Reduction expected to bus service between two major Welsh seaside towns

Ted Peskett - Local democracy reporter

A bus service between two popular Welsh seaside towns is set to run at a reduced frequency.

Vale of Glamorgan Council’s community liaison committee received a presentation on a number of changes expected for bus services in the county at a meeting on Monday, April 7.

During the presentation, committee members were told the Adventure Travel number 88 supported bus service between Penarth and Barry will be reduced in frequency by three return journeys.

The committee was also told that the route of the First Cymru X2 service that goes between Porthcawl and Cardiff will be revised so that it will stop at Cardiff Bus Interchange instead of Cardiff Bay.

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Timing

Vale of Glamorgan Council’s operational manager for transport services, Kyle Phillips, said: “There has been major timing issues on the 88.

“It hasn’t been able to run to time so an application has gone in to amend the timetable.

“It does mean there will be reduced frequency by three return journeys, but it will make the service more reliable and it will be turning up at bus stops on time.”

Changes to the X2 are being made due to the disruption that’s expected to be caused by the construction of the first phase of Cardiff Crossrail.

Mr Phillips added: “There is going to be a major issue when Cardiff Council start work on their Cardiff Bay Crossrail, which means the buses wont be able to get access from the Bay into the city centre so… the company have put that change in early.”

Some concerns were raised about the changes to the X2, including fears that it will increase the commute some students attending the CAVC Creative Arts Academy by 15-20 minutes.

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Cross rail

The first phase of the multi-million pound Cardiff Crossrail project will link Cardiff Central with Cardiff Bay by a tram line and work is expected to begin soon.

Mr Phillips said: “The issue we are going to have is when Cardiff start building the cross rail service later this summer.

“We will not be able to get buses from the Bay through to the bus station.

“Once Cardiff Crossrail is in… people will go to the bus station and then they will be using the cross rail to get through to the Bay which is obviously the point of that scheme.”