Bus routes costing more than £100 a passenger axed

A once-weekly bus from Haslingfield cost more than £180 a passenger last year

Two rural bus services that cost more than £100 to run for every passenger who used them are to be cut.

The once-weekly 15 service between Haslingfield, Cambridgeshire, and Royston, Hertfordshire, cost £48,297 to run in 2024-25, working out at a cost per passenger of £180.

Meanwhile, the 8A service offering one journey a day in each direction between March, Cambridgeshire, and Milton Park and Ride, Cambridge, cost £188,753 to run, with each passenger journey working out at just over £100.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has agreed to stop subsidising both services, saying it had to make "tough choices" based on cost and usage.

At a meeting on Wednesday, the authority's board heard that the 8A route had been extended to take it to the park and ride in the hope it would improve passenger numbers.

However, a report stated there had been a "limited change" in numbers, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Officers told the board that the loss of the 15 service would be mitigated through the expansion of the Tiger On Demand service in South Cambridgeshire. They said an agreement had been reached with South Cambridgeshire District Council to use money provided by developers to fund the expansion of this service.

Anna Bailey, the Conservative leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council, said discussing bus services was an "emotive subject" but there was not enough money to support every service across the area.

She said they had to make tough choices as there was not an "endless pot of money".

Lucy Nethsingha, the Liberal Democrat leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, said it was a "controversial" decision but she would be supporting it.

Anna Smith, a Labour cabinet member at Cambridge City Council, said they needed to make sure people in rural communities did not become "trapped" when losing a bus service.

The two services will not be cut immediately as 112 days' contractual notice must be given to the traffic commissioner.

Services to be supported

The board agreed to continue supporting a number of other bus services in Cambridgeshire, including ones that connect to neighbouring Lincolnshire and Suffolk.

The services include:

• 8, between Cambridge and Papworth Everard

• 46A, between Newmarket and Linton

• 5A, between St Ives and Bar Hill

• 27, between Stamford and Peterborough

• 61, between Eynesbury and Eaton Ford

• 68, Wisbech Town Service

• V4, between St Ives Bus Station and Boxworth