Cambridge Guided Busway - ongoing discussion and updates (merged topic)

[whole diary]

[paul7575]

A further update on the Gosport - Fareham Busway, yesterday(18/7/20).

The starting section from the existing busway appears to have been dugout to full depth for the preparation of the pavement. In the middle section (to where the existing cycle path crosses it) all the former rails appear to have been removed and excavation to partial depth. The last section surveyed and marked out to the junction with the Rowner Road (which I still can't visualise).

I think the original Rowner Road plan was to drop that road to the old track level by removing the existing bridge.   Sort of opposite to what they did at Newgate Lane and Wych Lane, where they brought the busway down to road level.    But now the bus lane will just rise to a T junction at existing level.

I’d have thought it best to keep Rowner Road Bridge and eventually run the busway under it?

[grahame]

Firstly, I was told some years ago that the crucial factor behind this being promoted as a guided busway rather than reopening the St Ives to Cambridge branch as a railway was the cost of repairing the bridge over the Great Ouse at St Ives and upgrading it to current railway standards. My source was involved with the project for a government agency, and someone I would regard as reliable. Do those costs now stack up? Too late to do anything about it now!

I heard ...
(1) able to get a lot more central / eurpoean grant for a busway than for a railway
(2) flexibility off ends to run into Cambridge centre and round lots of road-branches at the outer end to give direct services from lots of places away from the old rail line into the city
... but there were probably many more positives for the busway; I was only taking an interest quite late in the game, and then only from a potential knowledgable occasional users viewpoint and not as a campaigner.  The Cast Iron campaign had by that point just lost the decision.

Secondly, (admitting that this might be nonsense coming from a non-engineer), my limited knowledge of railway infrastructure and formations is that embankments are not entirely stable structures,

Very good question about the ability of what is essentially slab track versus sleeper track to withstand limited movements of the underlying land and earthworks.   I don't have a very good answer, but highlighting the question again in case anyone else does.   May have been asked before, but I can't remember it and I have been here for 12 years!

[bradshaw]

Update on Cambridge guided busway saga with the Council suing BAM Nuttall

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/bam-nuttall-faces-legal-action-as-cambridgeshire-busway-row-resurfaces-20-07-2020/

[TonyK]

Update on Cambridge guided busway saga with the Council suing BAM Nuttall

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/bam-nuttall-faces-legal-action-as-cambridgeshire-busway-row-resurfaces-20-07-2020/

I've had this month's freebie from NCE. Here is the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)'s report on the matter.

Cambridgeshire busway: Bid to reclaim £80m repair bill
17 July 2020

A second round of legal action has been launched against the company which built Cambridgeshire's busway, in a bid to reclaim more than half of the £150m construction costs.

The county council settled a £36m dispute against BAM Nuttall in 2014 and is now looking to claim a further £80m.

The busway, which links St Ives to Cambridge, opened in 2011 after delays and financial rows.

BAM Nuttall said it was "disappointing" the matter was in the High Court.

Cambridgeshire County Council's legal claim includes the correction of all the identified defects and the cost of the repairs already made.

In a High Court document, the council claims it has received "no adequate justification" from the contractors for the foundation depths it has constructed.
 
It said BAM Nuttall had not factored in "the expected movements of the foundation" and there were "errors" in its calculations.

On the balance of probabilities, it said, the foundations would not meet the required lifespan of 40 years.

The council also cited "inappropriate infiltration drainage design", missing and incorrect information in maintenance manuals and the provision of dirty and contaminated concrete beam moulds.

The council said it had used third parties to try to correct the defects and "claims a sum to be assessed by the court as the cost to correct the defects... or alternatively as damages for breach of contract".

BAM Nuttall said: "Anything wrong with the busway design, for which BAM Nuttall is responsible, we'll put it right.

"In the six years since the council's consultants alleged that the busway would need hundreds of interventions each month, this has not come to pass. The engineering evidence shows that it will not come to pass in the future.

"BAM is confident that we'll demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the court that the design of the busway is not fundamentally defective and doesn't require the remedial works, which the council claims."

Part of this report seems to contradict the reports of what happened in the earlier case. Cambridgeshire agreed a settlement of £800,000 for the £36 million claim, with a legal bill to make the eyes water. It looks as though BAM are not going to be so nice this time. The busway is, according to them, still in good working order. The truth will be out there somewhere, and it will be interesting to see what it is.

[Lee]

Of course, they weren't always at eachothers throats.

Cast Iron were a key member of CANBER^▸ (Campaign Against the New Beeching Report) in the mid-2000s, so I spent quite a lot of time helping them to try and stop the busway, and get a rail solution built instead. As a result, I well remember some of the "interesting" publicity material that the promoters came out with.

