Support quality, independent, local journalism…that matters

From just £1 a month you can help fund our work – and use our website without adverts. Become a member today

A lack of roadside bus timetables around Caerphilly County Borough causes elderly passengers frustration and confusion – and can leave vulnerable people waiting, says a resident. 

Glyn Prosser, 86, from Bedwas, contacted Caerphilly Observer to highlight his frustrations with the fact Stagecoach timetables in certain areas are not up to date – or not up at all.   

This comes despite the timetables for some routes, like the Stagecoach’s number 50 from Bargoed to Newport, having been released as far back as September 2022. 

Mr Prosser said: “There are still no timetables up in certain areas.

“There’s quite a few people…that would like to know why.” 

Mr Prosser explained that a lack of timetables, for people who do not have access to apps or the internet, can mean a bus is missed completely – or that people have to stand and wait. 

Mr Prosser continued: “How do we feel? Disappointed.”

Mr and Mrs Prosser, who are regular bus users, have a mobile phone, but not one that can access the internet – or timetables. 

Mr Prosser’s wife, Alice Prosser, 80 added: “A lot of the older people don’t.” 

This was made worse by a lot of route changes following the pandemic, and people are still going by former times which are now incorrect as they have nothing to work off. 

Mrs Prosser said: “If they’d have left the bus timetables there, it might have been all right.

“But they were all taken out for some reason or another – why?”

Mr Prosser added there were instances where he and his wife had struggled to make hospital appointments, and funerals because of the issue.

One person who has been affected is a 99-year-old woman who lives close to the couple. 

Mr Prosser said: “We’ve seen her and her minder – they’re waiting for the bus and they’ve just missed it by a couple of minutes because they’re going for a certain time.”

Mr Prosser took it upon himself to try and improve matters, contacting the council on several occasions, both over the phone and by letter.

He received a response to his queries, one of which was about incorrect timetable information in Caerphilly Interchange in August 2022. The other was about the lack of timetables across the borough in April 2023. 

In a letter received in April 2023 on behalf of the council’s head of infrastructure, which has been seen by Caerphilly Observer, Mr Prosser is told that the “hope” to start installing timetables in October 2022 was complicated by more schedule changes in November of that year. 

The letter continues that a decision was then made to use Stagecoach for “bus timetable provision” and that an inventory of bus stops and shelters was passed over to Stagecoach – but time was needed to “line up the data with their systems”. 

Additionally, “uncertainty” with bus emergency support had also complicated matters.

Mr Prosser’s perseverance did help in his local area, however, after timetables were put up on a route close to his house in Bedwas.

‘No set timeframe’

Caerphilly County Borough Council is responsible for bus stop timetable cases and infrastructure, including maintaining them – whereas bus contractors, like Stagecoach, are responsible for installing them. 

A council spokesperson said: “Caerphilly County Borough Council is currently working with Stagecoach, who install bus timetables at bus stops throughout the county borough. But we do not have a set time frame in which to achieve this as services are still not settled following the pandemic and the uncertainty of Bus Emergency Support funding.”

A spokesperson for Stagecoach South Wales said: “We have recently agreed a partnership with Caerphilly County Borough Council to update the roadside information around the Caerphilly borough and include other bus operators’ information. We work with other local authorities in the same way. 

“There are a number of service changes across our South Wales network from July 23, which have been agreed with the local authorities. Therefore we will be working together to update all key hubs and bus stations across all areas that are changing. Following this our roadside team will update the rest of the routes by area. 

“We provide timetable booklets on our buses for customers who cannot access the app, which is currently being updated with the new bus times.

“We also display all our timetables on the Stagecoach website and communicate the changes by email and social media channels”.

Bus stop checks

In order to investigate the issues raised by Mr Prosser, Caerphilly Observer did a spot check of bus stops in the north of the borough throughout May and June 2023.

Of 14 bus stops checked in places such as Rhymney, Pontlottyn, Princetown and Bargoed, only four had timetables. 

One of these was not a Stagecoach timetable but from Adventure Travel.

The second was a Stagecoach timetable in Bargoed Interchange – where it appeared that most stands had timetables. 

Another for the contractor in Abertysswg is from June 2019 and is not up-to-date.

The final timetable found in Princetown was correct from 29 May 2022 but is for the number 78 – a route which is not funded by Caerphilly County Borough Council.