This is actually ingenious. The buses move quicker on the unused track than on the road, while the old stations gain a new life, to be used as bus stations.
@@Jayrbrts Love the sarcasm!! Haha typical UK humour. The cycleways / busways have indeed helped Cambridge no end made it better and easier for everyone and significantly reduced traffic.
@@britishtitan6470 The amount of reduction in traffic and energy and greener living and reduction of overall carbon footprint far outweighs any other factor. Also it does not disrupt wildlife as much as the extra traffic and pollution from cars etc would. I understand now where your extreme sarcasm comes from - ignorance. Thank you for this clarification.
The advantage is that once they're off the guides - they're able to just continue driving on the road... They lose the efficiency of moving lots of people - but for moving smaller numbers for local commuting it's more efficient.
While it's unfortunate that a couple of stations no longer exist, it's nice that a couple of the station buildings still stand, even as private residences
I live next to this and it is good, especially for cycling down as there is a path next to it. It’s quick by bus until you reach the edge of Cambridge then it’s slow af. The train line was still in use weekly by the nearby gravel pits and I still don’t understand why they did not have the vision to reinstate the trains and therefore connect Cambridge, st Ives, Huntingdon and London in one go. The busway is not future proof and has already cost millions to repair as it turned into a bodge job.
It was still used daily in the mid '70s for goods - I think it served Chivers in Histon. I had a university vac summer job at what had been Longstanton Station in about '75. One day my commuting Lambretta broke down and I needed to get home with it, so when the goods train stopped to open the level crossing gates I convinced the crew to let me carry the scooter in the guard's van. It was a delightful journey back, although pushing the scooter from St Ives to Hemingford Grey was a pain.
Total waste of money. Its was pointed out that the railway could have reopened at 25% of the cost (and less for running costs) of this mess. A fact that the council conveniently ignored.
The top speed on that busway is 30mph it was originally 56mph. I think nearer st ives is still about 56mph but its not often it gets near that. Buses go faster on dual carriageways
You should have mentioned the accompanying cycle path! Technically it is referred to as a ‘maintenance track’ so that the council isn’t liable to make sure it is safe. However, it’s a great cycle path to enjoy and is often heavily used - especially around the Cambridge end. Love the busway, I can see why it gets criticism but I use it all the time and it’s great for me.
I really really don't want to be labelled a perv here but out of all the you tube train geeks this lad is the best of them all. Reminds me of that guy who did all the underground stations in one day when he first started 10 years ago he was super cute but this guy is in a totally different category!!!
Some background to the guided busways which explain why they were used over simply reinstating the rail or just having a normal paved road. The Cambridge northern busway makes use of a section of the former Cambridge to Huntingdon Railway which branched from the mainline north of Cambridge Station to Huntingdon via St Ives. At Huntingdon the line continued onto Kettering or passengers could change onto the East Coast Mainline, a major railway between London and Edinburgh. By the time plans for the busway were being put together the entire line had been abandoned for years. The section between St Ives and Huntingdon had been built over in many places including the station and approaches at both St Ives and Huntingdon. The only relatively untouched section was the bit between Cambridge and St Ives. Reinstating the whole line would have involved significant realignment and demolition. Additionally, the mainline through Cambridge had since become much more congested so plugging the line back onto network wouldn't be feasible. Realistically, the only way it could work as a railway again would be as a disconnected shuttle service between Cambridge North Station (not the main central station) and St Ives with some intermediate stops in between. The busway allows buses to use the relatively untouched section while still being able to leave the busway to get to Huntingdon and the city centre of Cambridge. The reason it isn't just a normal paved road is because the guide way can be a lot thinner. The buses can pass much closer to each other which gives enough space for a pedestrian/cycle track without need for widening. A railway or paved road would be too wide to fit this in. The other benefit of the guideway over a paved road is drainage as the route goes through an area of Fenland susceptible to flooding. While not perfect, the guideways were a reasonable solution in context.
