What is the busway?

Helping you to have quicker Journeys in and around town

The Busway will be a fast, frequent and reliable high-quality service linking Houghton Regis, Dunstable and Luton. The majority of the Busway network will be a special guideway between Blackburn Road, on the edge of Houghton Regis, through Dunstable and into Luton town centre.

The service will be provided by special buses capable of running both on their own track and on the public roads. It will serve a large number of destinations in the area, connecting the main housing areas within the main industrial areas, the three town centres, the main line rail stations in Luton and Luton airport.

Much of this will run along the line of the disused railway that runs parallel to the A505 (Dunstable Road) and A5065 (Hatters Way). This route bypasses the traffic congestion in the town centres and along the A505.

What will the Busway look like?

The guideway comprises of a twin track about 6 metres wide, so that busway vehicles can travel in each direction. Each track consists of a 180mm high kerb on each side which the guidewheels run along, and a concrete base to support the rear wheels. The centre section of the base could be planted with grass.

A minimum distance of 1m has been allowed at either side to allow passengers to get off the bus in an emergency. A major benefit of the dedicated guideway is that it takes traffic away from the roads and, thanks to it the vehicles being guided, they can achieve light rail speeds of up to 50 mph.

Impact on the local community

The guideway itself will have a low noise surface, which, together with appropriate landscaping, noise barriers and other engineering measures will minimise the impact on neighbouring properties.

Following local consultation, where residents voiced some concerns about the impacts on local communities and the environment, the line of the guideway was revised in a number of places. The potential impact in these areas has been reduced.

Parallel to the guideway, west of the M1, will be a track for pedestrians and cyclists that will also provide access for emergency and maintenance vehicles, if required.

Longer distance express bus routes to Milton Keynes and Leighton Buzzard could also use the guideway, allowing passengers faster and more reliable access to West Coast Main Line rail services to the Midlands and the North.

On the road

The Busway is also designed to be able to run on the road, just like a conventional bus. This allows the network to reach a much greater number of potential users, without the expense and disruption of building a guideway into outlying areas, where there is little congestion.

In particular, the Busway is planned to serve parts of Dunstable, Tithe Farm and Parkside in Houghton Regis and Lewsey in Luton. The "on road" capability also allows the Busway to serve the town centres.

Accessing local bus stops

More than 70,000 people in Luton, Dunstable and Houghton Regis live in walking distance of a Busway bus stop served by buses every 12-15 minutes. Some existing bus services, notably the services 61 to Aylesbury, and 69 to Leighton Buzzard and 70 to Milton Keynes, will be able to use the guideway, so avoiding congestion and reducing journey times.

Services to the Luton & Dunstable hospital will still be provided by non-busway services including the 31, 38, 69 and 70.

The bus itself

Buses will be fitted with horizontal wheels ahead of their front wheels. These horizontal wheels would be linked to the steering gear and would guide the buses between raised kerbs.

Busway vehicles will have rubber tyres and have both conventional controls and a track guidance system. The guidance system consists of small horizontally mounted wheels which stick out from the side of the vehicle near to its front road wheels. These wheels guide the vehicle by pushing against the kerbs of the guideway. This allows them to achieve the speed and comfort of a light rail or train system, together with the road-going flexibility of a bus.

In environmental terms, rubber tyres and gas or other advanced/hybrid technology engines mean that the Busway would be quieter and/or less polluting.

Giving you real time information

As well as enjoying a fast, frequent and reliable service, travellers will be kept informed by state-of-the art passenger information systems. These will display real time information for passengers waiting at all Busway stops, whether on the guideway or on the road.