Changes to bus services in and around Peterborough in 2006 (latest items first). For older news see the Archive page.
Christmas and New Year Alterations
Sunday December 24 - Normal Sunday service (no Citi departures from Queensgate after 2015, last X4 2010 as normal). Last X1 towards Peterborough will be 1959 from King's Lynn; last X1 from Peterborough will be the 2118 (the 1918 and 2018 will run only to King's Lynn). The last journey on Whippet 1A will be the 2005.
Monday December 25 and Tuesday December 26 - NO SERVICE.
Wednesday December 27 to Friday December 29 - Stagecoach and Cavalier will run a SATURDAY timetable whereas Delaine, First Excel, Kimes and all other operators are running normal Monday to Friday timings. Huntingdon & District service 407 (4th Wednesday of the month) will run as normal.
Saturday December 30 - normal Saturday service (First Choice Travel 352/3 are expected to be normal contrary to what the Peterborough City Council leaflet says).
Sunday December 31 - Normal Sunday service (no Citi departures from Queensgate after 2015, last X4 2010 as normal). X1 and 1A will run the same as on Christmas Eve.
Monday January 1 - NO SERVICE.
Tuesday January 2 - Normal service resumes
23/12/06
Changes to Stagecoach 13 and 14 from December 11
Service 13 - the 1605 from Kings School and Queensgate to Oundle was replaced by an additional journey on service 14.
Service 14 - the 1445 Peterborough - Oundle journey is extended to Oundle on Saturdays. The 1545 to Orton Northgate now runs instead to Elton, returning at 1615 (the 1615 Orton Northgate - Peterborough is withdrawn). There is a new 1605 to Orton Northgate (replacing the 13 journey) returning at 1645. The 1645 to Elton is extended to Oundle (and Thrapston on Saturdays). The 1628 Oundle - Peterborough is retimed to 1641 (on Saturdays it leaves from Thrapston at 1615).
These changes were advised to me well before the change and I apologise for not getting them to you earlier.
23/12/06
Evening closure of Fulbridge Road
As a result of the closure of Fulbridge Road between Robert Avenue and Marlowe Grove, Stagecoach Citi 2 will be diverted after 2000 each evening from November 13 to 26 to operate from Dogsthorpe Road via St Pauls Road, Lincoln Road, Mountsteven Avenue, Croyland Road, Holland Avenue and Hallfields Lane to normal line of route. On the return journey buses will continue along Paston Ridings to Hallfields Lane then as above mentioned route reversed. As this will take additional time a temporary timetable will be in operation over this period with journeys terminating at Queensgate Bus Station rather than District Hospital. Citi 4 will be extended from Queensgate to District Hospital as a replacement for Citi 2, at the normal times.
18/11/06
Dayrider, Megarider and other Day Tickets
The All-day Tickets page has now been completely revamped and expanded and now shows the precise areas of validity of the various tickets available, including Stagecoach's range of Dayrider and Megarider tickets, which were changed from October 1st.
29/10/06
Bay changes at Queensgate
From October 22nd there have been some changes to bays at Queensgate Bus Station. Citi 3 to Yaxley, Park Farm (and now Whittlesey) leaves from Bay 5 rather than 7, and Citi 6 to Hampton has moved from Bay 8 to Bay 7. Changes which may have happened earlier are that Stagecoach X9 and 36 leave from Bay 16 (ex 17) and Local Link 411 has moved from Bay 15 to 16.
28/10/06
Minor change to Paul James R47
From October 23rd certain intermediate times on R47 have changed: the 1545 from Peterborough no longer serves Wansford or Duddington (but does call at South Luffenham), whilst the 1640 from Uppingham operates direct to Peterborough, calling at intermediate points only to set down passengers already on the bus.
26/10/06
Stagecoach X4 changes
From October 29th Stagecoach X4 (the Northampton and Milton Keynes service) will no longer serve the railway station, due to problems with traffic congestion there. However, passengers will be able to use their X4 ticket to travel for free to the railway station on Citi 6, which runs every 20 minutes.
