Busway ‘on track’ after inspection

Department of Transport ministers were left “gobsmacked” by the work done to keep the project on track when they visited for a “gateway” inspection which cost Luton Borough Council £25,000.

Rumours had suggested that construction on the £89 million project, the largest busway running solely in an urban environment in the world, was already behind schedule.

But a 26 week delay, which won’t stop the Busway opening to the public in the Spring of 2013 as planned, has been put down to an alteration in the design of the guided busway which the council say has saved them in the region of £3.2 million in construction costs.

Colin Chick, head of environment and regeneration at Luton Borough Council, told the Luton News: “With all the stories going around about the Cambridge Busway, ministers were getting nervous about our Busway- are they the right thing for the future, do they run out of control?

“There were unfairly some stories that have been printed about the Luton project, largely around a 26 week delay without realising why there was a delay and the result of that delay which was saving money on the project.

“I dare say that if they thought we didn’t have the project under control, that it was running out of finance and maybe delayed as well, they might have got nervous to the point where they pulled the plug.

“But when they got here they were sufficiently reassured.”

So far, around a quarter of the estimated 4,700 bespoke 4.8 tonne concrete beams which make up the Busway’s 7.4km guideway have already been constructed at BAM Nuttall’s Kingsway plant, with the first set to be laid on November 21.

Town Hall chiefs hope that construction on the Busway will be complete by December next year, with a three month ‘commissioning’ period to follow to allow any problems to be ironed out before passengers start to use the Busway in April 2013.

Mr Chick said that the Busway will not only clear up congestion on Luton and Dunstable roads but also connect six of the region’s poorest wards to wider transport links, education, in the form of centres such as Barnfield College and the University of Bedfordshire, and employment.

Council chiefs also spoke of a “string of pearls” of investment and development that has come along in the town as a result of the Busway construction.