TrawsCymru

Launch plans

In 2010 the Welsh Assembly Government ran a consultation on improvements to the TrawsCambria network. In 2011, a programme of improvements for TrawsCambria services X40 (Carmarthen - Pencader - Lampeter - Aberaeron - Aberystwyth) and 704/T4 (Newtown - Brecon/Merthyr) was announced.

Under these plans services X40 and T4, and the network as a whole, were to be re-launched under the new TrawsCymru brand. Service X40 was to be re-numbered TC1 and T4 would have become TC4, along with extension south to Cardiff. During 2012, these two routes were to receive new Optare Tempos equipped with coach style seating, greater luggage space, real time information and WiFi.

The plans for re-numbering T4 were dropped, but the new vehicles and extension to Cardiff were introduced. The six additional WAG-funded Optare Tempos with leather seats, free WiFi and tables operate alongside the existing three Optare Tempos that had previously worked the T4 service.

The X40 was originally scheduled to be replaced by TrawsCymru service T1/TC1 from 1 April 2012 under a contract until 31 March 2020 on offer. However it later emerged that Arriva Buses Wales intended to stop operating the X40 service, along with its share of route 550, from 26 February. Instead Arriva introduced services branded Cymru Express on a fully commercial basis in place of the former TrawsCambria X40.

Changes of plan

Because of the commercial CymruExpress, the TC1 TrawsCymru service could not be introduced. The six new buses that had been ordered to operate the TC1 were thus placed into store. These were longer than the new vehicles for the TC4, so were later taken out of storage and put to use on the T4 service, to increase capacity. They replaced three of the vehicles that had been ordered for the TC4, which joined the remaining three unused vehicles which had been intended for the TC1 in store. In August 2013, the Welsh Government launched an express bus service between Cardiff Central station and Cardiff Airport. This was branded as a TrawsCymru route, given the number T9. Five of the six TrawsCymru buses were taken out of storage to operate this service, later being joined by the sixth.

Arriva's CymruExpress services ceased on 21 December 2013, meaning a TrawsCymru service between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen was once again a possibility. Interim contracts to continue bus services on the route were let pending the introduction of a TrawsCymru service.

Review

In July 2013, it emerged that Welsh Government transport minister Edwina Hart had commissioned a review of the TrawsCymru network. This was to be undertaken by Dr Victoria Winckler, director of the Bevan Foundation think tank This outcome of this review was published by the Welsh Government in February 2014.

Dr Winckler's report defined the purpose of TrawsCymru as a network of medium-to-long-distance (defined as 25 miles or more), strategically important, bus services that connect key towns in Wales and which complement the rail network in Wales.

The report's recommendations included:

2014/15 launches

During 2014, the roll-out of the TrawsCymru brand to the other TrawsCambria corridors finally began. The first route to appear was the Carmarthen-Aberystwyth route, but the original plan for the service to become known as TC1 has been dropped. The TrawsCymru service was instead launched under the service number T1, in August 2014. Unlike the T4 and T9 TrawsCymru contracts, the operator provides vehicles for the T1, rather than using vehicles owned by the Welsh Government. It remains to be seen how the vehicles used will compare to the Welsh Government owned ones on the other routes.

Invitations To Tender were also published for the remaining three TrawsCambria routes X50 (Aberystwyth-Cardigan), T2 (Bangor-Aberystwyth) and X94 (Wrexham-Barmouth), to be known as T5, T2 and T3 respectively. The X94 became the T3 in November 2014, and the X50 the T5 in January 2015. The T2 contract was expected to start in 2014, but due to last minute registrations of commercial workings by the incumbent operators ended up being let as a short term extension without TrawsCymru branding. In November 2015, the T2 was finally launched with branded buses in due course. Lloyds Coaches have ordered three Optare MetroCitys with the first two due in January 2016 and the third due in March 2016.

T1: Aberystwyth to Carmarthen

The T1 service commenced operating on 4 August 2014. An hourly service is provided Monday to Saturday with a few Sunday journeys. A late evening working also operates, between Aberystwyth and Lampeter. A single service number is used, but buses take two different routes between Pencader and Lampeter in order to serve intermediate villages every two hours (prior to the T1 launch, one village had an hourly bus service and the other nothing).

The T1 is operated by First Cymru using standard buses from their existing fleet in TrawsCymru livery; some duties are subcontracted to Mid Wales Travel drivers. From August 2014 to July 2016 they used two Alexander Dennis Enviro 200s and three Alexander Dennis Enviro 300s, and from July 2016 onwards they use five Alexander Dennis Enviro 300s, consisting of the three original ones and two newly transferred ones from the same batch, replacing both the Enviro200s. In December 2016, a freshly repainted 69304 (CU08 AHV), a Wright Eclipse Urban bodied Volvo B7RLE was transferred to the T1 fleet with the launch of the T1C service (see below).

Journey time for the T1 is 2 hours 15 minutes. According to Dr Winckler's review, the journey time by car is 1 hour 25 minutes, meaning the bus service takes 58% longer than driving and hence misses the target set by the review.