They should have just repaired the tracks and put some sort of tram/suburban train which could be added to the cities and towns at either ends at some point to build a metropolitan transport system
I don't have a problem in principal with turning old train routes into guided busways, but I do think the south Cambridge busway is a particularly egregious use of a very valuable alignment. This route would have been perfect for the western connection right into Cambridge of EWR, delivering much wider regional and national connectivity benefits. EWR is now much more difficult and contentious to deliver, while the busway route is used for a park and ride that could have been built elsewhere. In fact the park and ride could have used the EWR train to connect to the city, just like Oxford parkway, which doubles as a parkway for outbound train users too. This illustrates well the dangers of too much localism and silo thinking in planning transport.
@@enemyofthestatewearein7945 I'd argue that in the long term a return to rail would be the best once the Varsity/East-West line reaches Cambridge, but in the short term, this is the least worst option, though when it opened I would have advocated for light rail given it would have been cheaper, but I would have sank the rails in the road to allow for bus running over segments too
It's very silly because as it enters Cambridge proper the buses get snarled up in the terrible traffic. Central government only provided financing to make sure the old rail lines could never be revived.
Aside from similar in Australia and here in Greater Manchester, the old Dublin (Broadstone - now a bus garage) to Navan line is being replaced with a new line parallel to it from Dublin Docklands to M3 Parkway - with my extended family living in Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath, the new line would most likely pass through Lagore on its way to Navan on foot of Irish government investment - despite the failure of the HS2, I’d still love to see the high speed rail tunnel under the Irish Sea from Holyhead to Dublin getting built, allowing for direct journeys into Dublin Connolly or Dublin Docklands, even if the Metro line from Dublin Airport or DART Underground was not built - the recent renovations to Dublin Pearse (Westland Row) on the DART line to Greystones have been pretty impressive and there is even talk of putting DART trains on the M3 Parkway line after it is extended to Navan
Totally soul destroying, the fact that it's not a railway station again. To be honest, the line should never have been closed. Love your videos though and the 50's, 60's background music. You're a great presenter too.❤👍
AS I EXPECTED! That this track was once a railway because it bends smoothly which is a character of a railway. My favorite is the bike lane just beside this track from Histon to somewhere near Girton :)
The large 2-storey building seen in picture of the St Ives station still exists. But the single storey and platforms are gone. The St Ives guided bus station is about 100 yards from where orignal rail station was. The line is actually east-west, not south-north as the map shown would have you believe.
That's true, and I'd much rather travel by train for both comfort and efficiency BUT I think it's the cost. For reference I believe it cost 180 million to open the busway while 1 new station in the same area (Cambridge south) will be about 200 million. If the cost of building the track back isn't bad enough, the stations and facilities would have sealed the coffin. I think that a busway is better than nothing although a tram wouldn't have been half bad either haha. No chance anything will change now as the fate of the line was decided in 2007 lol
@@OnlyTheRightTrack The problem with trams in Cambridge is there is simply no room in central Cambridge for on-street lines so it would be a tram to nowhere.
It'd probably cost more to tear up the busway and try again now, since the trackbed that was still there prior to the busway is now all but gone. If there's one benefit though, at least the alignment is still there.
To those saying it’s clever, maybe it was in 2011, but now there are electric buses operating on the busway without overhead wires. There are numerous environmental benefits to using smaller batteries in electric buses. Just look at Prague’s electric buses for an example.
(As someone who's originally from near Cambridge) The busway is a total waste, the city needs a light rail/metro system to properly deal with the ever-growing traffic issue. As well as providing a rail link to other areas along the A1307 (Ideally to my actual hometown of Haverhill) which had its station taken away by B**ching in the 60's
This is the one I live next to, but there's another one going south from Cambridge (central) station, past where Cambridge South station will be, to Trumpington.
The busses are able to leave the busway to carry on further back on the roads it allows the busses to skip traffic on the major roads and speeds up commute
Ahhh BRT - all the benefits of a tram with all the downsides of a bus Went on this some months ago to St. Ives with my partner when they were in uni. It's pretty cool
This is so weird i was just scrolling and saw this, i grew up in histon and then lived right next to st Ives, but couldn't be further from Cambridge now 😂
@@OnlyTheRightTrack on the road it’s the exact same, just gotta be careful of the guide wheels on kerbs and deep pot holes. When you are on the track, it’s completely hands off, except for the breaks in the tracks where there is a crossing (called “Burst throughs” officially). All the driver does is accelerate and brake but there is now a system that does the braking, it’s meant to be there as an emergency if the driver doesn’t brake, but they have set it up to go off to early so it starts to brake before the driver does 😅 this may have been fixed now, they were slowly fixing it at each braking point leading up to when I left the depot.
