Changes To Bus Services In Caerphilly County Borough

Caerphilly County Borough Council is keen to remind residents that there will be changes to a number of bus services across Caerphilly county borough from the end of this month (31st July). ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

For some services, there will only be minor alterations to times or a change of operator, while for others there are major revisions to routes and timetables. Most bus services in the county borough are planned by bus operators and provided on a commercial basis. The council does not have any control over routes, timetables, fares and other operational matters. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Some routes in the county borough are not commercially viable and the council is able to provide financial assistance to operators by letting contracts through a competitive tendering process. These routes tend to be during the evenings, on Sundays and bank holidays, as well as those to smaller communities. The council has recently re-tendered all routes it supports, and many of the changes are as a result of this. Bus operators have also taken the opportunity to make some revisions of their own from the same date. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Most of the changes have been made to maintain a comprehensive network across the county borough, and some services have been changed for the following reasons: ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

• To improve reliability – some routes have become unreliable over the past few years and where possible timetables have been altered to help buses run to time
• To maintain and improve connections – as well as improving reliability, timetables have been designed to improve and maintain connections where possible. For example – on Sundays, Route C has been amended to provide better connections to Cardiff
• To enhance services where passenger numbers are increasing – In 2011 a number of changes were made to Sunday services. On some routes, passenger numbers have increased by up to 25% so the frequency of some timetables has been enhanced. On Sundays, Routes 26, 151 and B will operate every hour throughout most of the day
• As part of the council’s budgetary savings requirements – unfortunately the council has had to make some savings from its bus subsidy budget as part of its savings requirements for 2016/17. While the council has endeavoured to keep the impact to a minimum, some lesser used journeys on some services have been withdrawn
• To answer customer requests – in October last year, the council and Bus Users Cymru held a number of drop-in sessions across the county borough. Over 100 comments were received and some of the changes are as a result of these suggestions. They include:
• Extending Route H to serve Aldi in Caerphilly
• Diverting Route 26 around Parc Nantgarw during the evening and on Sunday
• Improving the daytime reliability of Route 151
• An earlier bus on Sundays on Route 1 from Rhymney Bridge to Bargoed

A summary of the changes can be found on the bus timetables section. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​