Haverhill town circular to end and regularity of faster buses to Cambridge to rise as part of Stagecoach East changes

Stagecoach East is to drop the 131/131A Haverhill town circular and double the number of faster buses from Haverhill to Cambridge on weekdays.

The town circular was introduced in October 2022 and the bus operator says a passenger feedback survey shows respondents were generally in favour of its new timetable, which will launch on April 13.

A total of 46 per cent believe that the changes will improve services with another 22 percent considering that there will be little difference.

Of the respondents, 58 per cent are daily bus users - 94 per cent use the 13 service and 69 per cent the X13.

Darren Roe, managing director of Stagecoach East, said: “The results are hugely encouraging – we always want to fit in with our passengers’ needs, so I am delighted to get such support for these changes.

“Haverhill is an important local community for us, so we are pleased to focus resources into a service like the X13 to offer the kind of rapid and direct travel that people want to commute and go shopping.”

The new schedule will see 10 journeys from Haverhill to Cambridge and 11 in return on the rapid X13 service from Monday to Friday – up from the current four and seven trips.

Likewise, there will be one from Haverhill to Cambridge and one in return on Saturday, where there are currently none.

The new 13A will run hourly, Monday to Saturday - the 131/131A runs every two hours - and will serve Chimswell and Chivers Road every 60 minutes. The 13 will serve Arrendene Road in peak times only.

The 13 and 13A together will offer two buses an hour into Cambridge and the X13 will maintain its current faster and more direct route into the city.