Stagecoach East 15813 (AE12 CKJ) in Ely - 19 Oct 2022 (P1130840)

Wednesday 19 October 2022 (1307) - Stagecoach East (Cambus) 15813 (AE12 CKJ), an Alexander Dennis (ADL) Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UD new in July 2012, seen in Prickwillow Road, Ely when working the 1125 service 12 from Cambridge to Ely. I had just alighted from the bus at the Beech Lane bus stop.

The service had departed Newmarket on time but was faced with a diversion within Newmarket. A two week long road closure at the bottom of Mill Hill in Newmarket (just 328 yards/300 metres from the bus station) resulted in quiet a lengthy diversion of 1.75 miles/2.8 km for service 12 to/from Ely. Service 11 to/from Burwell was also affected but less so because the service turns in to Valley Way and doesn’t travel all the way back to Mill Hill. The diversion caused quite serious delays to the buses particularly at traditionally busy times. It was 1217 when the bus was clear of the roadworks and back on the normal route, some 12 minutes late by then. The time was never made up with the bus arriving in Ely 14 minutes late.

During mid-September 2022 Stagecoach East announced its intention to withdraw quite a number of bus services which it said were no longer commercially sustainable. Their services 11/X11 ceased after operation on Saturday 29 October 2022 along with the Cambridge-Newmarket-Ely service 12. Replacement services were introduced by Stephensons of Essex from Monday 31 October 2022.

Using the tracker on the Bus Times website this bus was shown as running the following trips today:

0520 Ely-Waterbeach-Cambridge 0618 (9)
0650 Cambridge-Newmarket 0807 (11)
0824 Newmarket-Bury St. Edmunds 0849 (11)
0905 Bury St. Edmunds-Cambridge 1059 (11)
1125 Cambridge-Newmarket-Ely 1256 (12)
1400 Ely-March (Town)-March (Tesco, Westry) 1509 (39)
1530 March (Tesco, Westry)-March (Town)-Ely 1643 (39)
1655 Ely-Cambridge 1739 (X9)
1755 Cambridge-Ely 1857 (9)