Planning In 2001 the Cambridge-Huntingdon Multi-Modal Study (CHUMMS) recommended widening of the
A14 road and building a guided busway along the old
Cambridge and Huntingdon railway, which had been closed to passengers since 1970 and to all traffic since 1993. Since closure there had been proposals to reinstate the rail service, and for a light railway network, a bus lane, a road with limited access, a bus-way, a cycle path and a nature walk. A private consortium that had proposed a guided bus scheme, SuperCAM, abandoned their plans in 2003.
Arup prepared the
Transport and Works Act (TWA) application presented in late 2003. A
public inquiry was held in September–October 2004. The scheme was supported by five bus and coach operators, and 20 other organisations and individuals. A total of 2,735 objections were received: The scheme was approved by the Government in December 2005 by the granting of a Transport and Works Act Order.
Construction In March 2007, the then
Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander officially opened a manufacturing plant at Longstanton that would produce the 6,000–7,000 concrete beams for the busway. Each beam was 350 millimetres (13¾ inches) thick with a further lip for the glide wheels to press against. In the same year a
viaduct of maintenance-free
steel was built over the
River Great Ouse as a replacement for the 200-tonne wrought-iron railway viaduct removed in 2007. There would later be a dispute between the
Conservative-controlled County Council and opposition
Liberal Democrat councillors as to whether the structure was structurally sound, with a claim that water draining off the track over the viaduct could lead to crumbling. In March 2008 existing guided vehicles were trialled along a section near Oakington. The vehicles tested included a
Wrightbus-bodied
single decker owned by
FirstGroup, a
Plaxton President-bodied
Dennis Trident 2 double decker from
Lothian Buses, and a white
Alexander Dennis Enviro500 triple-axled double decker. The test vehicles were fitted with sensors to assess vibration levels and ride quality. Hot weather testing of the track took place during May/June 2010. In addition to the bus fleet, Cambridgeshire County Council trialled and purchased a specially adapted "guided
gritter" lorry for use during periods of cold weather, which will spray salt water rather than
rock salt. The Multihog is powered by 90-horsepower engine allowing it to travel at up to and features a brine tank, rather than solid grit. By August 2008 approximately of the busway had been constructed, between Longstanton and Milton Road (Science Park). On 30 November 2009, road signs directing traffic from the A14 towards the future busway park and ride sites started to be installed. Other signage related to the busway had required subsequent height adjustments, and spelling corrections. Trees had also blown over, blocking the busway route near Swavesey. The twelve junctions on the route fitted with
bus priority traffic signals were tested on 16 December 2010 and worked as expected.
Delays In January 2009 it was announced that the scheduled opening of the scheme had been delayed until late summer 2009 owing to bad weather and flooding in the
Fen Drayton area. As a result of complications with a bridge at
Hills Road in Cambridge, traffic restrictions there continued throughout the summer of 2009. Flooding and drainage issues affected the limestone-covered cycleway during late 2009 and early 2010. In August 2009 a further delay until late November 2009 was announced for the opening of the northern section, with no date given for the southern section. On 16 November 2009 the project was delayed for the third time when Cambridgeshire County Council announced that the northern section would not open on the previously advertised date of 29 November 2009. An opening date of "the end of the year" 2009 for the northern section was announced later in the same month, followed four days later by "hopefully in the new year [2010]". neither would they continue southwards to Cambridge railway station. In January 2010, the contractors and Cambridgeshire County Council were still in discussions about what required finishing. During February 2010 the directors of both the signed-up bus operators—Andy Campbell of Stagecoach in Cambridge, and Peter Lee of Whippet coaches—expressed their companies' frustrations at the busway not being usable by the new buses they had bought to run on it. In the same month,
South Cambridgeshire District Council demanded of Cambridgeshire County Council a comprehensive public statement giving clarity over rising costs. In mid-June 2010, none of the listed outstanding issues had been fixed and a public review was announced. At the start of July 2010, it was reported that neither section would open before 2011; the bus operators reacted to the news angrily, suggesting that they might seek to reduce the minimum level of service that had been previously committed to. At a council meeting on 9 July 2010, a decision was taken to concentrate on completion of the southern section in order to get the whole route opened, rather than aiming for a phased introduction. During late September 2010
BAM Nuttall missed deadlines for providing construction certificates needed by the Council, forcing it to begin its own inspections.
Trials On 21 April 2011 the busway was officially handed over to Cambridgeshire County Council, triggering a 28-day period for any remedial works be undertaken by BAM Nuttall. This period expired without BAM Nuttall having completed any of the required work. The County Council contracted Jackson Civil Engineering to finish the busway, at BAM Nuttall's expense, with a view to opening the busway in August 2011. The County Council served a legal notice on BAM Nuttall that they were not willing to pay for the budget overrun. A number of preview trials of the busway were held, during which some problems were encountered, particularly with cyclists using the busway. In one incident a cyclist cycling on the guide beams, rather than the cycle path next to the busway, was struck by a bus. Trials of recovery procedures should a bus break down were also held, with the test finding that a stranded bus could be connected up and removed within five to ten minutes of a specially-adapted breakdown vehicle reaching the scene. During one preview journey held for journalists on 28 July 2011, Hugh Morris of the
Cambridge First newspaper staged a race between the guided bus and a car travelling from Cambridge to St Ives to see which was quicker to reach the end of the track. The car beat the bus by ten minutes, although he noted that the trip had not been held during rush hour, during which the A14 road is noted for congestion. A journey from St Ives to the Cambridge Science Park was found to take 20 minutes. The first guided bus left St Ives at 09:00 after the busway had been opened by
Andrew Lansley MP. leading to the operators providing additional buses on their services. Over the first four weeks the average was 52,227 journeys (224,054 total). Footfall and trade at businesses in the villages increased as a result, with the same increase reported by market traders and shopkeepers in St Ives. As a
bridleway,
horse riders can also use the maintenance track adjacent to the northern guided section providing a traffic-free route between the villages. Work began at the end of July 2011 on improving the park and ride facilities at Longstanton. Construction work included a £430,000 passenger waiting room and exhibition centre, for the adjacent Northstowe development. The co-building subsequently won an award at the 2012 Green Apple Built Environment and Architectural Heritage Awards. On 12 January 2012, the busway celebrated its one millionth passenger. The intersections of the busway with the regular roads are equipped with prominently signed "
car traps" to prevent motorists driving onto the guide beams and interfering with the bus traffic.
Expansion An extension of the busway, to meet the new
Cambridge North railway station, was started in July 2014. The authority already had the necessary powers to build the extension. Originally scheduled to be open in December 2015, the railway station linked to the busway opened in May 2017. ==Construction costs==