Preamble

For family reasons, I often make the journey from Oakham to the Chesterton area of Cambridge, travelling by train from Oakham station to Cambridge North, changing at Ely, and then either walking or taking one or more buses to reach my destination. The last leg is actually quite time consuming, and adds considerably to the overall travel time. Now in July 2025, I learnt of the existence of a new bus service from Huntingdon to Fenstanton and then along the Cambridge Busway, through Chesterton to Cambridge, passing very close to my destination (the Whippet Coaches T1). This seemed to me to offer an interesting, and potentially quicker journey, travelling to Peterborough by Cross Country trains, then to Huntingdon on Thameslink, and then onto the bus to my final destination. What follows is a report on the journey there and back via this route, highlighting both its good and bad points.

The journey

I trevelled to Cambridge very early on a Saturday morning, catching the 5.47 East Midlands Trains service from Oakham to Peterborough, and then, after a 9 minute connection, the 6.24 Thameslink service to Huntingdon. The connection was straightforward, although there was some conflict between the online information and what actually happened on the ground with regard to the platforming of the Thameslink train at Peterborough. I arrived at Huntingdon on time at 6.38.

Now the weather that day was “interesting” to say the least, as can be judged from the weather radar screen shot below (Figure 1). The T1 was due to leave the station at 7.19, so I was anxious to find somewhere dry to wait. On leaving the Huntingdon station buildings, I found a convenient bus turning circle, with a respectable shelter (Figure 2). The only problem was that this was obviously not in use, and I was directed to a bus stop on the side of the ring road outside the station, which had no facilities other than a bus lay by and a stop sign (Figure 3). Why this change had occurred I have no idea – presumably something to do with operational convenience – but it had nothing to do with the comfort and convenience of passengers. Not good.

I was not anxious to wait to get soaked in such a situation, so I followed the signs to Huntingdon Bus Station, about a 5 to 10 minute walk away (including crossing the ring road) where the T1 was due to call after the railway station. This was a perfectly acceptable facility, with covered seating and adequate information – the only problem was that it wasn’t at the railway station (Figure 4).

The bus arrived precisely on time. The driver was cheerful and efficient and everything ran smoothly. the bus ran non-stop to Fenstanton, then travelled quite slowly over some minor roads (with cars very dubiously parked) to the Busway at Swavesey. From there the trip was fast and smooth along the busway. The weather by this time was horrible as can be seen from figures 5 and 6. Loadings were light throughout, perhaps because it was a wet Saturday morning. It left the Busway at Milton Road in the north of Cambridge, and stopped at a number of stops along that road (unlike the standard Busway buses that run limited-stop into the city centre). I arrived at the stop I wanted a little after 8.00. The journey time was about 2 hours and 20 minutes, even with the 40 minute sojourn in Huntingdon. That was about the same time that the journey would have taken by train to Cambridge North. It was however rather cheaper, partly thanks to my Bus Pass!

The return journey was uneventful, except for the weather. Around about Fenstanton, the persistent rain became a deluge which persisted until after the bus arrived at Huntingdon. The drop off in the layby outside Huntingdon station and the walk into the station building was unpleasant to say the least. I got on the bus at around 12.30 and arrived back at Oakham at 14.20 – half an hour quicker than the outward journey thanks to good connections in Huntingdon and Peterborough.

Reflections

So what was my overall view of the journey. The T1 bus service itself was very pleasant and convenient and Whippet Coaches are to be congratulated. The journye times and stopping places suited me very well. The service has the potential to be more than just a local service and could have a more inter-urban role, if the connections into the rail network were better. The hourly service inevitably means some extended connection times at Huntingdon and / or Peterborough and a more frequent service would be nice, although whether this would be financially viable is perhaps doubtful.

The unpleasant part of the journey was the lack of proper bus connection facilities at Huntingdon station. It is difficult to see how this could have been made worse, and is a classic example of the neglect of the most basic principle of integrated transport. Whoever is responsible (Cambridgeshire County Council perhaps?) should hang their heads in shame.