Long time lurker, but never started a thread on here. However, another round of bus cuts seem likely in Cambridgeshire, owing to Whippet's decision to stop running their X3 (Cambridge to Huntingdon via Papworth and Cambourne) and C (Cambridge to St Ives via busway) services. Link below:
http://www.go-whippet.co.uk/latest-news/news/
Whippet (now a subsidiary of Tower Transit) have drastically cut the number of services they run over the last few years. We found out on the grapevine last week that the last remaining regular bus to Papworth Everard (a village of around 3000 people and site of hospital, though soon to move to Addenbrookes) - the X3 - was likely to stop after Whippet gave notice of its intention to cease service on November 9th 2018. Apparently, this commerical route hasn't made any money for the last two years, and Whipopet allege that it can't be run without subsidy. This does seem slightly surprising given Whippet recently introduced an (albeit sparse) Sunday service, and that bthey are proposing going form a fairly full timetable (approx every 90 mins) to zero. This will leave the village with only 1 bus a day to Cambridge - the route 8 - which is run by Whippet for Cambridgeshire Council. There has been the launch of a local petition to get the council or the new mayor either to subsidise the service or to get one of the other local operators (e.g. Stagecoach) to operate instead. We are a large village with a sizeable commuting population to Cambridge, so it is pretty shocking if this happens (particularly given all the City Deal money that Cambridge recently won). I am a regular user and the bus seems to be relatively well-used, though I don't know the detailed financials of what it needs to be self-funding.
Whippet have also announced they are to cease their busway operation to St Ives, leaving U as the only one of their buses to use the Busway. Word on the street seems to be that they are pulling out of local services, possibly to focus on their National Express operations and contracts with the University (the U bus is seeing an expansion in service).
Anyway, the village appears galvanised, so hopefully we will save at least the X3 service. The village has a large population of adults with learning difficulties for whom the bus is a lifeline to work.
http://www.go-whippet.co.uk/latest-news/news/
Whippet (now a subsidiary of Tower Transit) have drastically cut the number of services they run over the last few years. We found out on the grapevine last week that the last remaining regular bus to Papworth Everard (a village of around 3000 people and site of hospital, though soon to move to Addenbrookes) - the X3 - was likely to stop after Whippet gave notice of its intention to cease service on November 9th 2018. Apparently, this commerical route hasn't made any money for the last two years, and Whipopet allege that it can't be run without subsidy. This does seem slightly surprising given Whippet recently introduced an (albeit sparse) Sunday service, and that bthey are proposing going form a fairly full timetable (approx every 90 mins) to zero. This will leave the village with only 1 bus a day to Cambridge - the route 8 - which is run by Whippet for Cambridgeshire Council. There has been the launch of a local petition to get the council or the new mayor either to subsidise the service or to get one of the other local operators (e.g. Stagecoach) to operate instead. We are a large village with a sizeable commuting population to Cambridge, so it is pretty shocking if this happens (particularly given all the City Deal money that Cambridge recently won). I am a regular user and the bus seems to be relatively well-used, though I don't know the detailed financials of what it needs to be self-funding.
Whippet have also announced they are to cease their busway operation to St Ives, leaving U as the only one of their buses to use the Busway. Word on the street seems to be that they are pulling out of local services, possibly to focus on their National Express operations and contracts with the University (the U bus is seeing an expansion in service).
Anyway, the village appears galvanised, so hopefully we will save at least the X3 service. The village has a large population of adults with learning difficulties for whom the bus is a lifeline to work.
