ST IVES passengers were this week promised the prospect of seamless public transport journeys to other parts of eastern England, the Midlands and the City of London, with work due to start on Monday on a new interchange at Cambridge railway station. The n

ST IVES passengers were this week promised the prospect of seamless public transport journeys to other parts of eastern England, the Midlands and the City of London, with work due to start on Monday on a new interchange at Cambridge railway station.

The new terminal for guided buses - the service to and from St Ives is due to start in 'late summer' - will also offer the prospect of new opportunities for tourism in Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire County Council believes.

The county says the guided busway - the longest in the world when it is completed on the trackbed of the former St Ives-Cambridge railway line - will itself be a magnet for visitors to Cambridge, who will then want to experience what St Ives, Huntingdon and surrounding villages have to offer, a spokesman said.

Although Huntingdonshire travellers already have direct links to the north and Kings Cross with buses to Huntingdon railway station, they still have to change buses in Cambridge to reach the city's out-of-town station.

The guided bus link will provide access to trains to London's Liverpool Street station in the City, and direct services to Ely, March and a variety of destinations in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex (including Stansted Airport), and the Midlands.

The new bus terminal at Cambridge station, scheduled for completion in February next year, will allow passengers to leave the guided bus and get straight onto a train. To build the new stop the short-stay car parking at Cambridge station will be permanently moved to the opposite side of the entrance roundabout. The marking out of this parking area has already begun, so station users will not be affected.

County Councillor Roy Pegram, cabinet member for transport, said: "When it opens, the busway is going to give people a reliable, fast and frequent public transport alternative. Linking into the rail network means the busway is truly an integrated transport system."

Cambridge station manager James Reeve added: "The busway will improve transport integration at the station and provide a direct link to the rail network. We are working with Cambridgeshire County Council to ensure easier access to the station for bus passengers, and parking is unaffected by these improvements.