Transport in Cambridge

Cambridge has several bus services including routes linking five Park and Ride sites all of which operate seven days a week and are aimed at encouraging motorists to park near the city's edge.[1] Since 7 August 2011, the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway has bus services running into the centre of Cambridge.

Most buses run to and from the bus station located on Drummer Street in the heart of the city, although there are significant interchanges at the railway station and at Addenbrooke's Hospital. The principal operator is Stagecoach.

On 30 October 2022, Stagecoach cancelled 18 Cambridgeshire bus routes due to "significant falls in passenger numbers". Stagecoach has received a lot of backlash for this decision, including from the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Dr Nik Johnson.[2]

The Busway

Main article: Cambridgeshire Guided Busway

A guided bus entering the concrete busway track

Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is the world's longest guided busway and passes through Cambridge.[3] The designated route runs on normal road from Huntingdon to St Ives, then via a bus-only guided section along the former Cambridge-St Ives railway south-east into Cambridge, where it rejoins the road at either Milton Road or Histon Road and then continues to Cambridge railway station on normal roads. From there it is again guided to Addenbrooke's Hospital and Trumpington Park and Ride.[4] An additional short spur, to Cambridge North railway station, opened in 2017.

The scheme, budgeted at £116.2 million, had been scheduled to open in early 2009[5] but did not open until August 2011.[6] The scheme had been heavily criticised by campaigners who believed that the route would be better served by restoring the previous railway route.[7]

Cambridge Park & Ride

A Stagecoach in Cambridge Park & Ride Enviro 400

The city is served by a seven days a week park and ride service run by Cambridgeshire County Council and Stagecoach.[8] Five sites on the outskirts of the city or just outside its boundaries – at Babraham Road, Madingley Road, Milton, Newmarket Road and Trumpington – provide over 4,500 parking spaces, electric car charging and other facilities.[9][10][11][12][13] Buses run from these sites into the city centre up to every 7 minutes.[8]

Because of its rapid growth in the 20th century, Cambridge has a congested road network.[14] Several major roads intersect at Cambridge. The M11 motorway from North-East London terminates to the north-west of the city where it joins the A14. Skirting the northern edge of Cambridge, the A14 is a major freight route which connects the port of Felixstowe on the east coast with the Midlands, North Wales, the west coast and Ireland. The A14 was often congested, particularly the section between Huntingdon and Cambridge that used to only have 2 lanes. However, the A14 upgrade scheme has attempted to address the problem, with this section now upgraded to 3 lanes in each direction, and dual 4 lanes at the Girton interchange. Cambridge is situated on the A10, a former Roman road from north London to Ely and King's Lynn. The A428 connects the city with Bedford and St Neots, and the A1303 to Newmarket and beyond to Colchester.

Some roads around the city have been designated as forming a ring road about a mile and a half in diameter, inside which there are traffic restrictions.

There are five council car parks in the city centre. There are limited numbers of metered bays offering parking for up to 1–8 hours across the city[15]

Cycling

Some colleges and workplaces have large bicycle parks.

As a university town lying on fairly flat ground and with traffic congestion, Cambridge has a large number of cyclists. Many residents also prefer cycling to driving in the narrow, busy streets, giving the city the highest level of cycle use in the UK.[16] According to the 2001 census, 25% of residents travelled to work by bicycle. A few roads within the city are adapted for cycling, including separate traffic lights for cycle lanes and cycle contraflows on streets which are otherwise one-way; the city also benefits from parks which have shared use paths. There are, however, no separate cycle paths within the city centre. Despite the high levels of cycling, expenditure on cycling infrastructure is around the national average of 0.3% of the transport budget. There are a few cycle routes in the surrounding countryside and the city is now linked to the National Cycle Network. The main organisation campaigning to improve conditions for cyclists in Cambridge is the Cambridge Cycling Campaign.[17] The city was chosen as a Cycling Town by the Department for Transport in 2008, with central government funding an expansion of cycling facilities in the city and its surrounding villages.[18] There was a 5% increase in cycling from 2013 to 2014 – an increase of 88% since 2004.[19]

Bike theft in the city is a problem, with over 3000 bicycles reported stolen between April 2005 and March 2006. The actual number is believed to be higher as many thefts are not reported to the police.[20]

The front of Cambridge Railway Station

Cambridge currently has two railway stations. Cambridge railway station was built in 1845 with a platform designed to take two full-length trains, the third longest in the country. Cambridge North railway station is located in the suburb of Chesterton, close to Cambridge Science Park, and opened in May 2017. Both stations are run by Greater Anglia.

