Go Whippet

Plaxton President bodied Dennis Trident 2 at St Ives bus station in May 2012
Slogan The community's local bus company
Parent Transit Systems
Founded 1919
Headquarters Swavesey
Service area Cambridgeshire
Service type Bus services
Destinations Cambridge
Huntingdon
Peterborough
St Ives
St Neots
Website www.go-whippet.co.uk

Go Whippet[1] is a bus operator based in Swavesey, Cambridgeshire. It is a subsidiary of Transit Systems.

History

Plaxton Centro bodied Volvo B7RLE (one of three purchased in 2009 and sold in 2013) on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway on the opening day 7 August 2011
Northern Counties Palatine bodied Volvo B10M in St Neots in March 2012

Whippet Coaches was founded in Huntingdonshire by bicycle salesman Henry Lee in 1919. The first Whippet Coach was converted from an American ambulance.[2]

Originally based in the village of Hilton, they moved into a depot at Fenstanton (by the A14) in 1977. In 2009 the company sold these buildings to Stagecoach in The Fens and moved to a modern depot at Swavesey. In November 2014, the family business was sold to Transit Systems.[3]

Operations

They currently operate a fleet of over 50 vehicles, a mixture of single and double deck buses with around 8 coaches. Local buses are run throughout north Cambridgeshire and the company also operates a number of school and college contracts. In 2014 it became a contractor for the National Express Group as well.

Go Whippet used to operate some summer only services to the coast. These have been running in various forms from 1957 up to 2013, and ultimately served Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Felixstowe, Clacton-on-Sea and Southend-on-Sea. It also operates services under contract to Tesco in Bar Hill.[4]

The Busway

Go Whippet run service C on The Busway from Somersham to Cambridge centre on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, using four Wright Eclipse bodied Volvo B7RLEs. This is being run in conjunction with Stagecoach in Huntingdonshire (who run routes A & B) who collectively have exclusive use of the route for a period of five years in exchange for providing a minimum service frequency between the times of 07:00 and 19:00 each week day.[5] Whippet spent a total of £420,000 on three buses (£140,000 each).[6]

In January 2010, the contractors and members of Cambridgeshire County Council were still in discussion about what required finishing.[7] During February 2010 the directors of both the signed up bus operators—Andy Campbell of Stagecoach in Cambridge, and Peter Lee of Go Whippet—both expressed their companies' frustrations at the busway not being usable for the new buses they had bought to run on it.[6][8][9] The service finally started on 7 August 2011.

Go Whippet launched a new bus service route U (for Universal) in Cambridge in July 2016, running from Madingley Road Park & Ride via West Cambridge to Addenbrooke's Hospital. It is subsidised by the University of Cambridge and replaced the Uni4 service, formerly operated by Stagecoach in Cambridge. The service will be rerouted between Cambridge railway station and Cambridge Biomedical Campus via The Busway, starting 3 December 2016, after delivery of seven new single-deck buses fitted for use on the guided busway.

References

  1. ↑ Companies House extract company no 520428 Whippet Coaches Limited
  2. ↑ "About Us". Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Lee family completes sale of Whippet buses to Aussie firm Hunts Post 18 November 2014
  4. ↑ "Timetables". Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  5. ↑ Menzies, Bob (26 November 2008). "Guided Busway – Your Questions Answered". BBC Cambridgeshire. BBC Online.
  6. 1 2 Elliot, Chris (1 February 2010). "Operators hit out at costly hold-ups to guided busway". Cambridge News. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  7. ↑ Elliott, Chris (6 January 2010). "Parties meet but no date for busway yet". Cambridge News. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  8. ↑ "St Ives to Cambridge guided buses rebranded to show frustration at delays". Hunts Post. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  9. ↑ "Stagecoach expresses anger at Cambridgeshire busway delays". New Transit. TransportXtra (9). 25 February 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2010. (subscription required (help)).
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