@@OnlyTheRightTrack honestly it sounds very similar to a train, the track has splits in it where it was made and it does make the classic noise when it goes over those. When the guidewheel is about to explode it screams at you too, that’s always fun 😅
They should replace some small branch lines with these. Branch lines with limited use could be turned into fast, cheap bus ways. They would run along the disused track until they reach a junction station where they leave the busway for the road and continue to their destination. This is especially good because it's got enough capacity and it's very Environmentally friendly with the addition of all battery electric bendy buses.
This is actually ingenious. The buses move quicker on the unused track than on the road, while the old stations gain a new life, to be used as bus stations.
And the buses can also go on to other places such as villages that never had a train connection or the town centres.
@@Jayrbrts Love the sarcasm!! Haha typical UK humour. The cycleways / busways have indeed helped Cambridge no end made it better and easier for everyone and significantly reduced traffic.
You know what would be even faster? Running trains on the track
It’s not at all I live in Cambridge and see the wildlife that the buses chop up regularly horrible to see
@@britishtitan6470 The amount of reduction in traffic and energy and greener living and reduction of overall carbon footprint far outweighs any other factor. Also it does not disrupt wildlife as much as the extra traffic and pollution from cars etc would. I understand now where your extreme sarcasm comes from - ignorance. Thank you for this clarification.
I’m sure guided buses have their benefits, but honestly they just hurt my feelings. I want to see more trains!
The advantage is that once they're off the guides - they're able to just continue driving on the road...
They lose the efficiency of moving lots of people - but for moving smaller numbers for local commuting it's more efficient.
Still better than streetcars
@@qjtvaddict The channel RM Transit actually has a great video comparing buses and streetcars and showing the benefits of each.
@@qjtvaddictFar better than streetcars or light rail.
Tram or light rail would be better financially.
There were freight trains running until 1992 on the line.
Hi Nicholas! Nice to see you here!
While it's unfortunate that a couple of stations no longer exist, it's nice that a couple of the station buildings still stand, even as private residences
I live next to this and it is good, especially for cycling down as there is a path next to it. It’s quick by bus until you reach the edge of Cambridge then it’s slow af. The train line was still in use weekly by the nearby gravel pits and I still don’t understand why they did not have the vision to reinstate the trains and therefore connect Cambridge, st Ives, Huntingdon and London in one go. The busway is not future proof and has already cost millions to repair as it turned into a bodge job.
Basically an excuse to build houses next to it but very slowly
It was still used daily in the mid '70s for goods - I think it served Chivers in Histon.
I had a university vac summer job at what had been Longstanton Station in about '75. One day my commuting Lambretta broke down and I needed to get home with it, so when the goods train stopped to open the level crossing gates I convinced the crew to let me carry the scooter in the guard's van. It was a delightful journey back, although pushing the scooter from St Ives to Hemingford Grey was a pain.
I swear this guy is so underrated
He would be a good presenter for a BBC show,
A new Tom Scott arises!
Total waste of money. Its was pointed out that the railway could have reopened at 25% of the cost (and less for running costs) of this mess. A fact that the council conveniently ignored.
I bet u the council's members each got a fat check from the bus company.
@@auricom8472 The UK government made it a condition of providing funding that the rail lines could not be revived.
@@peterd788 that is still extremely stupid
Wrong
The council is in bed with the bus companies
The first time I went on this, I couldn’t believe how fast it went. It was really hard for my brain to comprehend doing that speed on a bus!
The top speed on that busway is 30mph it was originally 56mph.
I think nearer st ives is still about 56mph but its not often it gets near that.
Buses go faster on dual carriageways
@@PulsewayMediadue to serious flaws in the construction process and a lack of segregation from pedestrian/cycle traffic.
I guess this could literally be a rail replacement bus service!
haha, very good lol
You should have mentioned the accompanying cycle path! Technically it is referred to as a ‘maintenance track’ so that the council isn’t liable to make sure it is safe. However, it’s a great cycle path to enjoy and is often heavily used - especially around the Cambridge end.
