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TrawsCambria / TrawsCymru

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Bwsbro

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Does this mean then that they are not really a part of the Traws Cymru operation and cognisant with the WAG operationas a whole.

Due to regulation rules the Welsh Government isn’t allowed to publish the ITT so they are done by Councils on behalf of the Welsh Government

The following councils operate the following contracts

T1 - Carmarthenshire
T1C - Ceredigion
T2 - Gwynedd
T3 - Gwynedd
T4 (Merthyr - Newtown) - Powys
T5N (Aberystwyth - Cardigan) - Ceredigion
T9 - Vale of Glanmorgan

I’m not too sure about the T1S, T5N or T6

The new T10 tender is being managed by Conwy Council

The T11, T12 & T14 will be managed by Powys
 
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TheGrandWazoo

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Due to regulation rules the Welsh Government isn’t allowed to publish the ITT so they are done by Councils on behalf of the Welsh Government

The following councils operate the following contracts

T1 - Carmarthenshire
T1C - Ceredigion
T2 - Gwynedd
T3 - Gwynedd
T4 (Merthyr - Newtown) - Powys
T5N (Aberystwyth - Cardigan) - Ceredigion
T9 - Vale of Glanmorgan

I’m not too sure about the T1S, T5N or T6

The new T10 tender is being managed by Conwy Council

The T11, T12 & T14 will be managed by Powys

"The Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure agreed contributory funding of up to £100,000 in revenue in 2016-17 to enable Powys County Council to procure the new TrawsCymru T6 bus service linking Brecon and Swansea." from https://gov.wales/about/cabinet/decisions/2016-new/jun-sep/transprt/ks5440/?lang=en
 

Smethwickian

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Not certain I get you.

Current Hay to Hereford - 0708, 0950, 1150, 1405, 1638
Future Hay to Hereford - 0708, 0942, 1142, 1342, 1540 (CD), 1642 (CD)

Current Hereford to Hay - 0835, 1135, 1335, 1555, 1745
Future Hereford to Hay - 0830, 0915 (CD), 1115, 1315, 1515, 1646 (CD), 1746
So nothing from Hay to Hereford after 1342 in college holidays (presently, there are later journeys at 1405 and 1638 on all dates). Not much of an incentive for anyone from England to travel into Wales or encourage visitors to Hay and Brecon, is it?
 

TheGrandWazoo

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So nothing from Hay to Hereford after 1342 in college holidays (presently, there are later journeys at 1405 and 1638 on all dates). Not much of an incentive for anyone from England to travel into Wales or encourage visitors to Hay and Brecon, is it?

The 1342 is essentially the current 1405 running 23 mins earlier so it's one journey lost. I'm right that the 13:02 ex Brecon runs through all year round?

Take your point on the 1638 one. It does mean that the earliest you can get from Hereford is 1109 into Brecon and then 1302 back out but this is the WG - not so bothered about English passengers!
 

carlberry

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So nothing from Hay to Hereford after 1342 in college holidays (presently, there are later journeys at 1405 and 1638 on all dates). Not much of an incentive for anyone from England to travel into Wales or encourage visitors to Hay and Brecon, is it?
I suspect that it's a fault with the posted document and that the 1600 journey actually runs all year. The 1746 off of Hereford is shown as running all year and it's got to get there somehow!
If we're really lucky the real timetables might appear elsewhere before the services actually start.
I'm still amazed that we now have money to pay for hourly Brecon-Merthyr and Brecon-Abercraf but nothing Brecon-Llandovery
 

TheGrandWazoo

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I suspect that it's a fault with the posted document and that the 1600 journey actually runs all year. The 1746 off of Hereford is shown as running all year and it's got to get there somehow!
If we're really lucky the real timetables might appear elsewhere before the services actually start.
I'm still amazed that we now have money to pay for hourly Brecon-Merthyr and Brecon-Abercraf but nothing Brecon-Llandovery

I was thinking that but then I wondered if it was tied into some other working.... You're probably right though!

And yes, it is one of my bugbears. There's money for some uber level of service on the T6, or for trundling through obscure bits of North Wales. Yet Carmarthen - Llandeilo - Llandovery makes do with a 90 min headway (with two vehicles) rather than hourly, and Llandovery to Brecon has entered the annals of history. A more sensible service would be

T6 - Swansea to Ystragynlais (hourly) running to Senny and Brecon on a two hourly basis
280/1 - Carmarthen to Llandovery (hourly) running to Senny and Brecon on a two hourly basis

But whatever.....
 

iantherev

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I believe the whole Merthyr-Cardiff section was commercial and the numbering was just to ensure some consistency between a two hourly service and a more frequent service. However it must have become more complex how the T4 is free at weekends.