The rather generous hourly Sunday service, which this service has enjoyed since April this year, will be cut back to its former two-hourly frequency (although it will remain hourly between Corby and Northampton).
08/10/06, updated 13/10/06
Whittlesey and Stanground from October 22nd
Stagecoach Citi 3 will be extended from Park Farm to Whittlesey (Victory Avenue) every 20 minutes, and will be rerouted in Stanground via Lawson Avenue, Coneygree Road, Elwood Avenue, Park Farm Way and Whittlesey Road, returning by the same route.
Until Christmas there will also be an hourly evening service to Whittlesey at 45 minutes past each hour, returning from Victory Avenue at 10 minutes past the hour until 2310.
City Council service 407 will be rerouted to cover some roads no longer served by Citi 3. From Lawson Avenue it will run via Southfields Drive, Coneygree Road, Kingston Drive, Southfields Avenue and Romany Gardens, continuing via normal route to Hampton. It will take the same roads in the reverse direction.
08/10/06
Earlier Sunday morning services until Christmas
Certain Sunday morning services will start up earlier from Ocober 22nd until Christmas. Citi 1 will start 30 minutes earlier (0910 from Orton Wistow and 0906 from Werrington Green). Citi 3 will also start 30 minutes earlier on the Bretton section (0912 from South Bretton, also 0945 Queensgate - Bretton) and one hour earlier from Yaxley (at 0845). Citi 5 will start one hour earlier (0845 to Dogsthorpe and back), and Stagecoach 15 will also start one hour earlier (0914 from Orton Centre via Hampton, returning from Queensgate at 0945).
08/10/06, updated 29/10/06
Park and Ride starts a month earlier
The free park and ride services this year run on Saturdays September 30th to December 30th and on Sundays November 26th to December 31st. The usual Lynch Wood and Perkins car parks will be used, but the Maskew Avenue site will not be used this year as the Council land there is about to be vacated due to redevelopment.
At Lynch Wood, the entrance to Pearl car park no. 5 is adjacent to the bus shelter. Buses run every 12 minutes, operated by Cavalier Travel.
The Perkins car park is at Oxney Road, just off the Frank Perkins Parkway. The bus stop outside the car park gates is actually adjacent to the Sainsburys (Newark) stop. Buses also run every 12 minutes and are operated by Kimes, a newcomer to these operations. Stagecoach is not involved this year.
Both services remain free this year, justified by the work being carried out on the Town Rail Bridge. Just to clarify, that's free to park and free to travel on the bus. You would be mad not to take advantage of it. Complete timetables for both services will be found at the bottom of the Timetables by Route page.
27/09/06
Stagecoach 13/14 and Huntingdon & District 331
Oundle area services 13 and 14 will change from September 4th. Amongst the changes are the withdrawal of the morning journey on service 13 from Peterborough at 0955. There there will be a new X14 service with one morning peak journey to Lynch Wood and two returning in the evening peak (replacing 13A journeys). On service 14 there will be a new 1825 Peterborough to Oundle journey replacing a recently withdrawn journey on service X4.
Huntingdon and District 331 - due to school changes, the 1500 from Ramsey and 1600 from Peterborough will run 10 minutes later from September 4th.
28/08/06
All change on the Whittlesey routes
Alec Head Coaches, who took over service 701 to Whittlesey and Coates from November following the demise of Morleys, has ceased operating the route at short notice. The last day of operation was Monday August 7th.
From the following day, Cavalier Travel started operating additional journeys on service 337, with some journeys being provided by sister company Huntingdon and District. After some changes, the timetable was finalised from August 16th, with some journeys operating via Stanground Corner (i.e. South Street) rather than Oakdale Avenue (one 337 journey each way runs direct via the main road, as does service 331). I am informed by Roger Cox that all Cavalier/Huntingdon and District buses travel direct via Fletton Avenue, not via Fletton High Street and Princes Road as Morley and Alec Head used to.