Love the busway, I can see why it gets criticism but I use it all the time and it’s great for me.
I really really don't want to be labelled a perv here but out of all the you tube train geeks this lad is the best of them all. Reminds me of that guy who did all the underground stations in one day when he first started 10 years ago he was super cute but this guy is in a totally different category!!!
Some background to the guided busways which explain why they were used over simply reinstating the rail or just having a normal paved road.
The Cambridge northern busway makes use of a section of the former Cambridge to Huntingdon Railway which branched from the mainline north of Cambridge Station to Huntingdon via St Ives. At Huntingdon the line continued onto Kettering or passengers could change onto the East Coast Mainline, a major railway between London and Edinburgh.
By the time plans for the busway were being put together the entire line had been abandoned for years. The section between St Ives and Huntingdon had been built over in many places including the station and approaches at both St Ives and Huntingdon. The only relatively untouched section was the bit between Cambridge and St Ives.
Reinstating the whole line would have involved significant realignment and demolition. Additionally, the mainline through Cambridge had since become much more congested so plugging the line back onto network wouldn't be feasible.
Realistically, the only way it could work as a railway again would be as a disconnected shuttle service between Cambridge North Station (not the main central station) and St Ives with some intermediate stops in between.
The busway allows buses to use the relatively untouched section while still being able to leave the busway to get to Huntingdon and the city centre of Cambridge.
The reason it isn't just a normal paved road is because the guide way can be a lot thinner. The buses can pass much closer to each other which gives enough space for a pedestrian/cycle track without need for widening. A railway or paved road would be too wide to fit this in.
The other benefit of the guideway over a paved road is drainage as the route goes through an area of Fenland susceptible to flooding.
While not perfect, the guideways were a reasonable solution in context.
Adelaide in Australia has something very similar. The O-Bahn Busway
The legend is back! Great video as always. 😊
They should have just repaired the tracks and put some sort of tram/suburban train which could be added to the cities and towns at either ends at some point to build a metropolitan transport system
I don't have a problem in principal with turning old train routes into guided busways, but I do think the south Cambridge busway is a particularly egregious use of a very valuable alignment. This route would have been perfect for the western connection right into Cambridge of EWR, delivering much wider regional and national connectivity benefits. EWR is now much more difficult and contentious to deliver, while the busway route is used for a park and ride that could have been built elsewhere. In fact the park and ride could have used the EWR train to connect to the city, just like Oxford parkway, which doubles as a parkway for outbound train users too. This illustrates well the dangers of too much localism and silo thinking in planning transport.
@@enemyofthestatewearein7945 I'd argue that in the long term a return to rail would be the best once the Varsity/East-West line reaches Cambridge, but in the short term, this is the least worst option, though when it opened I would have advocated for light rail given it would have been cheaper, but I would have sank the rails in the road to allow for bus running over segments too
Ideas like that should be realised much more often.
It's very silly because as it enters Cambridge proper the buses get snarled up in the terrible traffic. Central government only provided financing to make sure the old rail lines could never be revived.
In practice it's a terrible idea. Locals aren't fond of it at all.
If only all bus journeys were as pleasant as this
Using this bus service almost everyday I always find it interesting going past the stops that are still very obviously old platforms!
Aside from similar in Australia and here in Greater Manchester, the old Dublin (Broadstone - now a bus garage) to Navan line is being replaced with a new line parallel to it from Dublin Docklands to M3 Parkway - with my extended family living in Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath, the new line would most likely pass through Lagore on its way to Navan on foot of Irish government investment - despite the failure of the HS2, I’d still love to see the high speed rail tunnel under the Irish Sea from Holyhead to Dublin getting built, allowing for direct journeys into Dublin Connolly or Dublin Docklands, even if the Metro line from Dublin Airport or DART Underground was not built - the recent renovations to Dublin Pearse (Westland Row) on the DART line to Greystones have been pretty impressive and there is even talk of putting DART trains on the M3 Parkway line after it is extended to Navan
Totally soul destroying, the fact that it's not a railway station again. To be honest, the line should never have been closed.
Love your videos though and the 50's, 60's background music. You're a great presenter too.❤👍
thanks so much!
Would've been better as light rail 100%
Too expensive for a Local Authority to fund. A busway is the best use for the time being.
