timetable from March 1, as far as Peterborough is concerned. However, there are minor retimings affecting many journeys by up to 15 minutes. The summary of coach departures and arrivals has now been updated.
There is, however, one change affecting the Ortons. Those London journeys which used to serve Orton Malborne, Orton Goldhay and Orton Centre will no longer do so, ending many years of this arrangement.
25/02/04, updated 11/03/04
TransLinc - new timetable and London terminus
TransLinc's Boston - Peterborough - London express service will change from February 16. Departure from Peterborough will be 15 minutes later at 0915, and the London terminus moves from Kings Cross (York Way) to the Green Line terminal at Victoria, which is situated between Victoria Station and the National Express coach station.
On Sundays the departure time from Peterborough remains at 1435. The coach returns from Victoria (Bullied Way Green Line Terminal Bay 4) at 1820 every day. In the southbound direction only, there will be additional stops at Hendon Central Underground station and Oxford Street (Stop O).
Full details of the timetable and fares appear on the TransLinc website.
03/02/04
Bay changes at Queensgate Bus Station
From January 5, several services will use different bays at the bus station in an attempt to reduce the incidence of buses having to leave from adjacent bays at busy times:
Stagecoach D1/D2 to Deeping St James will move to Bay 13; First Choice 301 to Thornhaugh moves to Bay 10; Cavalier Travel 331 to Ramsey will use Bay 6.
The list of bays, located in the menu under Bus Station, has been updated, as have relevant destination pages.
01/01/04, updated 04/01/04
Page updated 29/12/09
