FAQs

We are proposing a new dedicated, mainly segregated busway and active travel route between Waterbeach New Town and Cambridge. It will be one of four routes around the city linking Cambridge with the surrounding area. All have the same aim: to avoid congestion and make quicker, more environmentally sustainable and reliable journeys, into and out of Cambridge, by public transport, walking, cycling and other forms of active travel.

The A10 from Waterbeach to Cambridge suffers from significant congestion at peak times, particularly at the Cambridge end, meaning that people can be sitting in traffic for lengthy periods.

Planned or potential large developments in the area, such as Waterbeach New Town and the Science Park/north-east Cambridge expansion, will place considerable additional pressure on the corridor, causing further congestion. 

We plan to manage this with a new public transport route to complement the existing railway service between Waterbeach and north-east Cambridge and to avoid congestion making journeys quicker, into and out of north-east Cambridge, from the north by public transport, walking and cycling.

We have been talking to stakeholders since November 2019. In July and August of 2020, we carried out our first round of engagement, where we gathered feedback from the public and stakeholders on the key issues and opportunities within the study area including ideas for routes along with areas to avoid.

A public consultation was undertaken in Autumn 2020 and presented four ‘areas of interest’ for the scheme. Feedback from the consultation and additional technical work cumulated in the Western Option and Revised Central Option being taken forward for further assessment as part of the Outline Business Case (OBC).

As part of the OBC we have undertaken more detailed work to come up with a set of detailed route alignments and undertaken technical and economic assessment to determine a preferred option.  

We are due to submit the OBC to the Greater Cambridge Partnership Executive Board in June 2023, where we will recommend our preferred option. 

We plan to submit the Transport and Work Act Order (TWAO) application in 2024 following completion of the Full Business Case (FBC) which has been identified as the most appropriate planning consents route for this project. 

We aim to start construction around 2025.

We have no preference. Our Executive Board approved the findings of the Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) to take forward the Western Option and Revised Central Option for further development. Our transport consultants, Atkins have developed these two options further and these are presented for consultation.

The feedback we get from stakeholders, transport users and the public throughout the Outline Business Case (OBC) process will be important in shaping the preferred option.

We changed the central route option following the public consultation in Autumn 2020 as respondents raised concerns regarding the route through Waterbeach village. Furthermore, technical work undertaken as part of the Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) identified that the central route option could cause severe traffic congestion at Car Dyke Road as the scheme would require an additional set of traffic signals in this area. Therefore, the central route was revised to a new alignment connecting with the proposed roundabout at Waterbeach New Town on the A10.

In Autumn 2020 we consulted with the public on four corridor options. Feedback from the consultation was in support of the overall scheme, but strong objections were raised in relation to the routes through Waterbeach village due to proximity to housing and perceived impact on the local community. 

As a result of feedback and further technical work, a short list of two of the four options were selected. They were the Western Option and a revised version of the Central Option. These options were presented within the Greater Cambridge Partnership Joint Assembly and Executive Board papers, along with the Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC), which allowed members of the public the opportunity to feed back.

In summer 2021, these options were approved for further work as part of the Outline Business Case (OBC) for the project. In February 2022 we held stakeholder workshops on these two options. We are now consulting on the Western and Revised Central Option as part of the current consultation, which will allow public the opportunity to comment, feedback and influence the future direction of the project. Further consultations will also take place during the planning process for the scheme.

The project will be funded by the Greater Cambridge Partnership through the City Deal monies it receives from central government. Some funding may come from other sources such as developer contributions, however the scheme is not dependent on third parties.

The decision over the final route and whether to proceed to construction will be made by the Greater Cambridge Partnership Executive Board. The membership of the Executive Board can be found on our website.

No, it’s not. A separate project is looking at improvements to the A10, and we are not involved in that decision. As there is a clear relationship between the two projects, we have considered the current options for the A10 scheme when progressing the options for the busway. This ensures that the busway options do not preclude any of the A10 options. We are engaging with the team looking at the A10 dualling to ensure we are up to date on their plans and can reflect them in our work where suitable.

