An operator has withdrawn their winning bids for seven subsidised bus services across Cambridgeshire which will delay their introduction.
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, which says the operator cannot be named for legal reasons, will now restart the tendering process.
Mayor Dr Nik Johnson. Picture: Keith Heppell
Mayor Dr Nik Johnson said: “I was very proud when this organisation stepped up to rescue the original 23 routes, and I am just as proud today to see the vast majority of mayoral-precept-funded services up and running, all serving parts of our region that an out-of-date deregulated market either couldn’t or wouldn’t.
“On these last seven routes, I know the delay is frustrating, but we’ve dealt with operator setbacks before and are working to get them going as soon as possible.”
Since 2022, the Combined Authority has procured more than 40 mayoral precept-funded routes. As a result of the withdrawn bids, the tendering process for the remaining seven routes has to start over, meaning the services are now not expected to launch until May.
The routes are part of a package of 53 services funded through the mayoral precept. Some 38 routes across the region are already up and running, with a further four Tiger on Demand services – flexible, bookable buses serving rural areas – set to launch this weekend, covering Fenland, East Cambridgeshire, and two in South Cambridgeshire.
The routes affected by the withdrawal of bids are:
Tiger 1 – Huntingdon to Cambridge
Tiger 2/3 – Cambridge North and South connections
Tiger 4/5 Soham to Cambridge and Newmarket to Cambridge
Tiger 7 – Chatteris to Wisbech
Tiger 9 – Peterborough Orbital
Paul Bristow, Conservative candidate for mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said the news was “nothing short of a scandal”.
“Local people have been paying the tax and the enormous increases in 2024, and will again in 2025, but not get the promised service,” he said.
Mr Bristow, who will be hoping to unseat Dr Johnson in May’s election, added: “If the mayor can’t even manage this simple procurement process, how can we trust him to implement bus franchising across the whole of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough?
“Thanks to the mayor’s bungling, passengers are going to miss out. If he is re-elected and he is put in charge of bus franchising, on his track record, he could bankrupt Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.”