Cambridgeshire Guided Busway: Routes A & B, Stops, Tickets & Guide (2026)
🚌 The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is the longest guided busway in the world: a converted railway alignment between St Ives, Cambridge and Huntingdon where buses run on concrete guideway tracks at speed, then continue on ordinary roads into the city centres. Opened in 2011, it is operated today by Stagecoach East as two services — A and B.
🚍 The Two Busway Services
- Busway A — St Ives → Cambridge → Trumpington Park & Ride. The original Busway route: from St Ives along the guideway through Swavesey, Longstanton, Histon and Orchard Park into Cambridge city centre, then south on the second guideway section (alongside the railway, serving Cambridge station and Addenbrooke’s Hospital) to Trumpington Park & Ride.
- Busway B — Cambridge → Huntingdon. From Cambridge city centre up the guideway to St Ives, then on-road to Huntingdon — the through connection between the two towns and Cambridge.
Both services run seven days a week with live tracking. Full stop lists and the towns they serve are on BusUpdate’s locality pages for St Ives, Cambridge and Huntingdon.
🎫 Busway Tickets
- Zone tickets: Stagecoach sells Busway zone day tickets — the Cambridge Zone, Fens Town Zone and Cambridgeshire Plus Zone — priced by how far you travel; buy on the bus or in the Stagecoach app.
- Singles: ordinary single fares on the Busway are covered by the England fare cap — see our fare cap guide (£3 now, £2 from January 2027).
- PlusBus: Cambridge’s PlusBus rail add-on explicitly covers Guided Busway services within the Cambridge zone.
- Multibus: the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough multi-operator Multibus ticket is also valid across operators in the county.
🧭 How to Ride
- Board at any Busway stop — the guideway stops (St Ives, Swavesey, Longstanton, Histon & Impington, Orchard Park, and south of the city: the station and hospital stops) have shelters, real-time displays and cycle parking.
- Pay by contactless, app ticket or cash; keep your ticket — the Busway uses on-bus checks.
- For Trumpington, stay on service A through the city centre — it continues onto the southern guideway.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Who operates the Guided Busway?
Stagecoach East runs both services A and B. (Whippet’s historic Busway route C was withdrawn years ago — Whippet is no longer a Busway operator.)
Is the Busway a tram?
No — the vehicles are ordinary buses fitted with guide wheels that run on the concrete track between stops; off the guideway they drive on normal roads, which is how A reaches Trumpington and B reaches Huntingdon town centre.
Can I take a bike?
The maintenance track alongside the northern guideway is a popular cycle path between St Ives and Cambridge; bikes are not carried on board the buses themselves.
Sources: bustimes.org service records for Busway A and B (Stagecoach East), stagecoachbus.com Busway zone tickets, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority ticketing pages — verified October 2026. Independently compiled by the BusUpdate editorial team; confirm time-sensitive details with the operator before travelling.