Makes more sense to keep the Cardiff - Merthyr shorts as T4 as they’re generally worked by TC liveried vehicles although fleet livery MAN 22791 was out today.
 

adey2011

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Due to regulation rules the Welsh Government isn’t allowed to publish the ITT so they are done by Councils on behalf of the Welsh Government

The following councils operate the following contracts

T1 - Carmarthenshire
T1C - Ceredigion
T2 - Gwynedd
T3 - Gwynedd
T4 (Merthyr - Newtown) - Powys
T5N (Aberystwyth - Cardigan) - Ceredigion
T9 - Vale of Glanmorgan

I’m not too sure about the T1S, T5N or T6

The new T10 tender is being managed by Conwy Council

The T11, T12 & T14 will be managed by Powys

Conwy Council are to announce the successful tenderer for the T10 Traws Cymru service today, this is scheduled to commence on August 13th.
 

carlberry

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Conwy Council are to announce the successful tenderer for the T10 Traws Cymru service today, this is scheduled to commence on August 13th.
That should give them plenty of time to get drivers and vehicles! (Or are they just hoping that a taxi will do for the first few weeks!).
 

adey2011

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That should give them plenty of time to get drivers and vehicles! (Or are they just hoping that a taxi will do for the first few weeks!).
It would not be the first time a Council has awarded a tender leaving the operator no time to secure new vehicles. If you read through the documents, the date the tenders had to besubmitted to the commencement date of the services left no time whatsoever for new vehicles to be sourced or built. A recent example was the T3 awarded to Lloyds when GHA crashed a couple of tears ago, hired vehicles had to be sourced whilst new buses were built.
 

Cambrian359

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It would not be the first time a Council has awarded a tender leaving the operator no time to secure new vehicles. If you read through the documents, the date the tenders had to besubmitted to the commencement date of the services left no time whatsoever for new vehicles to be sourced or built. A recent example was the T3 awarded to Lloyds when GHA crashed a couple of tears ago, hired vehicles had to be sourced whilst new buses were built.
Why did the existing vehicles never get transferred to Lloyd’s given that GHA never owned them just operated them? (afaik)
 

adey2011

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Why did the existing vehicles never get transferred to Lloyd’s given that GHA never owned them just operated them? (afaik)
The service is I believe a PVR of 6 vehicles, when GHA went out of business they only had the 3 deckers, and saloons of which there was only one EM16 ORS, this was put up for saleat site and the deckers went Ensign for sale. Lloyds did not purchase anything straight away as the service was operated on a temporary timetable until the Council gave Lloyds a permanent contract. In the interim they had 6 Enviro Darts on hire and two Metro City buses on order. Some time later Lloyds acquired EM16 OMS bringing the fleet up to strength.
 

Dai Corner

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Statement from the Welsh Government yesterday.
https://gov.wales/newsroom/transpor...rs-travelling-in-the-right-direction/?lang=en

TrawsCymru passenger numbers travelling in the right direction
The number of people taking advantage of the free TrawsCymru transport on weekends is increasing – on some routes seeing hikes of more than 100%.
Tuesday 07 August 2018
RELATED
TAGS
Transport07 August 2018Mid WalesNorth WalesSouth East WalesSouth West Wales
The First Minister announced funding for a trial of free weekend travel on the Traws Cymru bus network in March 2017. Data covering July 2017 to March 2018 shows the scheme has generated an additional 133,391 passengers on weekends across the TrawsCymru network or an increase of 65.49%, compared to the equivalent period in 2016-17.

TrawsCymru is the Welsh Government funded, long-distance bus network for Wales comprising a number of routes, the latest of which connected Aberystwyth with Carmarthen and Port Talbot before continuing on to Cardiff.

Before the end of 2017, Ken Skates announced additional funding to local authorities to enable them to introduce a package of improvements to the TrawsCymru bus and coach connections linking Aberystwyth with Carmarthen, Swansea and Cardiff.

Following feedback from passengers, the service introduced a modern wheelchair accessible high floor coach on the daily Aberystwyth to Cardiff long distance service, which provides a more comfortable journey for longer distance passengers, complemented by the introduction of a shorter route which offers quicker ‘end to end’ journey times.

The service operates a more comfortable long distance coach equipped with coach style seating, on board toilet and free WiFi.