From Thursday August 10th a new operator came on the scene in the form of Judd's Travel Ltd of Manea, operating between Peterborough and Coates under the number 701. Vehicles are actually from the Embling of Guyhirn fleet, as the proprietor is the brother-in-law of Mr Embling. Initially there were five journeys between Peterborough and Whittlesey, with three extending to and from Coates (on Saturdays there were five journeys, all of which served Coates). An enhanced timetable was introduced from August 21st with ten return journeys, plus two early evening journeys on Thursdays and Fridays. During the Beer Festival additional late buses (including 2315 to Coates) are apparently being operated. Enthusiasts will be pleased to note that elderly VRs (such as DNG 233T) are in use on the route, at least for now.
10/08/06, updated 23/08/06.
Temporary closure of bus station
Parts of Queensgate Bus Station closed from Friday July 28th due to a pane of glass breaking in the roof - concerns were raised that the framework may have been damaged by the hot weather, particularly as a broken pane had been discovered some weeks earlier. Bays remained in use at the extremities of the bus station but there was initially no access to the interior of the bus station. An alternative walking route from the shops was opened, using the lift to Royce level 1, bringing you out next to the drivers' rest room. Access by escalator was restored from around Monday August 21st, and the kiosk was reopened, but most of the bays remained out of use.
Initially city services were relocated to stops in Westgate, Midgate and Rivergate. From August 9th temporary bays were set up at Acland Street bus park (just north of the bus station between Westgate and Bright Steet), which were used by country services. After 1900 hrs and on Sundays, however, Acland Street becomes a car park so all services left from the bus station at these times.
It was announced that Queensgate Bus Station would reopen on Monday August 21st but there were further delays, and it reopened fully from 7pm on Friday 25th August.
10/08/06, updated 29/08/06
Changes from 23rd July
The evening service on Stagecoach service X4to Oundle and beyond has been cut back. Last journey from Peterborough is now at 2000 hrs.
Stagecoach service 6 is extended beyond Queensgate to start and finish at the railway station all day. On Mondays to Fridays the service will start 20 minutes earlier from Hampton. On Saturdays it will start 20 minutes later and also finish 20 minutes later early evening.
Stagecoach X7 is a new service to Skegness running on Saturdays and Sundays from July 23 to September 3. On Saturdays there are two journeys each way, with a change at Boston, making trips into Peterborough possible as well as trips to the seaside.
GNER Taxibus is a new demand responsive service between Hampton and the railway station providing a door to door service every 20 minutes before 0900 and after 1700 on Mondays to Fridays.
Bettacars are no longer involved with Village Link 402 which is now operated by the City Council. There is a revised timetable with a reduction in service on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Village Link 404 has a revised timetable and will also operate on Sundays from July 30 between Peterborough and Stamford, replacing the Kimes service withdrawn in June. Note that the Sunday service will start on 30th July and not 23rd July as originally hoped.
Kimes service 9 will depart from Bay 9. Local Link 407 will depart from Bay 7.
There are also some changes to the Bays at Norwich bus station - the X1 to Peterborough will depart from Norwich Bay 3.
21/07/06, updated 23/07/06
Evening cutbacks to Whittlesey
Alec Head Coaches has announced the withdrawal of its evening service Peterborough - Whittlesey - Coates (consisting of three journeys each way on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays) from the end of June. The exact date of withdrawal is unclear - it may already have happened.
24/06/06
Rutland Cutbacks
Sunday service 9A and 9B operated by Kimes but funded by Rutland County Council has been withdrawn. This service ran from Peterborough via Stamford to Oakham (9B also served Uppingham). Final day of these routes was June 18th.
Service R47 from Peterborough to Uppingham, operated by Paul James Coaches on behalf of Rutland County Council, is reduced to three journeys each way from June 26th, leaving Uppingham at 0730, 1400 and 1640, returning from Queensgate at 0835, 1545 and 1735.
24/06/06
Days out in London - change to rail ticket conditions
First Capital Connect, who now run the stopping trains to London, have introduced a restriction on their cheap day tickets which prevents you from returning from London on trains scheduled to leave between 1630 and 1901 on Mondays to Fridays. This applies to the Cheap Day Return, the one-day off-peak Travelcard, Family Travelcard and DaySave tickets. The Rail Fares - London page has been updated.
