Trumpington

[locojoe]

My first time working secondman on a diesel was on a Sultzer on the Cambridge Buffet Express. It made a nice change to sit in a comfortable seat and do nothing but the diesel fumes in the cab were strong and the steam heating boiler nearly blew up. The driver worked the boiler as I did'nt have a clue.
It was the only time I went to Cambridge (via Hitchin) I do recall the name of the signalbox just before Cambridge was Trumpington which made me chuckle. I think B1s were the usual steam locos on these trains or maybe L1s I'm not sure..

[garrat]

Trumpigton is now part of a guided busway ,which according to local radio that I listened to ,the locals wanted the railway back surprise surprise they didnt get what they wanted.D16/3s B17/1 K1s J19 B1 wds & 2mts were regulars

[klordger1900]

Is this the guided busway that they cant finish because they have run out of money??
I think they invested some money in an Icelandic bank and it sank like a melting iceburg. I think WHU are going the same way!

[garrat]

They loaned money from various sources and its now way over budget and not finished .The line had its track bed still most of the way and would have cost less to reballast and run a railway . The council refuse to say what it now has spent there was a group set up to reinstate the railway called Castiron who were never listened to.
You could be right about WHU too, why mess up what was allready there in Cambridge

[Gandalf]

As I remember it the Guided Busway was pushed upon us by John Prescott in return for a bribe of upgrading the A14 which of course was withdrawn even to the extent of cancelling the safety work at various slip roads. Out of interest parts of the old timber bridge over the Ouse at St Ives can still be seen as they can at Owl Creek. The rail crossing at the viaduct out of St Ives can be seen as a difference in the brickwork. Parts of the old line West of Huntingdon can still be traced including a station near Kimbolton that looks like a station and possibly has a short length of track but I did not really see it clearly as we passed just befor Christmas.
One interesting thing about the whole disaster is that there was a survey done on the track which indicated that it was possible to reinstate it and track clearing train had been arranged but suddely it was cancelled and the report was that it was not possible was published, soon after the guided bus came along. Gets even better when the 'inventor' of the system said it was not suitable for this application but of course nobody took any notice as the thing had already been decided down in london.
Not saying which system I prefer in case the Busway Police come a calling.
John (G)

[klordger1900]

How many guided busways are there in UK compared with other EU countries?
Is this one of them Brussels 'must do's - or you cant belong to our club) malarkies?

[klordger1900]

Just googled this:-


Other guided busways


There are a number of other guided busways already in use across the world. These are:

* Adelaide, Australia
* Ottawa, Canada
* Essen, Germany
* Edinburgh, UK
* Leeds, UK
* Bradford, UK
* Crawley, UK

The picture above shows a bus using the guided busway in Essen, Germany.

Luton and Dunstable and Kent Thameside councils are also planning to build guided busways.
The Busway in Cambridgeshire


The Busway in Cambridgeshire will be the longest guided busway in the world. It will be 25 miles long in total with guided sections of just over 16 miles.

In the first year of operation it is exected that 3.5 million trips will be made on the busway, this is expected to increase to over 6 million trips once Northstowe is completed.

I like the line - "When it is completed"

[garrat]

The people in Luton also wanted the railway back .Mmmm someone has his hand in someones pocket here methinks .Very interesting Gandalf I didnt know all that .