Cambourne – On the Buses

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Unfortunately, Liberal Democrat Councillors are spreading some false rumours. They say I campaigned to stop the 905 bus connecting Cambourne and St Neots. This is categorically untrue.

 

I’ve always been clear that public transport plans and investment in Cambridgeshire are nowhere near ambitious enough.

 

Cambourne needs fast, direct links to Cambridge. So too does St Neots. They’re large, fast-growing towns that shouldn’t have to share their bus services!

 

As for the lies being spread during this election campaign, you deserve the facts. So here they are.

 

In 2021, Conservative Mayor James Palmer said he was scrapping the X5 direct coach service between St Neots and Cambridge, replacing it with the stopping 905 bus route via Cambourne.

 

This announcement came only a few days before the routes changed — passengers suddenly found an already long journey to Cambridge was now 20 to 30 minutes longer. Clearly unacceptable.

 

As Mayor of St Neots at the time, I spoke out against the changes because they massively increased commuting times to Cambridge for my constituents. 

 

A few months later, I asked all candidates in the Combined Authority Mayoral election to pledge to restore the X5 service. Nik Johnson was the only candidate to do so.

Two years after his election, Mayor Johnson delivered a compromise. He got Stagecoach to alternate the buses on the 905 route, with every other bus stopping at Cambourne — one direct service an hour from St Neots to Cambridge, and one per hour stopping at Cambourne. 

 

Nik and Stagecoach presented this at a public meeting in St Neots. Like all compromises, it wasn’t perfect. But it was the only offer on the table that delivered a service that made commuting from either town possible. 

 

Unfortunately, Stagecoach reneged on the deal. Citing post-COVID pressures, they both reduced the service frequency and removed Cambourne from the route altogether. They also stopped serving Cambridgeshire Region College. None of this was acceptable — and neither is the lie that I campaigned for it.

 

Some points of clarification:

 

  1. Bus routes are the responsibility of bus operators and the Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority. Not councillors. 
  2. I asked Nik Johnson to commit to restoring the X5 route, not to axing the Cambourne service. Because the replacement didn’t serve my constituents.
  3. Cambourne and St Neots are each big enough not to have to share a direct route to Cambridge!
  4. A bus service should connect Cambourne and St Neots. Cambourne residents look to St Neots for facilities and entertainment, and St Neots residents have friends, sports teams and more in Cambourne.
  5. I persuaded another operator, Whippet, to increase the frequency and timetable of the 18 services that currently connect Cambourne and St Neots.
  6. As Mayor of St Neots, it was my responsibility to stand up for constituents who were negatively impacted by bus service changes. Where were Cambourne’s Councillors in this debate? None of them ever wrote to me, or made any representation. As your MP I would stand up for the needs of all my constituents all the time — not just during an election!
  7. I have always passionately campaigned for more buses, and never for a reduction in service. I am one of the biggest advocates for better buses in the region.