A Stagecoach East bus will arrive in central Peterborough 15 minutes earlier each morning after passengers complained they were arriving late to work.

The company has agreed that the 37 bus, which runs from Spalding through Eye to the Queensgate bus station, will now arrive at 8am rather than 8:15am. 

The problem for passengers arose in the wake of Stagecoach East cutting the 36 bus, which also ran from Eye to Peterborough, in July this year. 

Peterborough City Council (PCC) member Cllr Nick Thulbourn (Labour, Fletton and Woodston) says that residents told him they had begun arriving late to work and, in some cases, school, every day after the cut. 

One business he visited had even lost three of its employees because of the issues that arose, he added. 

Cllr Thulbourn and Peterborough Labour parliamentary candidate Andrew Pakes say that they have been petitioning the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA), responsible for transport in the region, to rectify the problem since the 36 was cut.

The CPCA says it has now rectified the issue alongside Stagecoach East. 

Its leader, the Labour mayor Dr Nik Johnson, said in a statement that he’s “really pleased we were able to step in here and help make a difference” and extended a “big thanks to Stagecoach” for being open to the change.

Stagecoach East has also redeployed buses from the 36 route, which it said was “not sustainable” due to low passenger numbers, to the 37 route. 

Currently, a minibus tendered by the CPCA runs between Eye and Thorney as a replacement for the 36. 

Peterborough’s Conservative MP, Paul Bristow, has previously said that this is “not good enough” as a solution and that the 36 bus must be reinstated, while Mr Pakes has welcomed the measure, but added that a “new deal” is needed for buses. 

Dr Johnson says that the CPCA is currently undertaking a bus network review and that the issue with the 37 bus shows the importance of working out what people need so it can be designed to fit them. 

It’s also currently considering whether to introduce bus franchising or an enhanced partnership with private bus companies and is working on getting electric buses into Peterborough, including by seeking additional funding from Government. 

But with Dr Johnson more than half way through his four-year term as directly-elected mayor, the question remains as to how far the CPCA will have come to realising his ambitions for the region’s bus network by the time of the next elections in May 2025. 

So far, consultation with the public and local politicians has taken place and the CPCA is in the process of drawing up a business case for the new system.

The end result of this is not just predicated on who’s in charge of it and whether it turns out to be franchising or an enhanced partnership, though, but also on the level of investment the CPCA is able to attract.