Fencing along Cambridgeshire guided busway 'impractical'
It's a week since a fire engine and two guided buses collided on the busway
Last updated 23rd Apr 2025
A campaigner has said installing a safety barrier along the whole length of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway would be "impractical".
It's one week since a fire engine and two guided buses collided at the junction with the B1050 Station Road near Northstowe.
Cambridgeshire Police said 11 people were taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge after the collision, including one of the passengers who remains in a critical condition.
Anna Gazeley is campaigning against plans to build a busway between Cambourne and Cambridge.
"To fence the whole of the guided busway is impractical and just not affordable," she said.
"I would say take a look at which bits the cyclists and pedestrians are closest to the busway and which sections it's most tempting for people to think 'I'm going to nip across'."
Police and paramedics were called to Station Road where it crosses the Guided Busway near Northstowe at about 2pm on April 16.
A fire engine responding to an emergency call and travelling north was involved in a collision with a single-decker Stagecoach bus travelling towards St Ives.
Little control
Anna believes the bus drivers are restricted in trying to avoid a potential accident.
"Once it's restricted within the kerbs, it can't swerve, but the driver is still thinking like a regular road user so if something fell into their path, they'd go to swerve and they can't," she said.
"I think that's how a lot of these accidents occurred."
The 16-mile (26km) busway between Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives - which opened in 2011 - features a guided track that allows modified buses to travel along it.
The collision came on the same day Cambridgeshire County Council - which runs the busway - was fined £6 million after three people died on the transport system between 2015 and 2021.
Dr Stephen Moir, the council's chief executive, apologised to the friends and families of those affected by the council's "actions or lack of action" in addressing safety risks along the busway and promised that the failings "will not be repeated."
'Improved signalling' to increase safety
Anna would like to see certain safety measures put in place by the authority.
"Put fencing up to discourage pedestrians from coming across the busway at certain points, slow it down so the bus needs to be travelling at a slower speed, improved signalling at a greater distance so everybody knows what's happening," she added.
"Have dedicated bus lanes instead of a busway because people are used to dealing with traffic on regular roads, which means they're more cautious so you won't have as many problems as you do with this design of guided busway."
Dr Moir said Cambridgeshire County Council has carried out various safety improvements, such as "thorough and frequent inspections, a rolling programme of risk assessments and strengthened incident recording, reporting and investigations."