Here is one such example from October 2007. With apologies in advance to Sade, I give you "Smooth Operator" :

Construction of the world's longest guided busway has just started in Cambridgeshire, with precast concrete the key.

Presumably, residents of Cambridgeshire where the local university is home to some of the world's best academics - get used to leading the way on matters of research and innovation. But it may still come as a surprise that the East Anglian county is leading the world in matters of transportation.

A guided busway is currently under construction between Cambridge and St Ives that , when completed, will be the longest in the world. It will run almost 26km, linking commuters north of the city with its railway station, science park and Addenbrookes Hospital. Importantly, it will also pass the 9,500 homes in the Northstowe development set to be built between the two areas.

The idea of building a guided busway came out of the Cambridge to Huntingdon Multi Modal Study (CHUMMS). The areas are currently linked by the A14, a very heavily used road that is notorious for accidents and breakdowns, in part due to its high volume of HGVs en route to Felixstowe. Journey times are highly unpredictable, and incidents on the A14 can gridlock all surrounding roads.

The busway scheme makes use of a disused rail corridor, and was one of a number of options considered during the study. “We looked at both heavy and light rail, as well as building a bus lane on the A14," explains Bob Menzies, Cambridgeshire County Council head of delivery for the busway scheme. Surprisingly, not only was the bus solution cheaper than either light or heavy rail (at just one fifth the price), but it also proved capable of carrying more passengers.

The guided bus network will allow standard buses to run within a concrete "guideway", which consists of a running surface and a low upstand. Small guide wheels on the side of the buses run along the inside of the upstand to keep them within the guideway.

It is a simple system that allows any bus to join the network, provided it has been fitted with the necessary steering modifications and guide wheels, which can be done for as little as £2,000 although the operators on the Cambridgeshire route are investing in completely new fleets. The main advantages over rail are in the cost of construction, operation and maintenance, and the system scores over normal buses in many ways, including land take, drainage and ride quality.

Because the buses run within the designated guideway (or busway), they require far less space than traditional road running. They also require less hard surfacing just enough for the bus wheels so surface run off is less of an issue than it would be with road construction.

(Continues...)

Whilst hindsight is indeed a wonderful thing, it is well worth reading the whole piece, given the way things have turned out.

[TonyK]

Whilst hindsight is indeed a wonderful thing, it is well worth reading the whole piece, given the way things have turned out.

A fifth of the price of a railway. Who'd be a prophet, eh?

[CyclingSid]

An update on the Fareham - Gosport BuswY. was down there yesterday (Saturday 6th). The road seems largely complete up to the top of the Rowner Road bridge connection. I would say that the road has had its final surface, the bus stops are installed, probably just fencing, railings and landscaping to be completed.

[grahame]

So how is the Cambridge Guidded Busway going years after the most recent post in this thread?

From Facebook, a post that has generated over 800 comments and over 600 shares

Did you know that England is home to the longest guided busway in the world? The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, stretching over 25 kilometers, efficiently connects Cambridge, Huntingdon, and St Ives. This innovative system allows buses to travel swiftly along a dedicated track, bypassing conventional traffic and significantly improving public transport punctuality. Its design has transformed urban mobility in the region, providing faster and more reliable service for thousands of passengers every day.

[TonyK]

So how is the Cambridge Guidded Busway going years after the most recent post in this thread?

From Facebook, a post that has generated over 800 comments and over 600 shares

Did you know that England is home to the longest guided busway in the world? The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, stretching over 25 kilometers, efficiently connects Cambridge, Huntingdon, and St Ives. This innovative system allows buses to travel swiftly along a dedicated track, bypassing conventional traffic and significantly improving public transport punctuality. Its design has transformed urban mobility in the region, providing faster and more reliable service for thousands of passengers every day.

The commenters don't seem to enjoy the Facebook page owner's enthusiasm for guided bus against rail.

[Chris from Nailsea]

An update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Council fined millions after three busway deaths


Kathleen Pitts (left), Steve Moir (centre) and Jennifer Taylor (right) all died in collisions with buses

A council has been fined £6m after three deaths on the world's longest guided busway.

Jennifer Taylor, Steve Moir and Kathleen Pitts died after collisions on the Cambridgeshire busway between 2015 and 2021.

Sentencing Cambridgeshire County Council at Cambridge Crown Court, Judge Mark Bishop criticised the authority for its "rigid and blinkered response" to the fatalities, as well as numerous near-misses and accidents.

The authority previously admitted two safety breaches and said it was "truly sorry". It was ordered to pay the fine over three years.

