The 900 residents of Teversham village which has no amenities such as a shop, doctor or even a pub will lose its off peak bus service to Cambridge in January.

The Monday to Saturday two hourly number 17 bus is run commercially by Stagecoach between Fulbourn and the Fen Estate via Cambridge city centre and it has decided to withdraw it to use its bus and driver elsewhere.

The single peak hour journey into Cambridge in the morning and out in the evening which is essential for six form students and those working in Cambridge will continue to run.

I am working with the county council to see if Whippet is interested in taking the current service over on a commercial basis or if an alternative service can be provided by changing the route of an existing subsidized bus service.

The county council has no money available to subsidize more bus services following the Conservatives’ decision not to increase its council tax this year by 45 pence a week.

The Conservatives privatized bus services in the 1980s and made it impossible for local councils to cross subsidize bus routes outside London.  Over 95% of bus services in Cambridgeshire are run for profit by two private companies – Stagecoach and Tower Transit trading as Whippet.  We have seen Stagecoach takeover competitors such as Huntingdon and District and Norfolk Green to dominate the local bus network in Cambridgeshire.

There is a Bill to be debated by Parliament in the new year to enable councils outside London to franchise bus services and run their own buses again but it is expected that Conservative MPs will limit the franchising to Mayors and reject municipally run buses.  Whatever happens here in Cambridge without a congestion charge to bring in income there won’t be any money for the Mayor to run uncommercial services.

The popular 18 bus which runs three days a week between Teversham and Newmarket via Fulbourn, the Wilbrahams and Six Mile Bottom is not affected.  Subsidized by the county council it was introduced following a campaign by  me to replace another commercial service withdrawn by Stagecoach to provide buses and drivers for the 2012 Olympics.

But this time there’s no money in the county council coffers.