NORTH WALES: Bus services axed due to new 20mph limit

Llŷr Gruffydd, who represents the region in the Senedd, criticised bus company Arriva after it announced that it will no longer serve a number of locations while reducing the level of service to others.

Mr Gruffydd, of Plaid Cymru spoke out on the issue on the floor of the Senedd, and has been contacted by constituents who are “really disappointed that they weren't engaged as users”.

Arriva will no longer serve the Tweedmill Shopping Outlet in St Asaph or Llandegla via its Services 51 and x51, Rhyl to Wrexham from January 14.

Fears have been raised that the Tweedmill withdrawing the service could lead to dangerous consequences because of road safety concerns.

Residents of Llandegla, in Denbighshire, are concerned that will leave villagers cut off and isolated.

Because of the change passengers will now have to make their way to the next nearest stop on the A525, which is half a mile away from the village centre. Much of the route is unlit and without pavements.

The Llandudno to Prestatyn service will now operate hourly and will no longer call at Llandudno Junction railway station or Llysfaen.

The Bangor to Beaumaris service is being reduced to only operating every 75 minutes as is the Mold to Ellesmere Port service. 

Llŷr Gruffydd MS said: “I was going to ask you about what the real motive was here, but I think you've touched on that, in fairness, Deputy Minister.

Llyr Gruffydd MS (Image: Plaid Cymru)

"Because I've been asked by some of my electors whether the change in speed limit probably is a driver for this, but I think there are other drivers for these changes that are playing out in terms of the wider challenges facing the sector. But I think you've probably had your say on that.

“So, can I ask you what you would have expected from a company like Arriva when it comes to implementing these changes?

“Because I've had constituents contact me who had no idea that these changes were coming and are reading about it in the press, and are really disappointed that they weren't engaged as users, regular users of these services, and that they weren't given an opportunity through a consultation process to say what they had to say about any proposals that were being prepared. Was there an equality impact assessment?

“I don't know. If there wasn't, then there should have been, because obviously it's such an important part of people being able to access jobs and services, as we've heard.

“And there's a proposed new stop—Llandegla was mentioned yesterday—on the main road, which, I believe, is on private land. The owner has no intention of allowing that land to be used. So, does this not all point to quite a botched job from Arriva when it comes to actually changing services, whatever the motive is?”

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Lee Waters MS: Deputy Minister for Climate Change responded that “pleas” could be made to Arriva adding that “unless we've got money to give them, direct subsidy, to run routes that we define as socially necessary, they don't have to take any notice”.

Last week a spokesperson for Arriva Wales said: "The withdrawal of this service in Llandegla is due to the impact of 20mph on the 51 and X51 services. To be clear this is not to say that Llandegla and its speed limits are the issue but now the service overall is taking longer to operate due to reduced speeds across the network.

"The consequences of this change in speed has been severe and has caused increased lost mileage and reduced punctuality.

"We have been open in raising our concerns with Transport for Wales, the Welsh government and local authorities. There have also been press statements and questions raised in the Senedd about this on the basis of our concerns and the consequences.

"As a response to reducing speed of buses there are these options to reduce frequency: speed up buses by withdrawing the service from an area or increase the amount of resource in the bus service.

"This service is already operating at a low frequency and there is no funding to support increased resource going into services so we have had to amend the route with the time saved by not operating in the village," the spokesperson added.

"This time has been reinvested into the service to help it operate to time.

"These changes have taken place based upon a review of patronage and estimated time savings.

"The service will also now not call in to the Tweedmill."