Mayor Paul Bristow urges Combined Authority Board to protect vital bus link between March and Whittlesey

Mayor Paul Bristow urges Combined Authority Board to protect vital bus link between March and Whittlesey

Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Paul Bristow will tomorrow (June 4) urge the Combined Authority Board to step in and save a key rural bus service.

The Mayor is asking the Board to approve funding for the March to Whittlesey section of service 33, which Stagecoach East will cease operating after August 31 this year. Without intervention, the villages of Eastrea and Coates risk being cut off from Peterborough, and have no public transport alternative.

The Mayor said: “We have an opportunity to keep communities connected, and I’m asking for the Board’s support. This service is one of six that was handed back under the previous Mayor. By stepping in to save the 33 between March and Whittlesey, I am standing up for rural residents who depend on it for work, education and getting about.”

While Stagecoach East will continue to run the Whittlesey to Peterborough section of the route commercially, the March to Whittlesey link will end unless the Authority intervenes. Additionally, residents in the eastern area of Whittlesey would have to walk up to a mile to access the commercially retained 33 service to Peterborough.

Stagecoach East has announced that it will withdraw from several commercial and contracted services from 31 August 2025. Other affected routes include:

• 9/X9 (Cambridge–Ely–Littleport)
• 31 (Ramsey–Whittlesey–Peterborough)
• 604 (Milton–Impington Village College)
• 606 (Cambridge City Centre–Impington Village College)
• 607 (Trumpington–Sawston Village College)

Paul Bristow acknowledged the financial pressures facing the bus network, stating: “We can’t replace every commercial route when an operator pulls out, but where the case is clear, like it is here, we must act. I am making tough choices to deliver value for taxpayers while protecting our rural communities.”

The Mayor’s proposal will be considered by the Board at their meeting tomorrow (June 4).