The Busway Makes the BBC
At last, the row about the Cambridge Busway seems to be getting serious.
It’s made the BBC.
Standoff on the Cambridge Busway
Cambridgeshire County Council has now blamed the contractor for the delays to the Cambridge Busway according to this report. Independent inspector Atkins have also been called in.
Atkins points to several defects which must be fixed before the busway is handed over. They include the St Ives Park and Ride site being built at the wrong gradient, the River Great Ouse viaduct leaking water and the maintenance track which runs alongside the busway being constantly flooded.
It would appear that the contractor disagrees.
I’m glad that this project is not needed for the London Olympics.
No Cambridge Busway but Council Pays
This would appear to perhaps not be the best news for the taxpayers of Cambridgeshire County Council, who seem to be paying for the busway.
Millions of pounds will be handed over to the team building the guided bus – and then council chiefs will claw the cash back.
Cambridgeshire County Council has borrowed £40 million in order to pay for the work up front.
But it insists taxpayers will not be a penny out of pocket on the £116 million bill originally agreed with contractors BAM Nuttall.
As I said in an earlier post, this is looking more and more like one for the lawyers.
But we still haven’t got an opening date for busway.
Will I Be On The Busway Soon?
This slogan is now displayed on all the new Stagecoach buses bough for the Cambridge Busway.
At least someone hasn’t lost their sense of humour.
www.cambridgebusway.co.uk
I have registered the domain name, www.cambridgebusway.co.uk, and have pointed it to all of the posts on the Cambridge Guided Busway.
I Hadn’t Missed Anything
I wondered a couple of days ago, if I’d missed anything on the Cambridge Guided Busway. Now in the Hunts Post there is a detailed article on the standoff between the council and the contractors.
Most of this concerns the viaduct at St. Ives and there are also concerns about flooding on the maintenance track. I had pictures of the latter on this blog in November in an article called, Paddling the Cambridge Busway.
I like the last sentence – The legal profession is licking its lips. I warned of this too in December.
No Date for the Guided Busway
Have I missed something?
It all seems exceptionally quiet on the busway front!
Dealing with the Cambridge Busway Overspend
The long-running saga of the Cambridge Busway seems no nearer a conclusion, with no opening date announced.
But today the Cambridge News claims that a million pounds of taxpayers’ money could be spent on the busway.
Taxpayers’ money could be used to cover an overspend on the guided busway.
Cambridgeshire County Council has set aside £1 million of funding for local transport and community safety projects in a contingency fund.
Opposition Liberal Democrats say the cash is being set aside for the guided busway but the Conservative- run council has said the funding cuts are “not related specifically” to the project, although if developer contributions fall short, it could be.
Projects affected by the reductions for 2010/11 include safety schemes cut from £1 million to £800,000, the Cambridge Access Strategy cut from £600,000 to £447,000, community transport cut from £200,000 to £50,000, Market Town Strategy schemes cut from £1,575,000 to £1.4 million, and local bus infrastructure in Cambridge and Huntingdon cut from £975,000 to £680,000.
It looks like the busway may be on the point of being like an out-of-control bull in a china shop.
The Cambridge Busway Goes Quiet
I have a Google Alert on “Cambridge Busway”.
There has been little or no news thrown up since Christmas.
So is it ever going to open? Probably! But when?
The Anonymous Widower 