Faster and direct bus services announced for Cambourne

Today, the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough announced plans for a number of initiatives for faster and direct bus services for Cambourne.

The Combined Authority will be exploring these initiatives with operators, funders and the local community.  These new bus services and better bus routes from Cambourne will go to key employment sites north and south of Cambridge city centre. They will provide quicker and more frequent ways to get from Cambourne to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (Addenbrooke’s), and a completely new route from Cambourne to the Science Park.

The first proposal is for a new non-stop bus service every half hour to the Cambridge Science Park & Cambridge Regional College from Cambourne will run Mondays to Fridays. This would be an express service that has been especially designed to avoid traffic jams because it does not pick up or set down on route and therefore can use any combination of roads.

The second  proposal is to improve the current X3 bus route which would also be increased from every ninety minutes to an hourly service and will be extended so that it runs from Huntingdon to Cambridge city centre via Godmanchester, Papworth and Cambourne through to Trumpington, Addenbrookes and Cambridge railway station to provide a direct new orbital link facilities from west of the city. The enhanced X3 will give Papworth much better bus links north and south and provide more regular, more frequent links to Huntingdon from Papworth and Cambourne.

The Authority is also proposing an additional hourly X3 service which will run direct to the Cambridge BioMedical Centre from Cambourne using the M11 motorway. Together these X3 buses will give Cambourne a half hourly direct link to Trumpington, Addenbrookes and the Cambridge BioMedical Centre.

James Palmer, the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority said:

“The bus initiatives announced today will provide direct journeys from Cambourne to Addenbrookes and from Cambourne to Cambridge Science Park.  The Combined Authority have listened to the residents of Cambourne and provided bus travel which will be significantly quicker and more convenient, enabling them to access key employment sites and across Cambridge.“These services have been planned with a collaborative partnership of operators, councillors and local residents, and there will be further engagement with residents as the detailed timetables are set. I hope to see these new service in operation within the next three to five months.”

Councillors representing the area on South Cambridgeshire District Council were also delighted to hear the news.

Cllr Ruth Betson (Cambourne) has campaigned and fought for better transport infrastructure since she was first elected in 2017. She said:

“After numerous conversations with Mayor Palmer, I am absolutely delighted that we have found a way forward so quickly. Cambourne residents do not deserve to sit in traffic every morning: more often than not it takes ninety minutes to do just eight miles. For some people, these new bus services will halve their morning headache! I now look forward to working closely with the Mayor on the CAM project”.

Cllr Grenville Chamberlain’s (Hardwick) response to the news was simply: “Absolutely Brilliant!”