First franchised bus services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough not expected until 2028

Previous Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Labour’s Dr Nik Johnson, announced in February that the combined authority (CPCA) would franchise the region’s bus system, bringing services under greater public control.

Under the new model, the CPCA will set fares, routes, timetables and service standards, working with contracted private bus operators to ensure they are implemented and work effectively. Franchising will also allow profits to be reinvested into improved services.

On November 6, the CPCA’s executive director for place and connectivity Judith Barker updated a Peterborough City Council scrutiny committee on the progress of bus franchising implementation.

“It was felt that the ambitions we had for the bus network weren’t being met within the commercial model at the moment,” she said.

The CPCA currently supports around 12 per cent of the bus services in the region, with stability of the network not guaranteed, but franchising would allow the authority to take control and maximise value for money.

An implementation review is underway until December which will guide any necessary revisions to the franchising programme.

Ms Barker informed councillors that there was a slight delay in when the first franchised services would be operated.

She said: “A review is underway at the moment which will report to the mayor in January and, if there are any revisions, they will be presented to the board in January or March.

“We originally scheduled for the first services to be franchised in late 2027, but with the terms of this review that is now likely to be 2028.”

The meeting heard that the combined authority had initially planned its franchising implementation on the basis that the mayoral precept would increase, but new Conservative mayor Paul Bristow pledged to keep the precept as it was when he was elected in May.

Co-opted member Nick Sandford asked if this loss of potential income would result in “not proper franchising”.

Ms Barker said: “We either have to look at bringing in more income or reducing costs.

“The only options there really for bringing in income is to look at the fare box and none of us want to increase ticket prices so therefore we have to look at having more passengers, but of course that is a risk and we have to be really clear that it will be a challenge.

“The other thing we’ll be looking at is how to reduce the cost. Are there different models out there that will allow us to handle finance options differently?

“Interestingly, there are a number of organisations coming forward with different models which we can then consider. We could also consider a more phased approach.”

There are two new bus depots planned for the region, including one in Peterborough and one in or near Cambridge.

Rail improvements

Mayor Bristow is also keen on investing in light rail for the region, as well as upgrading the Ely Junction bottleneck.

Liberal Democrat councillor Polly Geraghty noted that it took at least an hour to get from Peterborough to Cambridge by train with just one direct train running an hour.

“It’s just rubbish,” she said.

Ms Barker responded: “If the Ely Junction improvements were made, that would allow immediate doubling of the frequency.

“The mayor is very passionate about trying to secure funding for Ely Junction and has also been looking into what makes a difference to those journey times.

“For instance, the signal improvements already in place which should make a small difference. It’s almost a cumulative of small differences.”

Ely Junction is where five major rail lines from as far as Scotland meet and converge into one, single, Victorian track on their way to the UK’s busiest port of Felixstowe.

The combined authority claims that improving it would open up an extra 277,000 passenger journeys a year across the East of England and allow for an extra 2,900 freight services from Felixstowe.

Ms Barker also said that the mayor had been in discussions with Stansted Airport about how rail journeys to and from the airport could be improved.