MORE than 500 members of the public who tried out Stagecoach s brand-new buses on the guideway last Friday gave the experience a resounding thumbs-up according to operator Stagecoach and guideway promoter Cambridgeshire County Council. The reaction was v

MORE than 500 members of the public who tried out Stagecoach's brand-new buses on the guideway last Friday gave the experience a resounding thumbs-up according to operator Stagecoach and guideway promoter Cambridgeshire County Council.

"The reaction was very good," said Stagecoach director Philip Norwell. "Upwards of 500 people had a go, so the day was quite successful."

The demonstration aimed to prove that bus travel has moved since the smelly old diesel vehicles many people will have shunned since their school days.

"What it has done is bring a sense of realisation to people of what is in store when it opens," Mr Norwell added. "People recognised that there was a new level of bus service provision, such as the leather seats and air-conditioning, but the main comments we got were how smooth it was. And there was some interest in the bio-fuel we are using."

Passengers on regular services between Huntingdon, St Ives and Cambridge have now had more than a week's experience of the new vehicles. With opening of the guideway delayed until late summer, Stagecoach decided to put the buses into revenue-earning service on its 15, 45 and 55 routes last week.

"People have been making good use of the wi-fi already," Mr Norwell told The Hunts Post. "More than 100 of our regular passengers used it in the first week."

Cambridgeshire County Councillor Matt Bradney, cabinet member for transport, added: "When the busway opens it will give people a reliable, fast and frequent genuine public transport alternative to long and slow queues on the A14.