Recycled food to power buses that run on rails

David Millward, Transport Editor
Last Updated: 3:01pm BST 08/10/2008

A revolutionary new bus network, in which vehicles powered by recycled cooking oil and animal fat run on a disused railway line, is to be launched in Cambridge.

Orders worth £3m have been placed for a fleet of 20 buses - both single and double-decker - which will go into service in April.The transport scheme is combining two new technologies and is aimed at easing congestion and cutting carbon emissions.

Commissioned by Cambridgshire County Council the 16-mile long "guided busway" will be the biggest of its kind in the world.
It will run on a converted rail track which once linked St Ives to Cambridge itself.
The technology used in creating the busway has similarities to that which can be found some funfair rides.
It entails installing a small extra guide-wheel on the bus, set a few inches ahead of the tyres.
This runs against built up kerb, steering the bus around the guided busway course.
The driver remains in control of the bus, but while it is on the track, there is no need to steer it.
As soon as the bus switches on to the additional 10 miles of conventional road, the driver takes over.
The fuel for the fleet of buses - which will be fitted out with leather seats and have wi-fi - is being manufactured in Scotland.
It has been used in a pilot project in Kilmarnock, but this will be the first time recycled food waste will be used to power a major urban transport system and in combination with a guided busway system.
Cambridgeshire, which has also been considering introducing congestion charging, is pushing ahead with the busway scheme to ease some of its rush hour gridlock.
It hopes the guided buses will lure motorists out of their cars, because they will be spared the delays they currently face on local roads such as the A14.
When the scheme starts there will be up to eight buses an hour working on some routes.