Bus route is big success
By Jo Deeks on Thursday, 5th April 2001.
A BUS service between Cambridge and Haverhill has been such a hit that it is being changed from a subsidised route to a commercial one.
The changing fortunes of the 113 route, which runs via Addenbrooke's Hospital, date back to 1998 when Cambridgeshire County Council offered money from its rural bus grant to Stagecoach East to double the number of journeys.
This provided a half-hourly service during the day, and an hourly service at night.
Stagecoach then made fares more attractive by extending weekly tickets, made peak-time services every 20 minutes to meet growing demand, and improved the Sunday service.
The number of passengers has almost doubled, from a starting point of 17,000 a month, and the success has persuaded the bus company to operate the service commercially from tomorrow.
The service had already been given a boost in December with the introduction of seven new low-floor double-decker buses.
Shona Johnstone, chairman of the county council's Transport committee, said the arrival of the new buses meant the service provided a realistic and attractive alternative to the car for people who were travelling to Addenbrooke's and central Cambridge.
"The Haverhill route has been a major success for the council's policy of investing its rural bus grant in routes which had potential to grow and become commercial," she added.
Inglis Lyons, managing director of Stagecoach East, said the new buses, incorporating the county's key route logo, were a visible commitment to the route, and to further improvements in the Cambridge area.
"This has been a most successful partnership, and a model of the way we must work together in the future," Mr Lyons added.
The changing fortunes of the 113 route, which runs via Addenbrooke's Hospital, date back to 1998 when Cambridgeshire County Council offered money from its rural bus grant to Stagecoach East to double the number of journeys.
This provided a half-hourly service during the day, and an hourly service at night.
Stagecoach then made fares more attractive by extending weekly tickets, made peak-time services every 20 minutes to meet growing demand, and improved the Sunday service.
The number of passengers has almost doubled, from a starting point of 17,000 a month, and the success has persuaded the bus company to operate the service commercially from tomorrow.
The service had already been given a boost in December with the introduction of seven new low-floor double-decker buses.
Shona Johnstone, chairman of the county council's Transport committee, said the arrival of the new buses meant the service provided a realistic and attractive alternative to the car for people who were travelling to Addenbrooke's and central Cambridge.
"The Haverhill route has been a major success for the council's policy of investing its rural bus grant in routes which had potential to grow and become commercial," she added.
Inglis Lyons, managing director of Stagecoach East, said the new buses, incorporating the county's key route logo, were a visible commitment to the route, and to further improvements in the Cambridge area.
"This has been a most successful partnership, and a model of the way we must work together in the future," Mr Lyons added.
Comment on this story
[board listing] [login] [register]
You must be logged in to post messages. (login now)