Economy Secretary Ken Skates said:

“The trial of free weekend travel on the Traws Cymru bus network has certainly shown some excellent early results. Passenger numbers are up and we are getting more people using buses on the network across Wales.

“This is great because it encourages more people into the habit of using buses, helping us support other routes across Wales.

“When you look, for example, at the benefit of the investment we’ve made to strengthen services between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen, Swansea and Cardiff the numbers tell a very clear story – more people are using the services and that’s good for the communities and the economies along those routes.

“We listened to passengers and introduced coaches onto this key route, and we significantly reduced journey times. Along with the additional stop in Port Talbot, this long-standing service added more value to already vital public transport links to and from rural Wales, giving passengers extra choice on this key strategic route.

“Our improvements seem to have made the difference for our passengers. This has easily exceeded projected passenger growth figures of 20% on TrawsCymru weekend services, which were predicted at the start of the trial.

“These figures across Wales are encouraging and I hope we see further improvements in the future.”
 

iantherev

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Any news on the toilet habits of the Ursa family?? ;)

Yes - it involves arboreal areas.

Seriously regarding the T4 from Merthyr and Pontypridd to Cardiff, it would be interesting to know how much is abstraction from the parallel X4. My limited experience suggests that that is where the bulk of the loading into Cardiff come from.
 

carlberry

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Yes - it involves arboreal areas.

Seriously regarding the T4 from Merthyr and Pontypridd to Cardiff, it would be interesting to know how much is abstraction from the parallel X4. My limited experience suggests that that is where the bulk of the loading into Cardiff come from.
Or even the train!
 

johntrawscymru

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Typical Ken Skates. No facts. What has been the increase/decrease in passenger numbers on weekdays - only that will tell him whether the strategy is working. KS used the increase in weekend passenger numbers to justify increasing the number of T3 services (Wrexham to Barmouth) across his own AM costituency of South Clwyd in January 2018 . Many of these T3 buses (some double deckers) cross South Clwyd with a handfull of passengers. He goes into very little detail on the free weekend travel scheme and then spends the rest of the statement extolling the virtues of the T1C route between Aberystwyth and Cardiff. This is a brilliant service but he neglects to mention that the original service was 2 per day not 1 service and why has he not allowed it to link with the T2 from Dolgellau which arrives in Aberystwyth at 9.30 and is therefore not classed as a connecting service with the T1C departure to Cardiff at 9.30. The 17 minute wait in Carmarthen on the return journey at 18.48 in the evening for no reason at all is also a big off putter for most passengers and certainly has the drivers completely puzzled.
It is noticable that there are no hard facts coming from the WAG on the free weekend travel scheme ie what is being spent, how many extra buses are being employed, what reimbursement is being provided to private operators etc . KS authorised a continuation of the scheme but I can find no documentary evidence to justify that decision.
 

Statto

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Wouldn't a Llandudno - Blanaeu - Dolgellau go against the principles of Traws Cymru - there is a train service from Llandudno to Blanaeu and Llew Jones operate a commercial bus service viz X19. Also Lloyds operate the 35 service from Blanaeu to Dolgellau.


Well, there's only 6 trains Monday to Saturday at mostly 3 hour intervals & 3 trains on Sunday on the Conwy Valley line, also 6 journey's Monday to Saturday & 3 journey's on Sundays on the X19, & there's up to 4 through journey's on the Lloyds 35, & thats on College Days, up to 2 through journey's on College Holidays.
 

Cambrian359

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Wouldn't a Llandudno - Blanaeu - Dolgellau go against the principles of Traws Cymru - there is a train service from Llandudno to Blanaeu and Llew Jones operate a commercial bus service viz X19. Also Lloyds operate the 35 service from Blanaeu to Dolgellau.
Current service offered isn’t great even between the 2 bus 1 train route put together
 

WelshBuses93

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Anybody heard anything regarding the T10 service beginning on Monday? Not found any info on VOSA or nothing from the councils involved with the route.
 

krus_aragon

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Current service offered isn’t great even between the 2 bus 1 train route put together
Agreed. Under Express Motors, the X1 service was hourly to Betws y Coed, with five extensions to Blaenau (and advertised connections with the C35 to Dolgellau). Since Express Motors' demise, GHA's X19 has more through services to Blaenau (6) but the mid-day service is quite patchy: between the 09:10 and 16:30 departures from Llandudno there's two buses to Blaenau and one to Betws, and from the Betws direction there are no northbound buses between 1255 and 1625. There's a 14:57 departure by train, but if you've already bought a bus ticket it's not that appealing.
 
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