Cambridgeshire County Council runs the transport link that serves Cambridge, St Ives and Huntingdon. It opened in 2011 and much of the 16-mile (26km) route involves a modified bus being guided along a track.

Ms Taylor, 81, was hit by a bus when she crossed the track on foot at Fen Drayton in November 2015.

Mr Moir, 50, fell into the path of a bus after clipping a kerb with his bicycle that separated him from the busway in Cambridge, in September 2018.

Pedestrian Kathleen Pitts, 52, was struck by a bus on the same stretch in October 2021.

A fourth person, Leon Leeson, was left with memory loss, a broken collarbone, a tear in his liver and the loss of hearing in one ear, following an incident.

The county council previously admitted two charges under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, relating to the public trying to cross the busway at designated crossings and being struck while moving alongside the busway.

(Article continues)

[Chris from Nailsea]

Another update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Eleven in hospital as buses and fire engine crash



Eleven people have been taken to hospital after a crash between two guided buses and a fire engine.

It happened on the B1050 Station Road at the junction with the Busway in Northstowe, near Cambridge, shortly after 14:00 BST.

Cambridgeshire County Council said the road had been closed in both directions and buses, which use dedicated lanes, had been diverted.

An eyewitness to the aftermath of the collision said it looked "pretty horrendous".

The Busway lanes/tracks have raised concrete sides, which can only be used by modified vehicles, although they have junctions with normal roads.

An East of England Ambulance Service spokesman said four ambulances, three Hazardous Area Response Team vehicles, two paramedic cars and helicopters from the East Anglian Air Ambulance and MAGPAS were sent.

The council said it was working with the emergency services and the bus operator. The authority added that a diversion route was in place via Longstanton roundabout to the A1307 at Swavesey crossroads.

Ian Missen saw the aftermath of the crash and said it was "pretty horrendous".  "There was two buses and a fire engine and it looked like the fire engine had hit one bus which pushed that bus into another bus," he said. "The traffic lights at the Northstowe guided bus – they are so quick in changing from the road to the guided bus that I'm surprised there hasn't been more crashes there. It was on the B1050 between Northstowe and Willingham... closer to Northstowe than Willingham."



At a crown court hearing earlier on Wednesday, the council was fined £6m after three deaths on The Busway, which offers three routes in Cambridge with links to Huntingdon and St Ives. Judge Mark Bishop criticised the authority for its "rigid and blinkered response" to the fatalities, as well as numerous near-misses and accidents. The authority had previously admitted two safety breaches and said it was "truly sorry".

[CyclingSid]

they are so quick in changing from the road to the guided bus that I'm surprised there hasn't been more crashes there.

I notice that some traffic lights in Reading seem to have been changed to very short phase and cycle times. Doesn't do much for the safety of cyclists. Is this just the normal attitude of Reading BC to cyclists, or does the quote above suggest that there has been a national direction.

[stuving]

they are so quick in changing from the road to the guided bus that I'm surprised there hasn't been more crashes there.

I notice that some traffic lights in Reading seem to have been changed to very short phase and cycle times. Doesn't do much for the safety of cyclists. Is this just the normal attitude of Reading BC to cyclists, or does the quote above suggest that there has been a national direction.

I think it's more likely that Siemens ITS have been offering the councils that run traffic lights new options for fancy software. Like "optimised" and "adaptive" timing and linking over wider ares (and inevitably in the cloud too). I assume that this "quick" change isn't shorter in itself, it's the green before it that is shorter than expected. Or is it?

[Chris from Nailsea]

An update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Driver critical as fire engine and buses crash

A bus driver is in a critical condition after a "major collision" between a fire engine and two guided buses.

It happened on the B1050 Station Road at the junction with the Busway in Northstowe, near Cambridge, shortly after 14:00 BST on Wednesday.

The 44-year-old woman, from Gedney Hill near Spalding, Lincolnshire, received serious injuries and remained in hospital, Cambridgeshire Police said. Ten other people taken to hospital had minor injuries, the force added.

A fire engine had been responding to an incident travelling north when it crashed with a single-decker Stagecoach bus travelling towards St Ives. A similar bus travelling in the opposite direction was also involved.

Eleven people were taken to Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital, including the driver of the second bus.

Det Insp Garry Webb said no arrests had been made. "This was a major collision which has seen numerous people left injured," he said. "I would like to hear from anyone who has yet to speak to officers about the collision."

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said three firefighters were on board the engine. Two received minor injuries and one of them was taken to hospital for a precautionary check, but has since been released.

The road and Busway have since reopened.

(Article continues)