Council fined millions after three busway deaths


Kathleen Pitts (left), Steve Moir (centre) and Jennifer Taylor (right) all died in collisions with buses

A council has been fined £6m after three deaths on the world's longest guided busway.

Jennifer Taylor, Steve Moir and Kathleen Pitts died after collisions on the Cambridgeshire busway between 2015 and 2021.

Sentencing Cambridgeshire County Council at Cambridge Crown Court, Judge Mark Bishop criticised the authority for its "rigid and blinkered response" to the fatalities, as well as numerous near-misses and accidents.

The authority previously admitted two safety breaches and said it was "truly sorry". It was ordered to pay the fine over three years.

Cambridgeshire County Council runs the transport link that serves Cambridge, St Ives and Huntingdon. It opened in 2011 and much of the 16-mile (26km) route involves a modified bus being guided along a track.

Ms Taylor, 81, was hit by a bus when she crossed the track on foot at Fen Drayton in November 2015.

Mr Moir, 50, fell into the path of a bus after clipping a kerb with his bicycle that separated him from the busway in Cambridge, in September 2018.

Pedestrian Kathleen Pitts, 52, was struck by a bus on the same stretch in October 2021.

A fourth person, Leon Leeson, was left with memory loss, a broken collarbone, a tear in his liver and the loss of hearing in one ear, following an incident.

The county council previously admitted two charges under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, relating to the public trying to cross the busway at designated crossings and being struck while moving alongside the busway.

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A tram inspector told a mum using a family ticket that she could be fined because her baby and toddler were "too young" to be classed as children.

Cassie took the Metrolink into Manchester city centre from Droylsden in Tameside earlier this month for a church service with her husband and their two children.

Using a £7.10 off-peak family day travel card, Cassie was told by a ticket inspector that because under-fives travel for free, they did not count as "children" under ticketing terms and conditions.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has since apologised and said it would "make sure that all staff are aware that there is no minimum age for children travelling on a family ticket".

Is the bus wheelchair friendly?

Presumably IETs can now stop there which will come in handy when they’re diverted for whatever reason.

If you do it that way, then there's one night-time duty for Worcester, taking the 5G36 from Shrub Hill (21:58) to Stoke Gifford (23:40) and  coming back with 3G18 04:42 from Stoke Gifford to Shrub Hill (06:31)

I'm hearing that Bristol drivers are losing driving knowledge for the North Cotswold Line at the May timetable change, so only Worcester & Oxford drivers will be signing the line after that.

So Bristol drivers take IETs out of Stoke Gifford & pass stock over to Worcester drivers when heading to the North Cotswolds....

Expect driver shortages....who's idea was that, I wonder?

A lovely weekend based in Saltash and 000s more pictures to share - BUT - coffee spilled in my laptop "Cato" (and it was excellent coffee to waste) was also terminal to Cato. 

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FirstGroup will 'double' private rail operations to counter Government's nationalisation push

FirstGroup has upgraded 2025 profit guidance after a better than expected showing from its rail division over the last year.

The FTSE 250 Avanti West Coast and Great Western Railway owner expects higher than forecast variable operator fees from the Department of Transport, while its non-taxpayer funded open access operations continued to perform well.

The Government passed a bill last year that will bring rail passenger services back into public ownership by appointing a public sector operator when existing contracts expire.

While the timing of nationalisations has not been confirmed, FirstGroup's South Western Railway and Great Western Railway will see DfT contracts expire in May and June, respectively.

Avanti West Coast's contract expires in October next year.

FirstGroup said its open access operations like Lumo and Hull Trains, which manage trains on mainline routes without government funding, had benefited from 'strong demand, effective yield management and continued high levels of customer satisfaction'.

It has acquired track access rights for two new open access services and signed a £500million agreement to lease 14 new UK-manufactured trains, to facilitate the growth of its open access operations.

Boss Graham Sutherland said First Rail has agreements in place to 'double the size of our open access operations with potential to go much further'.

Its First Bus division also saw revenue accelerate in the second half, buoyed by the January introduction of the £3 fare cap in England and the December acquisition of RATP London.

FirstGroup re-entered the London bus market with a 12 per cent share after agreeing the takeover worth £90million.

The firm said: 'Reflecting the stronger financial performance in First Rail and in-line performance at First Bus, the Group anticipates that its FY 2025 adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share will be ahead of the Group's previous expectations.'

It added that its balance sheet 'remains strong' and it expects net debt to come in lower than expected at £85million to £90million for the 12 months to 29 March.

Sutherland said: 'We have continued our strong financial and operational delivery in the second half of our financial year and have committed significant capital to further grow and diversify our portfolio.'

FirstGroup shares were up 1.8 per cent to 162.1p in early trading, trimming 2025 losses to 0.6 per cent.

I'm told that they won't even be learning Stoke Gifford to Worcester, so the Worcester/Oxford drivers will sign that (with a taxi trip from/to their depot), or a hand-over maybe at Cheltenham, for example?....

I see Melksham now has IET stop boards on the platform.

Presumably IETs can now stop there which will come in handy when they’re diverted for whatever reason.

All part of a depot wide review on routes.  Worcester is expanding and Oxford has a fair bit of spare capacity, so it might not be the worst idea in the world as they only cover a handful of trains over the route.  Time will tell.

Expect driver shortages....whose idea was that, I wonder?

15:18 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 17:29 has been delayed at Worcester Shrub Hill and is now 22 minutes late.
This is due to a late running train being in front of this one.
Last Updated:15/04/2025 15:58

16:32 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 19:29 will be started from Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a late running train being in front of this one.
Last Updated:15/04/2025 15:58

Firstgroup's rail division has been performing better than anticipated, despite the UK government's radical reforms of the railway network that are raising industry-wide concerns.

On Tuesday, the publicly-traded transport company acknowledged that revenues from the Department for Transport (DfT) for contracted train operators surpassed previous projections, as reported by City AM.

The firm is also experiencing "strong demand" in its open access services, which are delivered by Lumo and Hull Trains.

Within the half-year period, Firstgroup secured access rights for two additional open access services and cemented a £500 million deal to lease 14 new trains manufactured in the UK.

However, the company has issued several warnings indicating that the establishment of the state-run Great British Railways (GBR) might constraint the expansion of open access services.

In comments to the DfT submitted on Monday, Firstgroup expressed apprehension that GBR could display "adverse monopolistic" behaviour, advocating for the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) regulator, responsible for approving new routes, to be "empowered to adjudicate fairly and impartially with fair, transparent and open decision-making."

Graham Sutherland, the head of Firstgroup, mentioned existing agreements that would allow them to double their open access operations with possibilities for even further growth.

In a reflective statement, Firstgroup declared its balance sheet remains "strong," projecting its net debts to fall between £85 and £90 million by the year's end.

At First Bus, the company predicts a two per cent rise in passenger numbers, with revenue from First Bus London expected to reach between £300m and £350m annually. The firm also anticipates maintaining its adjusted earnings per share in 2026.

"We have continued our strong financial and operational delivery in the second half of our financial year and have committed significant capital to further grow and diversify our portfolio," Sutherland stated.