Light rail is worse as buses can go off to serve more areas.
The way the road was made going where the trackbed is just surreal
AS I EXPECTED! That this track was once a railway because it bends smoothly which is a character of a railway. My favorite is the bike lane just beside this track from Histon to somewhere near Girton :)
Great video young man 👍🇬🇧
The large 2-storey building seen in picture of the St Ives station still exists. But the single storey and platforms are gone. The St Ives guided bus station is about 100 yards from where orignal rail station was. The line is actually east-west, not south-north as the map shown would have you believe.
The Teal Bus: Finally, no rails! I’m going to tell Bulgy about this!
It'd be more efficient to put the railway back. These guided busways aren't awfully popular, ngl
That's true, and I'd much rather travel by train for both comfort and efficiency BUT I think it's the cost. For reference I believe it cost 180 million to open the busway while 1 new station in the same area (Cambridge south) will be about 200 million. If the cost of building the track back isn't bad enough, the stations and facilities would have sealed the coffin.
I think that a busway is better than nothing although a tram wouldn't have been half bad either haha. No chance anything will change now as the fate of the line was decided in 2007 lol
@@OnlyTheRightTrack The problem with trams in Cambridge is there is simply no room in central Cambridge for on-street lines so it would be a tram to nowhere.
It'd probably cost more to tear up the busway and try again now, since the trackbed that was still there prior to the busway is now all but gone.
If there's one benefit though, at least the alignment is still there.
Well thank British Rails idiot axeman for closing so may branchlines
Thr guided busway basically transports everyone I know without a car from st ives and longstanton
To those saying it’s clever, maybe it was in 2011, but now there are electric buses operating on the busway without overhead wires. There are numerous environmental benefits to using smaller batteries in electric buses. Just look at Prague’s electric buses for an example.
The cafe at Histon is lovely
(As someone who's originally from near Cambridge) The busway is a total waste, the city needs a light rail/metro system to properly deal with the ever-growing traffic issue. As well as providing a rail link to other areas along the A1307 (Ideally to my actual hometown of Haverhill) which had its station taken away by B**ching in the 60's
I went on that the other day had to have surgery on st Ives it’s kinda sad to see the train line turned into bus way
Like your content bro..keep going
Happy to see a young guy going right direction
i went there once. it was honestly a really cool place.
Great video. Thank you
There are some interesting structures along this route that I believe were part of the WW2 GHQ Eastern defensive line.
Beautiful to see a new generation of transit nerds discover the guided busway 🫡
We have one of those in GM - the Leigh guided busway.
This is the one I live next to, but there's another one going south from Cambridge (central) station, past where Cambridge South station will be, to Trumpington.
I remember them building it when I worked in Cambridge in the week just before it opened.
The bus from Peterborough to cambridge goes this way. I was really confused by it but its much quicker than without it! Quite a cool system
I'm local and biked to St Ives and back again along the bus way. Great, smooth ride.
It really is! I've been up and down several times, when the Swavesy-St Ives bit isn't flooded it is a treat
The busses are able to leave the busway to carry on further back on the roads it allows the busses to skip traffic on the major roads and speeds up commute
I bike this route for exercise haha Wasn't expecting to see a place I recognise so randomly
We have something similar called O-Bahn in adelaide
Ahhh BRT - all the benefits of a tram with all the downsides of a bus
Went on this some months ago to St. Ives with my partner when they were in uni. It's pretty cool
You still gotta admit, this is genius
@@MrStark-up6fi yeah tbf, it is. A segregated right of way that takes you right into the city centre
It does also have the flexibility benefit of a bus to be fair
Frankly, I still don't see the use for it. I can't imagine it being much cheaper than putting in some proper rails, and run trains.
I use this guided bus route sometimes!
He is back with another masterpiece! I have been eagerly waiting 😊
I've have a Busway near me called the luton and Dunstable Busway
Loved his cool approach to this video good work young man
Should have been returned to a railway! The buss also cross the main stives bypass causing major traffic every rush hour!
Well, that's a good way to valorize an abandonned railway.
This is so weird i was just scrolling and saw this, i grew up in histon and then lived right next to st Ives, but couldn't be further from Cambridge now 😂
I used to take that to route to college 2 years ago 😂
Now we need the Cambridge Spaceport
In France that would still be Metro (rubber tired) trains.
