Changes To Bus Services In Caerphilly County Borough

From Sunday 31st July and Monday 1st August, there will be changes to many bus services within Caerphilly county borough. For some services, there are only minor alterations to times or a change of operator whilst for others there are major revisions to routes and timetables. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Since deregulation in 1986, 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 or 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 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. Some services have also 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/improve connections – as well as improving reliability, timetables have been designed to improve and maintain connections where possible. e.g. 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 & 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 While we’ve endeavoured to keep the impact to a minimum, some lesser used journeys on some services have been withdrawn
• To answer your requests – in October 2015, 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 a result of your 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.