The bus operators who will take over 17 routes in Cambridgeshire that were due to be axed this month have been named.

Those companies have agreed to run the threatened routes that were to be withdrawn by Stagecoach East from October 30 until the end of March next year.

Seventeen of the 18 services cut by Stagecoach, along with all of the five reduced services, will be covered following a tender process approved by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CAPCA).

Dr Nik Johnson, mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said: “Buses are a lifeline for so many of our residents and communities, so getting services back on almost all of those routes is a huge achievement.”

Out of the 18 services due to be axed, the remaining route, service 39, has been covered apart from the section between Chatteris and March.

CAPCA said it is speaking to operators about saving this service.

The operators that will run routes that received tenders are:

  • Citi4 along St Neots Road and within Cambourne – Stagecoach East;

  • 5A (Citi5 beyond Northstowe) - Stagecoach East;

  • 8A - Stephensons of Essex;

  • 9A Ely City Service – Stephensons of Essex;

  • 11 – Stephensons of Essex;

  • 12 - Stephensons of Essex;

  • 18 – Whippet Coaches;

  • 22 – Dews Coaches;

  • 23 – Vectare;

  • 24 – Vectare;

  • 25 – Stagecoach East;

  • 29 – Dews Coaches;

  • 30 - Dews Coaches;

  • 33 March Town Service – FACT;

  • 35 – Dews Coaches;

  • 39 - Dews Coaches (excluding between Chatteris and March);

  • 66 – Whippet Coaches;

  • 915 – Centrebus;

  • V1 V2 and V3 – Dews Coaches;

  • V4 - A2B Travel;

  • V5 (now 66) - Whippet Coaches;

CAPCA was unable to confirm bus operators or timetables until October 25 due to a legal 10-day standstill period in relation to the tendering process.

The total cost of running the threatened routes until the end of the current tax year is thought to cost CAPCA around £1.25m.

Dr Johnson is understood to have spoken about introducing a bus tax to help fund public transport in Cambridgeshire at a private meeting this month, according to the BBC.

A CAPCA spokesperson was unable to comment on the matter because the meeting was held in private.

A draft bus strategy, detailing plans for the county’s bus network from April 2023, is due to be presented to CAPCA’s transport and infrastructure committee in November.