This is something we looked at early in the project but was ruled out following the Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) stage. We looked at options where buses would run along the A10 and also options where bus lanes would be provided alongside the A10. The options that ran along the A10 were sifted out early as they wouldn’t meet the scheme objectives of journey time reliability. 

Putting the busway wholly alongside the A10 would have been a much more costly option as it would of needed to include a new crossing of the A14 or upgrade Milton Interchange. It would also be much more disruptive option to construct. 

We also looked at options where the busway was alongside the A10 for specific stretches, that avoided the need to include a new crossing of the A14 or upgrade Milton Interchange. This included looking further at the section of the A10 from Car Dyke Road north. Investigation of this option showed it would have a significant impact, given the available corridor width, particularly in terms of proximity to dwellings. We then looked further at the option of a tidal bus lane which, although technically possible, would still have negative impacts on adjoining properties through the requirement for overhead gantries or physical barriers. 

This meant that both the Western and Revised Central Options are stronger options, with better journey time reliability and higher Benefit Cost Ratio. 

Work to date on the Waterbeach to Cambridge scheme has been cognisant of the work of the CPCA regarding the Cambridge Autonomous Metro but is not dependent on it. Timescales for both schemes meant that the Waterbeach to Cambridge scheme would have been implemented in advance of CAM and therefore we are continuing to work to the same timescales. We will continue to engage with the CPCA on their future transport plans in the area.

COVID-19 led to significant reduction in travel in the short term and that may lead to a long term change. However this project is looking to achieve two aims:-

• To improve current provision in public transport, cycling and walking between Cambridge and Waterbeach,
• To meet future need as Waterbeach and north-east Cambridge grow.

The local economy in Cambridge is based around growing technology and specialist sectors such as biomedical research.  So the need to improve public transport, cycling and walking between Cambridge to Waterbeach remains.

This project along with all of GCP’s transport projects aims to help get Cambridge moving again and support the City’s recovery from Covid-19.

Electric vehicles are already with us and are very similar to existing vehicles. As their range and number of charging points increase, they are likely to become widespread.

We have long been clear that we are committed to the use of electric zero-emission vehicles in our public transport schemes, and that our proposed schemes are designed to be flexible so they can adapt as technology advances.

Replacing petrol and diesel cars with electric cars would do nothing to improve congestion. There is a risk that as electric vehicles are considered to be clean, people may choose to drive more and create increased congestion.

The Cambridge region is growing rapidly, and Local Plans identify the need for more housing over the next decade to support this growth. If the housing planned for the Cambridge region cannot be delivered, people will continue to be priced out of the Cambridge housing market and will have to live further away from the city, placing increased pressure on the transport network as commutes get longer. The labour market catchment for companies in Cambridge will be reduced if housing supply is limited and transport connectivity is constrained. As a result, Cambridge would see a very congested transport network which would significantly reduce productivity whilst increasing carbon emissions. Sustainable growth could be stifled and reliance on private cars would continue.

As the city and region already experience congestion, local and regional policies have set goals to reduce car dependence, for example the GCP has a target to reduce motor traffic levels in Cambridge by 10% compared to 2011 levels. To achieve this goal, investment is needed in sustainable transport modes to enable more people to travel by walking, cycling or public transport. A sustainable transport corridor between two major growth areas will help to reduce congestion and car dependence, connect more people to major employment areas, and enable the planned growth in housing to proceed.

A Transport and Work Act Order (TWAO) order is the usual way of authorising a new railway or tramway scheme in England and Wales. It is recognised that this scheme is neither a railway nor a tramway, however given it's segregated nature, it is most aligned to this type of transport system. 

A brief guide to TWAOs can be found here: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transport-and-works-act-orders-a-brief-guide-2006/transport-and-works-act-orders-a-brief-guide 

We will engage with landowners regarding the need for land along the corridor from an early stage in the development of the preferred route. A large part of the route lies within land already owned by Cambridgeshire County Council. 

The type of consents route defines how land is acquired. In this instance, if required, a TWAO would give Compulsory Purchase Order powers allowing the council to obtain land required for this scheme. Land negotiations will take place as soon as possible to allow for comprehensive discussions.