Car parking is outside the scope of this site, but since we are talking about rail I will mention that there will be a major increase in parking charges at the railway station from 3rd July. The daily rate will be £10, weekly £40, monthly £140, 3-monthly £360, annual £1080.
21/06/06
Changes to Stagecoach 3, 6 and 14 from 11th June
Service 3: inbound journeys from Park Farm and Yaxley to Peterborough are slightly retimed in order to improve reliability. Yaxley journeys are given extra running time whereas Park Farm journeys are speeded up.
Service 6: extra running time has been given to this Peterborough - Serpentine Green - Hampton Vale service. Journeys to Peterborough run 5 - 7 minutes later.
Service 14: the 1425 Peterborough to Elton is extended to Oundle, and the 1425 Thrapston - Oundle is extended via Elton to Peterborough.
08/06/06
Major change to Stagecoach 12 from 11th June
From June 11th Stagecoach's Peterborough - Market Deeping - Deeping St James service will operate direct via Bourges Boulevard and Werrington Parkway (same as Delaine) instead of via Millfield and Werrington Cock Inn. This will save 10 minutes on the journey time, and will also allow the service to be operated by one bus.
The timetable will be simplified and the early evening service improved. Departures from Peterborough will be hourly 0610 - 2010 on Mons to Fris, 0710 - 2010 on Saturdays, returning from Deeping St James Cross 25 minutes later. At Queensgate it will move from Bay 14 to Bay 4.
30/05/06, updated 07/06/06
Peterborough City Council changes from 30th April
The Local Link and Village Link network is once again being recast due to extra funding having been received from Central Government through the Kickstart scheme. Service 410 starts from Sunday 30th April; the other changes commence from Tuesday 2nd May following the Bank Holiday.
Local Link 401 is the new identity for 31 Thornhaugh - Peterborough. The one journey each way (largely for Kings School) is unchanged.
Local Link 402 is the existing Village Link service operated by Bettacars in the Stamford - Barnack - Peterborough area. The timetable is unchanged.
Local Link 403 is operated by First Choice Travel and replaces service 38 from Werrington Centre to Maxey and Helpston. The service is extended via Barnack and Marholm to Bretton Centre, supplementing Local Link 402. As a matter of interest, Barnack is now served by no fewer than five operators, though not all on the same day!
Local Link 404 is also operated by First Choice Travel and replaces services 11 and 13 giving peak-hour journeys Peterborough - Wansford - Stamford. The evening journeys to Stamford are withdrawn.
Local Link 406 is the renumbered Local Link 6 Werrington - Paston - Queensgate - Ravensthorpe - Bretton. Altered in Gunthorpe to run via Pennine Way and Hallfields Lane. Timetable largely unchanged except in evening peak.
Local Link 407 is the renumbered Local Link 7. In Stanground the route is altered to run via Lawson Avenue and Coneygree Road (Kingston Drive on the return) instead of Southfields Avenue. Journeys will run 10 minutes earlier.
Local Link 408 is the renumbered Local Link 8 Bretton - Millfield - Queensgate. Timetable is unchanged.
Local Link 409 is an hourly service from Walton (Morrisons) to Queensgate via Dogsthorpe, Welland and Eastern Industry, partly replacing Local Link 9. Routeing in Dogsthorpe and Welland is via Welland Road, Bluebell Avenue, Lavender Crescent, Welland Road, Eastern Avenue, Western Avenue, Chestnut Avenue, Central Avenue, Scalford Drive, Belvoir Way and Eye Road. The Tesco Distribution Centre, Carr Road and Fengate (First Drove) are served at certain times by deviations from route.
Local Link 410 runs approximately hourly from Sainsburys at Newark via Eastern Industry, Showcase Cinema and Fengate to Queensgate. Peak hour and Sunday journeys extend to Eye and Newborough. One morning journey continues beyond Newborough to Werrington Centre. This service partly replaces Local Link 9 and the NewEye Flyer. Crowland loses its Sunday service, as does Ferry Meadows, whereas Newborough has no less than seven journeys on a Sunday.