In November 2016 a six-month trial of a new service called the T1C was announced, commencing operation on 5 December 2016. It extends the T1 to Swansea and Cardiff, as a "replacement" for the 701 service which ceased operating in August 2016 when its final operator, Lewis Coaches, ceased trading.

Unlike the former 701, the T1C has no Sunday service, and the Monday-Saturday timetable is only once a day in and out, with an 0740 from Aberystwyth arriving in Cardiff at 1215, and a 1640 from Cardiff arriving in Aberystwyth at 2124. The service also does not stop at Port Talbot like the 701 did, nor does it use coaches like the 701 did, with a former Cymru Clipper spec Wrightbus bodied Volvo bus being the usual vehicle allocated. Journey time for the T1C is 4 hours 35 minutes (Aberystwyth-Cardiff) and 4 hours 44 minutes (Cardiff-Aberystwyth).

T2: Bangor to Aberystwyth

The service is operated by Express Motors and Lloyds Coaches and runs twice a day from Bangor to Aberystwyth, with additional workings over part of the route on Mondays to Saturdays. This service was introduced towards the end of September 2012, when Arriva Buses Wales cancelled TrawsCambria service X32. The T2 would have been the second TrawsCymru service launched but its status as a TrawsCymru service was dubious for many years as although the operators referred to the service as TrawsCymru from the start they did not have any TrawsCymru branded vehicles for use on the service. Instead, they used buses in their own standard liveries. In March 2016, the service was upgraded with four TrawsCymru branded Optare MetroCitys.

T3: Wrexham to Barmouth

The T3 service commenced operating on 2 November 2014. A more frequent Monday to Saturday service is provided compared to the previous TrawsCambria service X94 it replaces along with improved connections with the T2 service in Dolgellau. GHA Coaches were awarded a seven-year contract to operate the service, initially with existing buses, before taking delivery of three Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 bodied Scania N230UDs and an Alexander Dennis Enviro 200, all fitted with Wi-Fi and leather seats in 2015. Journey time is 2 hours 30 minutes. Following the collapse of GHA Coaches in July 2016, the service was immediately taken over by Lloyds Coaches.

T4: Newtown to Cardiff

The T4 was the first TrawsCymru service to be launched on 31 May 2011 and is operated by Stagecoach South Wales, who also operated the previous TrawsCambria 704 (which operated between Newtown and Brecon only).

The service as launched was operated with nine Optare Tempos, branded TrawsCymru, three of which had been ordered and used on the 704 and were repainted into TrawsCymru livery. The other six were new vehicles introduced to extend the service to Cardiff. The new vehicles are to an enhanced standard with a new design of seat and WiFi.

The service is the longest end-to-end journey on the TrawsCymru network, with a journey time of 3 hours 50 minutes.

T5: Aberystwyth to Haverfordwest

The T5 was commenced on 5 January 2015. Roughly hourly departures are provided from Aberystwyth, Cardigan, Fishguard and Haverfordwest but the service is made up of a number of different routes, the most frequent being:

Additionally:

Shortly before the service launched, the TrawsCymru website was updated to include the service, with the statement: "The TrawsCymru T5 provides a regular and direct service along the scenic Cambrian Coast, linking Aberystwyth, Aberaeron, New Quay, Cardigan, Fishguard and Haverfordwest." This is inaccurate because not all journeys serve New Quay and the inclusion of Fishguard and (on some trips) New Quay and Aberporth means the service is by no means direct. The website also reported that the service operates 7 days per week, when in fact there are no services between 03:00 on Sundays and 05:45 on Mondays (effectively no Sunday service). By 8 January 2015, this latter error had been corrected to say that the service operates 6 days per week.

The service was initially operated with existing buses, including the old Optare Tempos, which are still used as spare vehicles, and two VDL SB200s (one with a one-off MCV Evolution body and the other with the much more common Wright Pulsar 2 body), which are still in regular service on the route. All of these vehicles received TrawsCymru livery and seating, and in 2015 were joined by four new Optare MetroCitys.

T9: Cardiff Airport to Cardiff Central

The T9 service commenced operating on 1 August 2013. It was initially operated by First Cymru and ran every 20 minutes, 7 days a week. Five Optare Tempos are allocated to the service. The buses used were reported to be those ordered for the Carmarthen - Aberystwyth TC1 service. On 1 November 2014 New Adventure Travel took over operation of the route, which was reduced to a half-hourly. It was restored to a 20 minutes frequency in April 2015.

At around 15 miles, the route falls some way short of the 25 mile minimum distance given in Dr Victoria Winckler's review of TrawsCymru (see sub-section of history section above). The journey time from Cardiff Airport to Cardiff Central is 40 minutes. Due to the circular route via Cardiff Bay, the journey from Cardiff Central to the airport is only 30 minutes.

TrawsCymru Connect

A number of services have been designated as "TrawsCymru Connect" in timetables but they are not mentioned on the TrawsCymru website and the vehicles used do not carry any special livery or branding.