Fury after Newmarket estate Studlands Park is axed from new bus routes

A councillor is furious that residents of a Newmarket estate have lost their bus service in a shake-up of public transport serving the town.

Cllr Janne Jarvis, who represents Newmarket North and Studlands on West Suffolk District Council, and is also a member of Newmarket Town Council, said residents of Studlands Park felt they had been abandoned after the number 11 Newmarket to Cambridge service was axed on Tuesday and replaced with a service which no longer serves the estate.

He told town councillors at a meeting on Monday that the removal of the Studlands area of Newmarket from the new service would have a devastating impact on residents who relied on the connection for their daily commute, and said it would also damage intra-Newmarket travel.

The new Tiger services, the T4, operated by Stagecoach East which runs between Newmarket bus station and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, and the T5, run by A2B Bus and Coach which runs between Cambridge and Soham, have been funded and the routes fixed by the Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) but Cllr Jarvis said Suffolk County Council also bore some responsibility.

“It is Suffolk County Council’s duty to protect the integrity of these routes and these changes have caused shock and confusion, with many residents only now becoming aware of the revised routes due to a lack of clear communication,” he said.

“I have been inundated with emails and phone calls, some very upsetting, from people who don’t know how they are going to get to work or how they are going to get their kids to school. People feel they have been abandoned.

“Public transport is a lifeline – not an afterthought. Once again many of our elderly citizens, who rely on this bus service, have been left to fend for themselves. The human impact of these changes cannot be underestimated and is deeply concerning. The people of Studlands have a right to travel and we have got to get it back for them.”

Newmarket deputy mayor Cllr John Harvey said in coming up with the new routes the CPCA had not taken into account cross boundary issues and, as a result, Studlands had been left isolated.

Cllr Andy Drummond, who is a member of Suffolk County Council, said: “We need to have a conversation about local buses. I know that the council is trying to organise a local authority grant to fund some kind of bus service about the town.”