In Praise of the Guided Bus Way

rolf_f

The only time I've been on that route was when it was still a railway line!

meanredspider

I think St Ives misses a trick with the bus way. I rode out there today on the Paddy Wagon (I really like that bike) and the path dumps you unceremoniously at the P&R outside St Ives. From there, there's very little by way of bike infrastructure. I was going to look for a cafe but, frankly, couldn't be ar$ed figuring out where to go so just turned around and rode back to Cambridge. With so much money spent on that track, you'd have thought the town council would try to guide the recreational bike and foot traffic into the town.

gabriel959

meanredspider wrote:

I think St Ives misses a trick with the bus way. I rode out there today on the Paddy Wagon (I really like that bike) and the path dumps you unceremoniously at the P&R outside St Ives. From there, there's very little by way of bike infrastructure. I was going to look for a cafe but, frankly, couldn't be ar$ed figuring out where to go so just turned around and rode back to Cambridge. With so much money spent on that track, you'd have thought the town council would try to guide the recreational bike and foot traffic into the town.

A few lovely cafe's in St. Ives near the P&R, next time send me a PM and I will give you some recommendations. Otherwise check: http://www.cafenetwork.info/

meanredspider

gabriel959 wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

I think St Ives misses a trick with the bus way. I rode out there today on the Paddy Wagon (I really like that bike) and the path dumps you unceremoniously at the P&R outside St Ives. From there, there's very little by way of bike infrastructure. I was going to look for a cafe but, frankly, couldn't be ar$ed figuring out where to go so just turned around and rode back to Cambridge. With so much money spent on that track, you'd have thought the town council would try to guide the recreational bike and foot traffic into the town.

A few lovely cafe's in St. Ives near the P&R, next time send me a PM and I will give you some recommendations. Otherwise check: http://www.cafenetwork.info/

Thanks, I will do. Hoping to get the opportunity to do a few more kms in the bike as my daughter improves. I'm not sure I've made it into 3-figures total yet this year.

veronese68

meanredspider wrote:

Thanks, I will do. Hoping to get the opportunity to do a few more kms in the bike as my daughter improves. I'm not sure I've made it into 3-figures total yet this year.

I've been meaning to ask how she's doing, hope all is well. Lets hope you manage to get out and do more miles for all the right reasons.

meanredspider

Veronese68 wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

Thanks, I will do. Hoping to get the opportunity to do a few more kms in the bike as my daughter improves. I'm not sure I've made it into 3-figures total yet this year.

I've been meaning to ask how she's doing, hope all is well. Lets hope you manage to get out and do more miles for all the right reasons.

She's doing OK, thanks, V68. Waiting on bone marrow results that will basically tell us if she's getting a bone marrow transplant later in the year. Fingers crossed she won't need that but we should know a week on Tuesday. Most of the time she needs 24 hour supervision and, because youngest is in Scotland, we're split across locations. Time when Mrs MRS is able to get down to Cambridge, I need to be working (incl travelling to south east Asia) so bike time has been a luxury. I might see if I bring the Neo up to Cambridge to at least have some turbo time (though is there anything more miserable than turbo on a nice day?)

itboffin

i've never heard of such a thing but now i have I'm thinking all the disused WWII train lines down here would be perfect, linking Marlborough with Swindon and still very level unlike the rest of the hilly gridlocked roads. I wonder if such a thing but for lorries would be even better?

rjsterry

itboffin wrote:

i've never heard of such a thing but now i have I'm thinking all the disused WWII train lines down here would be perfect, linking Marlborough with Swindon and still very level unlike the rest of the hilly gridlocked roads. I wonder if such a thing but for lorries would be even better?

You mean a goods line? That's pretty much what railways were invented for.

itboffin

yes but there are loads of unused old lines that could take heavy traffic off the roads bypassing small towns and reducing congestion and pollution which is a massive problem in places like Marlborough due to its location between the M3 & M4 and hilly terrain, so not a rail replacement but a few miles of driverless controlled bypass would work wonders

rjsterry

itboffin wrote:

yes but there are loads of unused old lines that could take heavy traffic off the roads bypassing small towns and reducing congestion and pollution which is a massive problem in places like Marlborough due to its location between the M3 & M4 and hilly terrain, so not a rail replacement but a few miles of driverless controlled bypass would work wonders

Well from Google maps, the route for a Marlborough bypass is definitely there and the roundabout by Tesco is right where the old railway used to cross the A346. If you follow it up it skirts the east of the town and ends up running parallel to the A346 further north. Appears to be some sort of railway path already.

meanredspider

There's something to be said for ITBs idea. The problem with rail freight in the U.K. is that you can't get truck trailers or, I believe, standard sea containers onto trains because the bridge gauge is too small in the UK. That makes using rail for freight very expensive and also it's that "last mile" distribution that rail does so badly. This is what the guided busway does well. Gets buses off congested roads but gives them that ability to do the pick-ups and drop off loops around the route.

itboffin

rjsterry wrote:

itboffin wrote:

yes but there are loads of unused old lines that could take heavy traffic off the roads bypassing small towns and reducing congestion and pollution which is a massive problem in places like Marlborough due to its location between the M3 & M4 and hilly terrain, so not a rail replacement but a few miles of driverless controlled bypass would work wonders

Well from Google maps, the route for a Marlborough bypass is definitely there and the roundabout by Tesco is right where the old railway used to cross the A346. If you follow it up it skirts the east of the town and ends up running parallel to the A346 further north. Appears to be some sort of railway path already.

3 had three complete freight lines and stations crossing the area as the nearby Savernake forest was the largest munitions dump in Europe at the time, and yes the lines are still there you can walk or cycle them