An Outline Business Case (OBC) is a document that seeks to demonstrate that a scheme has enough value for money to warrant funding. An OBC is the second stage of three in the business case process. In June 2021 we completed the first stage - the Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC). An OBC checks and, where satisfactory, reconfirms the conclusion made in the SOBC and focusses on detailed assessments of the shortlisted options to find the optimum solution.

The strategic case (where we demonstrate the need for the scheme) is revisited and reconfirmed at the OBC stage. A full economic and financial appraisal should take place and a preferred option is selected. 

If the OBC is satisfactory to the GCP Executive Board and the Department for Transport, then the proposal will proceed to stage 3 of the business case process (Full Business Case).

We are working with the Waterbeach New Town developers to integrate the busway into the development masterplans. Initial discussions suggest that the busway will be segregated from general traffic along the main spine road within the development, connecting the A10 roundabout to the Waterbeach Relocated Station. Bus priority measures elsewhere in the development will facilitate the services which will continue to Cambridge Research Park, through Waterbeach New Town.

We are in discussions with Cambridgeshire County Council’s Street Lighting Team to confirm the lighting strategy for the busway. Current assumptions are that the busway itself will be lit at junctions and that the active travel route may have some form of lighting, such as solar studs, along its length. The nature of the lighting is to be confirmed at the next stage of the study.

We undertook Ecology Walkover surveys in Autumn 2022 and further ecology surveys will be undertaken in early 2023. These will help us to identify which more detailed ecology surveys we will need to undertake during 2023. These surveys will be required to fit in with the Ecology Survey and Mitigation Calendar which provides a guide to survey windows for specific species. 

It is also likely that we will need to undertake watercourse surveys during 2023. 

Both of these sets of surveys will inform the environmental assessment of the preferred option.  

The Waterbeach to Cambridge busway is part of the overall GCP package to help achieve the reduction in cars driving into Cambridge. Therefore, it is required, alongside the measures proposed as part of the Making Connections project, to provide an alternative to the private vehicle. The measures proposed as part of the Making Connections project, including the increase in bus services in the corridor, are likely to make the busway more attractive to users. 

There is existing congestion on the A10, that is likely to become worse, without intervention, given the volume of development planned in the corridor. Not all existing or future trips on the A10 are going into Cambridge. There is still a demand for the A14 and trips within the corridor, the latter of which could be made by public transport. 

Lastly, there is also a need to encourage more people out of their cars and onto more sustainable forms of public transport to contribute towards reducing carbon emissions.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combine Authority (CPCA) are exploring the potential for bus franchising across the region. Irrespective of that whether franchising takes place, the busway scheme is compatible with current commercial model and a franchising model. This can be seen with the success of the existing Cambridgeshire Guided Busway with operators adding significantly more services since the scheme opening.

Bus services are proposed to be expanded by the Making Connections project, including within the Waterbeach corridor. Once built, these buses will transfer onto the busway infrastructure. We acknowledge the current challenges bus operators face, that’s why he GCP have factored the cost of training and recruitment into the costs of the Making Connections proposals to attract more drivers.

During the next stage of the project we will work with landowners along the preferred route to identify the best approach to mitigate the impact of the route across specific land parcels. This will include the design of crossings to enable farm vehicle access across the route to land parcels either side, as well as identifying the exact optimum route alignment to enable the operation of the farmland to be maintained. The current alignments aim to avoid the severance of field parcels to leave small land parcels where possible.

The busway is envisaged to run using optical guidance technology rather than physical guidance, as used in the operation of the existing Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. Optical guidance is an emerging technology and is being explored further as part of a parallel project. Following the confirmation of the preferred route we will need to do further work to understand the requirement for the transition between optical guidance and physical guidance at the junction where the Waterbeach Busway will connect with the existing Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. This requirement will help inform the more detailed design of this junction. 

Mere Way is not a GCP scheme, but we have had regular engagement with Urban and Civic as they have developed their plans for Mere Way. We see the two projects as both compatible and complementary to each other.