Peterborough set to get new bus route linking city hospital and Serpentine Green

Peterborough is set to get a new bus route which will go to the city hospital in Bretton and Serpentine Green in Hampton.
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The service, provisionally called route 29, is being funded by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority as part of the Department for Transport’s Better

Deal for Buses scheme.

The mayoral authority, which is headed by Mayor James Palmer, said: “Talks with Peterborough City Council’s Transport Committee have established the wish for more orbital buses to reduce travel into and back out of Peterborough city centre.

Peterborough City HospitalPeterborough City Hospital
Peterborough City Hospital
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“To explore and quantify the need, it is proposed to commission an orbital bus route linking parts of Orton and Hampton north direct to the city hospital using the parkway network to cut travel times; and south to the Serpentine Green shopping centre and superstore.

“It is thus routed to useful passenger destinations at both ends.

“If required, the bus can run via the unused Orton Southgate bus gate and extend to new developments in the Hampton area.”

The combined authority will tender the bus service which is expected to begin trials as an hourly route running between the morning and afternoon school times on five or six days a week.

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The combined authority added: “Discussions with PCC rejected a bus service for Manor Drive estate (at Paston Reserve) due to the lack of a bus turning circle and rejected an off-peak Peterborough–Orton service as it is unlikely to carry many passengers.

“Discussions with residents suggest that using the Orton Southgate bus gate would be unpopular – it was built 15 years ago and has never opened.”

The estimated cost of supporting the new service after tendering is estimated at £30-40,000 a year for five or six journeys a day on five or six days a week.

The service is expected to eventually carry 6,400 passengers a year, with an estimated subsidised cost of £5.15 per passenger.

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The decision to tender the service is due to be made shortly by Mayor Palmer.

Currently, the vast majority of bus services in Peterborough are run by Stagecoach, although the combined authority has bus franchising powers allocated to it by the Government.