I travel on this everyday and I didn’t realise it use to be a railway
Great video man
@@LindseyTate13 thanks Lindsay!
Mini Fosh working wonders
This is a fantastic channel
This takes rail replacement bus to a all new level 😂
That cafe serves really good food aswell!
I will be sure to pay a visit soon
Having lived in St Ives many moons ago, thank you for bringing back so many fond memories for me.
quite alright! It is a lovely town.
A bus, on it's own infrastructure, reinvented the train but less good.
Yes......just don't try and travel at any peak times.
I rode on the last passenger train from St Ives to Cambridge in 1970. Maybe I should repeat the journey by bus some day.
it seems so out of place for a young man to be so well mannered that this almost feels like satire 💀
Wow super cool
Lots of interesting information here, delivered skilfully and economically.
@@tominnis8353 thanks very much! I appreciate it
that's pretty interesting I like these shorts a lot
Thank you very much!
I live right to those tracks 😅
Greetings posh boy 👋🏻. There’s also one up here in Manchester 👍🏼
I live in st Ives and the busses are available directly outside my house every 10 mins in to Cambridge. I’m very lucky
Imagine a level crossing for busses
Dullingham is one of few places that still has a manual crossing gate. it's on the Cambridge to Ipswich line
yeah I have paid a visit, a video will be coming at some point
@@OnlyTheRightTrackcan’t wait then :-)
Used to get this daily. Weird to see it now when I no longer live there.
I just realised who you were, lol. Great video
It goes on right into St Ives and then on to huntington
Near Cambridge regional college, just down the road from there, keep walking down the busway
Woah you got a shot of the "fenland tiger" bus at the start
There is also another busway too
i drive on the cambrige bus station its the best job i have ever had.
This kid gives some serious tom scott vibes
now *that* is a compliment! I appreciate it
i cycle alongside this busway 😂
This guy is our future Prime Minister! We salute you Sir!
I was wondering what you and your friend was doing lol
If you don’t mind me asking, who’s the person that’s been filming these shorts?
Another great short btw 😊
Is there actually a spice museum in Longstanton? 😂
Wait St. Ives? How did I not know this?
Why not just electrify the line into a tramway?
too expensive I'd assume
@@OnlyTheRightTrackthe busway itself has been very expensive… especially with the ongoing remedial works required.
It's an omnibus, my goodfellow.
To be fair the "guided omnibusway" has some sort of ring to it
Is this the same idea as in Adelaide?
Why couldn't they just run two small single car trains on the route like it's usually done in other parts of Europe for small branch lines.
I actually thought st ives Cornwall 😂
I drove the buses on here for 2 years, ask me anything
@@BenDavid-mo1un that's awesome! Is the driving very different to that of a regular bus or completely different?
@@OnlyTheRightTrack on the road it’s the exact same, just gotta be careful of the guide wheels on kerbs and deep pot holes. When you are on the track, it’s completely hands off, except for the breaks in the tracks where there is a crossing (called “Burst throughs” officially). All the driver does is accelerate and brake but there is now a system that does the braking, it’s meant to be there as an emergency if the driver doesn’t brake, but they have set it up to go off to early so it starts to brake before the driver does 😅 this may have been fixed now, they were slowly fixing it at each braking point leading up to when I left the depot.
@@BenDavid-mo1unfascinating stuff! On the busway I suppose it doesn't sound too different to driving a train haha
@@OnlyTheRightTrack honestly it sounds very similar to a train, the track has splits in it where it was made and it does make the classic noise when it goes over those. When the guidewheel is about to explode it screams at you too, that’s always fun 😅
st ives station is still there, its on the town side of the traffic lights 🫡
Really? The Wikipedia page said it was demolished haha. My bad
They should replace some small branch lines with these. Branch lines with limited use could be turned into fast, cheap bus ways. They would run along the disused track until they reach a junction station where they leave the busway for the road and continue to their destination. This is especially good because it's got enough capacity and it's very
Environmentally friendly with the addition of all battery electric bendy buses.
i take this busway all the time!
Isn’t this part of East West Rail?
@@jammiedodger7040 I don't think so haha