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City's busway inquiry delayed over gas pipeline

Emma HowgegoCambridgeshire political reporter
News imageChris Allen/Geograph A green single-decker busway bus pictured at Over in Cambridgeshire. The busway has two lanes and has a grassed area between the concrete runners for the bus wheels. A tarmac footpath runs parallel to the busway on the left with bushes on the right of the busway.Chris Allen/Geograph
A busway is already in operation between St Ives and Cambridge

An inquiry into a guided busway linking a city to a travel hub has been delayed because of the scheme's proximity to a gas pipeline.

The Cambridge South East Transport (CSET) busway is planned to be about five miles (8.5km) long and will travel between Francis Crick Avenue at the city's Biomedical Campus and a new travel hub off the A11 at the Fourwentways junction.

A public inquiry was expected to take place in 2026, but a letter from the Department for Transport stated it had been temporarily halted until March next year at the request of Cambridgeshire County Council.

The local authority has been granted three months to investigate alternative design solutions.

The busway, which has been developed by the Greater Cambridge Partnership, will travel through Great Shelford, Stapleford and Sawston.

News imageGreater Cambridge Partnership Map of the proposed route. A white background with grey areas showing the built up areas. The route is in red and runs from the Cambridge biomedical campus in the north-east to Fourwentways Services in the south-west. Greater Cambridge Partnership
The proposed route would run between a travel hub off the A11 and the Cambridge biomedical campus

The Department for Transport's letter emphasised the inquiry was not cancelled and it would reschedule its date as soon as the feasibility study into alternative design solutions had been completed.

The supporters of the scheme said the busway would provide good transport links for people travelling from the south-east part of the county to Cambridge, with connections to the Cambridge South Station, which is due to be opened next year.

The Cambridge Past, Present and Future Society, a charity that set up a petition against the proposed busway which received 7,000 signatures, previously said the project would impact the lower slopes of the Gog Magog Hills, bisect the River Granta and "ruin the tranquility" of the Stapleford Farm Track.

Paul Bristow, the mayor of Peterborough and Cambridgeshire, opposes the scheme and and said he would prefer to deliver "road options" to improve transport links.

He added he was also worried the busway would conflict with his "mayoral plan to deliver a light rail network for Cambridge".

An inquiry into another busway in the county, which runs between Cambourne and Cambridge, concluded in November and a decision on the project is expected next year.

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