Caerphilly AM Hefin David and MP Wayne David will meet with Stagecoach bosses after the company announced it was scrapping its number 25 bus service, which operates between Caerphilly and Cardiff.
From September 1, the service will be replaced by an extended 86 service, which will run hourly instead of every 30 minutes.
Journey times will also increase from Caerphilly to University Hospital Wales in Cardiff by 33 minutes – taking an almost an hour to get there.
During the meeting on Friday, September 6, Dr David AM will present Stagecoach’s managing director with a petition, signed by residents, calling for the 25 service to be retained.
Dr David AM said the news has been met with “dismay” from local residents and his office has been inundated with emails and phone calls asking him to take their case forward.
He said Stagecoach’s own data shows that 72% of the service users board at Caerphilly, meaning the withdrawal of the service will have a disproportionate impact on those living in, or near to, Caerphilly town.
Dr David AM said: “I’ve been struck by the response from the local community. Residents have said they rely on the service to get to the hospital for treatment of chronic conditions.
“One resident said she attends the University of Wales Hospital regularly for treatment for Leukaemia. The treatment takes several hours and it would not be pleasant after receiving this treatment to wait far longer and get home far later.
“These are real stories that I have to put to the bus company”.
Dr David is in the process of writing to every resident who signed the petition to provide an update on the situation.
Meanwhile, Wayne David MP said: “I think the change that Stagecoach want to introduce is unacceptable.
“Not only are they reducing the service by half, they are making the journey from Caerphilly to Cardiff longer.
“I’m liaising with Hefin and residents about this, in particular the pensioners’ association, to put pressure on Stagecoach to change their plans.
“We’re hoping Stagecoach will review the matter so the service will continue beyond September 1.”
He added: “The changes were introduced with little consultation. The outcry from local people should make Stagecoach reconsider.
“It’s not just patients of the hospital who will be affected – hospital workers have also been in contact with me about the changes.”
A Stagecoach spokeswoman said: “We know of the volume of patronage and the origin and destination of customers and their reason for travel from survey data, the change from September 1 bears this in mind, whilst retaining the key links to the hospital. Caerphilly Road in Cardiff already has many buses serving the area, with customers for Caerphilly from this area being small in number.
“We closely consulted with Cardiff Council on this change, as they support the service 86. We have notified customers and Caerphilly Council of the change well ahead of the September 1 start date.
“Stagecoach appreciates that the change to service 25 may not be welcome by all customers, we have taken steps to retain a Cardiff – Caerphilly service via Heath Hospital that should be sustainable; noting from our survey data of 2018 reasons for travel and passenger volume by destination.”
The firm also said it ran a consultation last year on potential changes to the route and said the survey “identified few users on the unique service 25 routing”.