04 BUS RAPID TRANSITSUPPLEMENT


A Whippet Bus at Orchard Park – one of the new developments served by the Busway during a demonstration run


passenger experience. Steel entry and exit flares guide buses into and out of the guideway at junctions. At 25km the Cambridgeshire Guided


Busway is the longest in the world. Building the Busway has involved a number of major engineering works. Near to St Ives, the old railway viaduct that crossed the River Great Ouse was removed and replaced by a new 220m-long viaduct, the first to be built in Cambridgeshire for over 20 years. The new 220m-long viaduct weighs approximately 2,700 tonnes and sits on eight concrete piers. It has been designed and built in consultation with the Environment Agency to ensure wildlife and the flow of the river were not affected. Special maintenance-free weathering steel has been used in the construction. The bridge carries a bridleway to provide a right of way across the


Eurotransport Volume 9, Issue 6, 2011


»At 25km the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is the longest in the world «


river for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders in addition to guided buses. Other major structural works included the demolition and reconstruction of the Windmill Bridge, to allow double-deck buses to pass underneath, and a new bridge built over the main railway line to London, which had to be built in a series of weekend and overnight railway closures. At Hills Road, close to Cambridge Railway Station, a new underpass has been constructed under a major road and alongside an existing bridge over the railway, to provide access to the Busway to the south. This new underpass creates a traffic free link between


the hospital and railway station that takes just 4 minutes on the Busway. The same journey by road takes over twice as long and even longer in peak time traffic. Park and Ride sites have been provided


at St Ives and midway along the route at Longstanton, while the southern section of the Busway starts at the existing Trumpington Park and Ride site. Six former railway level crossings have been


replaced by traffic signal controlled junctions. Each junction was rebuilt with a reinforced concrete slab across the road to ensure the smooth ride for bus passengers is continued through the junction. The real-time information system is used to give the buses priority at each of these junctions. Following its successful use on the Busway, the system is now being applied at key junctions on the on-road sections of the


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