Local Link 411 is a new off-peak service from Newborough to Peterborough via Dogsthorpe (Welland Road, Eastern Avenue, Western Avenue, Chestnut Avenue, Central Avenue, Newark Avenue, Eastfield Road), also partly replacing Local Link 9 and the NewEye Flyer. The service will deviate from its normal line of route to pick up pre-booked passengers. There is also a journey to and from Etton replacing Stagecoach service 47 on Mondays to Fridays.
Local Link 415 is the rebranded 15 operated by Cavalier Travel extended from Orton Southgate to Lynch Wood Business Park. The Saturday extension to Yaxley will be withdrawn. The evening service to Queensgate is retimed.
26/04/06, updated 30/04/06
Day Tickets
A new All-day Tickets page has beeen added giving details of the various day and seven day tickets available in the area such as Dayrider, Megarider and Explorer. It also includes the new MultiBus scheme introduced at the beginning of this year which gives unlimited travel on the services of nine operators throughout Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
When time permits I hope to add a page giving suggested days out by bus from Peterborough using these excellent value tickets.
13/04/06
Easter bus services
Good Friday, April 14 - Stagecoach Citi 1 to 6 will be operating a Saturday service, as will Delaine (last bus 1730 from Bourne, 1830 from Peterborough) and Cavalier 15. Other Stagecoach services, First X1 and Cavalier 337 will have a Sunday service. Not sure about Kimes or the City Council Local Link services.
Easter Saturday, April 15 - normal Saturday services.
Easter Sunday, April 16 - normal Sunday service on Stagecoach, Cavalier and First X1, but Delaine will not be running (judging by previous years Kimes may not run either).
Easter Monday, April 17 - Sunday services on all routes.
13/04/06
New X9 and Peterborough - March changes
From Sunday April 16th new Stagecoach service X9 will be introduced every 2 hours Peterborough - Thorney - Guyhirn - March - Chatteris - Ely - Cambridge. Cavalier Travel service 337 to March via Whittlesey will be reduced as a result, but will co-ordinate with X9, and Cavalier will be running more journeys to Whittlesey.
The X9 is the replacement for service 19. A Peterborough - March - Cambridge service has run before; the X7 was withdrawn on August 30, 2003, when Cavalier Travel took over between Peterborough and March.
04/04/06
First X1 pulls out of Eye
From 2nd April, Excel X1 (Peterborough - Kings Lynn - Norwich - Lowestoft) will cease to divert into Eye Village during the evenings and on Sundays. Although the timetable has been reissued there are no other changes affecting Peterborough.
31/03/06
X4 changes
From 2nd April Stagecoach service X4 to Northampton and Milton Keynes will have a revised timetable. On Mondays to Saturdays many journeys towards Peterborough will be 5-10 minutes earlier, and the last journey from Queensgate will be 30 minutes earlier at 2110. The 1810 and 1910 departures will take the direct routeing and not serve Lynch Wood.
Between Wellingborough and Northampton buses will now serve Earls Barton, and journey times are extended by up to 15 minutes. Although not affecting Peterborough, the Corby to Milton Keynes section will run every 30 minutes.
On Sundays the service frequency will be doubled, with departures from Queensgate every hour from 1010 to 2010 - journeys up to 1610 will run through to Milton Keynes. The Sunday deviation to serve Stoke Bruerne for the Canal Museum is discontinued.
27/02/06, updated 30/03/06
New Buses for Route One
The 14 new low-floor double deckers for Stagecoach route 1 have been delivered and are in store at the IKEA warehouse site. They are Dennis Tridents with "06" registration plates and Alexander bodies and are due to enter service from Sunday March 19. Update: Trident 18412 is pictured on the homepage on its first morning of service at Werrington Centre.
14/03/06, updated 19/03/06
National Express
The new National Express coach timetable from March 6 sees no major changes for Peterborough, although several departure and arrival times have changed by a few minutes. Extra running time has once again been added to services affected by peak hour traffic congestion, notably the first service 350 which now leaves Liverpool at 0715 instead of 0730; this journey arrives Peterborough 15 minutes later than before at 1515.
