Whippet is a bus and coach operator based in

Swavesey Swavesey is a village lying on the Prime meridian (Greenwich), Prime Meridian of the world in Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 2,463. The village is situated 9 miles to the north west of Cambridge and 3 miles south east of St Ives, ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, England. It is part of the

Ascendal Group Ascendal Group is a British public transport company that operates Whippet in Cambridgeshire, the Ascendal Punta Arenas in southern Chile, and has a small shareholding in Hong Kong bus companies of Citybus through Bravo Transport. It was found ...

History

Whippet Coaches was founded in

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

by bicycle salesman Henry Lee in 1919. The first Whippet coach was converted from an American ambulance. Originally based in the village of Hilton, they moved into a depot at

Fenstanton Fenstanton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, south of St Ives, Cambridgeshire, St Ives in Huntingdonshire, a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and historic counties of England, hist ...

in 1977. In 2009 the company moved to a depot at

, where they remain today. In November 2014, the business was sold to

Transit Systems Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group. History ...

, the parent company of London bus company

Tower Transit Tower Transit Operations Limited, which traded as Tower Transit, is a bus company who operated in East and West London. They are a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group and operated services under contract to Transport for London. Currently they op ...

. In October 2018, Go Whippet was sold to the

, owned by Tower Transit's former CEO Adam Leishman. Whippet used to operate some summer-only services to the coast. These ran in various forms from 1957 up to 2013, and ultimately served

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, containe ...

Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea, often simply called Clacton, is a seaside town and seaside resort, resort in the county of Essex, on the east coast of England. It is located on the Tendring Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the Tendring District, wi ...

and

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

Current operations

As of October 2024, Whippet has a fleet of 40 vehicles. Buses connect towns and villages in

, including

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

, and

Cambourne Cambourne is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, in the district of South Cambridgeshire. It is a new town, new settlement and lies on the A428 road between Cambridge, to the east, and St Neots and ...

. The company also operates school and college contracts.

Local services

Whippet runs the X2, X3, 18, 18A and 66 services in Cambridgeshire.

Universal

Whippet launched a new bus service U (for ''Universal'') in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in July 2016, running originally from

Madingley Road Madingley Road is a major arterial road linking central Cambridge, England with Junction 13 of the M11 motorway. It passes by West Cambridge, a major new site where some University of Cambridge departments are being relocated. The road is des ...

Park & Ride (now: Eddington) via

West Cambridge West Cambridge is a university site to the west of Cambridge city centre in England. As part of the ''West Cambridge Master Plan'', several of the University of Cambridge's departments have relocated to the West Cambridge site from the centre ...

Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is a large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county to ...

. It is subsidised by the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and replaced the Uni4 service, formerly operated by

Stagecoach in Cambridge Stagecoach East is a bus operator providing local and regional services across the East of England, operating in the counties of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered and regist ...

.Universal bus service links West Cambridge to Cambridge railway station
University of Cambridge 29 June 2016 In 2023 Whippet was granted a new eight year contract to continue running the service. All of the service's nine

Mellor Sigma The Mellor Sigma is a battery electric single-deck bus range manufactured by Wisdom Motor in China and sold in Europe by Mellor Coachcraft between 2021 and 2024. It was available in various lengths, from 6.99 – 13.50 metres, with the shortes ...

12 buses are fully electric.

Flixbus

Whippet was awarded a contract with intercity coach company

FlixBus FlixBus (; styled FLiXBUS) is a German brand that offers low-cost Intercity bus service, intercity coach services in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. It is owned by , which also operates FlixTrain, FlixCar, , and Greyhound Lines. F ...

in 2021 to run long-distance coach services. Currently Whippet operate 14 coaches for FlixBus, running to

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, Cambridge,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the UK and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on international routes. In 2024 Whippet launched the first 100% electric long-distance coach in partnership with FlixBus and Zenobē. The

Yutong Yutong (officially Zhengzhou Yutong Group Co., Ltd.) is a Chinese manufacturer of commercial vehicles, especially electric buses, headquartered in Zhengzhou, Henan. Yutong also has businesses in construction machinery, real estate, and other in ...

GTe14 runs on the route between Cambridge and London.

Cambridgeshire busway

From 7 August 2011 until 9 November 2018, Whippet operated service C on

Cambridgeshire Guided Busway The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is a guided busway and Bus rapid transit that connects Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives, Cambridgeshire, St Ives in Cambridgeshire, England. It has the longest guided busway in the world, surpassing the O-Bahn B ...

from

Somersham Somersham is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Somersham lies approximately east of Huntingdon and north of St Ives. Somersham is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as ...

to Cambridge city centre on the section between St Ives and the

Cambridge Science Park The Cambridge Science Park, founded by Trinity College, Cambridge, Trinity College in 1970, is the oldest science park in the United Kingdom. It is a concentration of science and technology related businesses, and has strong links with the nea ...

. This was being run in conjunction with

Stagecoach in the Fens Stagecoach East is a bus operator providing local and regional services across the East of England, operating in the counties of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered and regist ...

(who ran routes A and B) who jointly with Whippet had exclusive use of the route for a period of five years in exchange for providing a minimum service frequency between 07:00 and 19:00 each weekday. Whippet spent a total of £420,000 on three

Plaxton Centro The Plaxton Centro was a low entry single-decker bus bodywork designed by Bluebird Vehicles and manufactured by Plaxton.Volvo B7RLE The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013, with production of the B7RLE continuing until 2018. Specifications The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the ...

buses that have been sold since and replaced by four

Wright Eclipse The Wright Eclipse is a low-floor single-deck bus body that was built by Wrightbus between 2000 and 2019. The second-generation Eclipse 2 was launched in 2008, followed by the third-generation Eclipse 3 in 2015. The Eclipse, and its sister desi ...

bodied Volvo B7RLEs. Service C was withdrawn on 9 November 2018, leaving all bus operations on the northern section of the guided busway to

Stagecoach East Stagecoach East is a bus operator providing local and regional services across the East of England, operating in the counties of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered and regis ...

and ending Whippet's services in the St. Ives area. In addition to services C and U, in February 2019, Whippet launched a service P (for ''Pedigree''), using the B7RLEs which previously operated on the C, between Cambridge City Centre and Addenbrooke's via the Guided Busway, thus duplicating Stagecoach's A and D services on this section. Service P lasted six months before being withdrawn in August 2019. Whippet started the T1 service on the 27 may 2025 going between Drummer St Bus station and Huntingdon via the Busway as far as Swavesey. This is part of a group of “Tiger“ bus routes serving more rural communities.

References

External links

*
Official website

{{Transit Systems Bus operators in Cambridgeshire Transport companies established in 1919 Transport in Cambridgeshire 1919 establishments in England Coach operators in England