Safety of future busways for Cambridge region in focus after three deaths
Questions have been raised over proposed new busways around Cambridge after a court was told the county council demonstrated an “entrenched mismanagement of safety” on its existing public transport system.
Three people died in separate incidents involving the Cambridgeshire guided busway between 2015 and 2021, and a boy sustained life-changing injuries.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted Cambridgeshire County Council, which runs the transport link, in connection with the incidents.
The council has admitted to two health and safety offences and details were set out at a two-day sentencing hearing, with Judge Mark Bishop adjourning the case to pass sentence at a later date, as we report inside.
Busways are at the heart of the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s future transport strategy, with three in the pipeline, prompting questions as to how they will be managed.
But the GCP says decisions are still to be made on funding, detailed design and delivery of the busways.
However, images submitted as part of the Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) for the Cambourne to Cambridge scheme show verges on either side of the busway, separating it from the maintenance track, but no fencing.
This is also the case in the TWAO for the Cambridge South East Transport busway (CSET), where “access deterrent” planting is also proposed on some sections of the verges.
It is understood that the county council will be responsible for the management of the GCP’s busways once they are constructed. However, the council was unable to confirm this.
Stephen Partridge-Hicks, chair of Better Ways for Busways, a group that argues there is a far more cost-effective and less destructive alternative to CSET, told the Cambridge Independent: “You’d have thought it was a fairly irresponsible thing to produce – proposing new busways when they’re being sued and likely having a large fine from the court for their failure to run them properly.
“But no, they’ve persisted with them, and that’s what they want to build.”
He said lawyers advising Better Ways for Busways have said that safety concerns will be dealt with through the public inquiry process. He said there had been “no discussion of safety” and added: “Railways also have problems with people walking on the track, but just much less so, because they have a higher level of segregation.”
Cllr Howard Kettel, of Stapleford Parish Council, added: “The GCP will argue that they're buying up a lot more land to widen the road, so it's going to be safer.
“I’m not a safety expert. It does seem extraordinary to me that the active travel path which runs parallel and alongside the busway is designed for pedestrians, cyclists and people on horseback.”
A GCP spokesperson said: “The GCP’s plans for the new busways continue to develop and are currently going through the Transport and Works Act Order process which will be a decision for the Secretary of State for Transport. “Further decisions are still to be made on funding, detailed design, and delivery – safety will be a key consideration throughout that process.”
A Cambridgeshire County Council spokesperson said: “As the highway authority, the county council has a duty and responsibility to uphold the highest standards of safety and, as a partner of the Greater Cambridge Partnership, we have been and continue to work closely with them on their busway plans.”