14/03/06
School Service 710 withdrawn
The Stagecoach schoolday journey numbered 710 from Queensgate to St John Fisher School has been withdrawn and last ran on February 10, before the half-term holiday.
27/02/06
Changes from 9th January, 2006
The following changes will take place from Monday January 9. For latest timetables please click on "Timetables by Route" in the menu.
Stagecoach Citi 4 will have a revised timetable giving an additional 5 minutes running time on the round trip. The very early 0535 from Queensgate will be withdrawn and the first journey will now be at 0630. Daytime departures from Queensgate will be adjusted to 00,10,20,30,40,50. Evening and Sunday journeys will now serve Parnwell Centre, taking the same route as daytime journeys.
Stagecoach Citi 5 also has a revised timetable with an extra 5 minutes running time on the round trip. Departures from Queensgate will be unchanged, except that there will be additional Mon-Sat journeys at 0645 and 1815.
Stagecoach Citi 6 is unchanged except that the only journeys to serve the railway station will be the 0625 and 0645 from Hampton Vale. This is due to congestion at the station, and passengers may find that some journeys are already omitting the station detour.
The City Council's Local Link 6 will have a slightly revised timetable, with all journeys extended beyond Edith Cavell Hospital to Bretton Centre. Instead of serving Alexandra Road and the Chaucer Road area, it will be rerouted via Garten End Road and Elmfield Road to serve "The Comet", which has had no regular bus service for a while, continuing to Paston direct via Fulbridge Road. Chaucer Road will instead be covered by Local Link 8, whereas the poorly patronised Alexandra Road section will have no replacement service. Some parts of the route become "Hail and Ride", namely Werrington Green to Donaldson Drive, Fulbridge Road - Dogsthorpe Road/Lincoln Road and Audley Gate - Hartwell Way.
New Local Link 8 operated by Peterborough City Council will run from Bretton Centre to Queensgate via North Bretton, Rhubarb Bridge, Lincoln Road, Mountsteven Avenue, Croyland Road, Holland Avenue (restoring a bus service to these last two roads), Paston Church, Fulbridge Road, Sheridan Road, Chaucer Road, Keat's Way, Scotney Street, Millfield (Lincoln Road) and Westgate. This will partially replace service 33 (Bretton - Millfield - Dogsthorpe) and will also replace Local Link 6 as far as the Chaucer Road area is concerned. The Mountsteven Avenue to Lincoln Road section will now be "Hail and Ride". Departures from Bretton Centre are hourly 0908-1608, with an additional journey operating at 1738 via Coningsby Road operating direct to Queensgate as now. From Queensgate the 0810 runs as now via Coningsby Road, and the regular hourly journeys run 0943-1643. The last of these will divert via Coningsby Road giving a new facility from Thomas Cook to Bretton Centre at 1707.
Local Link 9, also operated by Peterborough City Council, will replace the Local Link East (previously shown as LL in timetables) and will run hourly off-peak from Morrison's at Walton to Queensgate via New England, Dogsthorpe, Welland, Parnwell Way (for the new Tesco Distribution Centre), Sainsbury's, Showcase Cinema and First Drove. There will be an evening service terminating at Eye Church, replacing the evening service on the NewEye Flyer. The complicated route between Morrison's and Dogsthorpe (The Bluebell) is withdrawn in favour of a direct route via Lincoln Road, The Triangle and St Paul's Road, leaving the poorly used Tennyson Road/Shakespeare Avenue deviation unserved. Paston Church and Fulbridge Road is now served by LL8, and Eye Road is served by Stagecoach services now that LL9 takes Parnwell Way.
The NewEye Flyer will have a revised timetable, and the evening service will be withdrawn (replaced as far as Eye by LL9).
On Stagecoach service 14, the 1655 from Newcombe Way will no longer serve Orton Waterville.
On Cavalier service 15, the 2245 from Queensgate will be withdrawn (it ran on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays) but there will be a new 2245 Mon-Sat journey from Queensgate via Newark Sainsbury's to the Tesco Distribution Centre on Parnwell Way, returning at 2305 from there and connecting into the 2315 departures from Queensgate.
31/12/05, expanded 27/02/06
Page updated 29/12/09