Cambridge has direct rail links to London with termini at London King's Cross (on the Hitchin-Cambridge Line and the East Coast Main Line) and Liverpool Street (on the West Anglia Main Line). There is a direct shuttle service to King's Cross every half-hour during off peak hours.[21] Peak hour trains to King's Cross have additional stops. Future developments for the Cambridge to London line include the provision of 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) high speed trains.[22] The line is currently graded for 100 miles per hour (161 km/h). The line is all welded rail, but because of the flat geography there are many level crossings, and they make it harder to run at higher speeds.

Aside from London, Cambridge is linked by rail to King's Lynn and Ely (via the Fen Line), Norwich (via the Breckland Line), Leicester, Birmingham New Street, Ipswich and Stansted Airport. The important UK rail hub of Peterborough is also less than an hour from Cambridge, which provides direct connections to Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley.

Cambridge south

Main article: Cambridge South railway station

Cambridge South, adjacent to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, will be Cambridge's third station, and is planned to open in 2025.[23]

A British Rail Class 37 at Cambridge on the diamond crossing under British Rail.

The nearest passenger services are from London Stansted Airport at 28 miles (45 km) and London Luton Airport at 32 miles (51 km), Birmingham Airport at 91 miles (146 km), London Gatwick Airport at 93 miles (150 km) and London Heathrow Airport at 70 miles (113 km) all being about 90 minutes' travel, and the smaller London City Airport at 57 miles (92 km) approximately 75 minutes' travel.

The city's own airport is Cambridge Airport (formerly Marshall Airport Cambridge UK and originally Teversham Aerodrome) and is owned by Marshall Aerospace. There are no scheduled passenger services, though the runway can accommodate an unladen Boeing 747 or MD-11 and ScotAirways used to make scheduled flights to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The airport is used mainly by business, leisure and training flights, and to fly in aircraft for maintenance.[26][27][28] In 2004 a charter service to Jersey was operated and flights to other European destinations such as Gothenburg were operated on either a scheduled or charter basis. At the end of January 2016 all scheduled and charter flights from the airport were halted due to a lack of passenger numbers.[29]

A dealer in fibreglass-moulded light monoplanes is also based at the airport. It has been mooted to remove Marshalls to a site away from the city, and develop the land with housing.[30]

Panorama of Cambridge Airport from the south in July 2013

Cambridge Metro
Haverhill Linton Cambridge South Cambridge Cambridge City Centre Cambridge North Cambridge science park Histon Northstowe St Ives Huntingdon Alconbury

Project Cambridge

Project Cambridge developments.
Location	Cambridge
Proposer	Cambridgeshire County Council
Status	proposed
Type	multi-modal
Cost estimate	£25 million

Several developments to the transport system in Cambridge have been proposed by Cambridgeshire County Council.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) is a local delivery body for a City Deal with central government created in 2014, envisaging an investment of £500 million, mainly transport investment, over 15 years to create growth in the greater Cambridge area.[37] Its four partners are Cambridge City Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, and the University of Cambridge.[38][37]

In February 2022, the joint assembly of the Greater Cambridge Partnership considered ideas towards shifting away from car use.[39]

In August 2022, the Greater Cambridge Partnership proposed plans for a Cambridge Sustainable Travel Zone based on a £5 congestion charge for cars and some other vehicles, coupled with £1 bus fares for single journeys to encourage use of buses.[40][41]

A consultation on proposals for the Sustainable Travel Zone ended in December 2022.[42][43]

• Transport in East Anglia

• The Holford-Wright Report – report (Volume 1), maps (Volume 2).