Patients heading to the Heath Hospital in Cardiff face an extra half hour on their bus journey after Stagecoach announced the axing of one of its services.
From September 1, the number 25 bus operating between Caerphilly and Cardiff will no longer operate and will be replaced by an extended 86 route instead.
Instead of being every 30 minutes, buses on the new 86 service will run every hour. Journey times will also increase from Caerphilly to University Hospital Wales in Cardiff by 33 minutes – taking an almost an hour to get there.
Stagecoach, which operates most of the service without a public subsidy, made the surprise announcement earlier this week and blamed passenger numbers for scrapping the service.
The journeys on the current 25 service at 7.25pm from Caerphilly and 8pm from Cardiff on Monday to Saturday, as well as all Sunday journeys will be renumbered as 86X as these journeys are funded by Caerphilly County Borough Council.
Caerphilly Assembly Member Hefin David said the move came with no consultation and had written to the company demanding answers.
He said: “The removal of this service will impact on passengers travelling into Cardiff, but probably most importantly, those patients, visitors and staff making their way to the University of Wales Hospital, Cardiff.
“I understand the journey time for the revised number 86 service will more than double and the frequency of this service will be hourly, rather than the current half hourly service. Clearly this is unacceptable so I’m encouraging local residents to get in touch with me so we can call on Stagecoach to revise their plans.”
Passengers have vented their frustrations via Dr David’s Facebook page.
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 a 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”.
According to the Traffic Commissioner’s Office, an application to cancel the 25 route was submitted on July 9 this year. Bus services outside of London are deregulated and it is up to bus operators to decide what routes they provide.
If they wish to register a new service, or cancel an existing one, by law they must give the Traffic Commissioner’s Office at least 56 days’ notice.
I use this bus 2 to 3 times a week to work at the heath hospital. I drive but cannot park at the hospital and using this service has taken the stress out of that. Now I cannot get to work for the start of my shifts and buses home will be non existent at my finish time meaning a mile walk after an 11 hour shift to catch a train. How is this fair especially when routes direct to the royal Gwent have been improved. Absolutely no prior warning or consultation. I did fill in a survey last year after similar ridiculous proposed changes and know many others challenged the proposals. What are we meant to do??
The reasons from Stagecoach to stop servicing The Heath Hospital are a complete fabrication.
I make use of the service, at least, once a month from North Cardiff and have always been surprised at the many passengers who make use of it who are either already on the bus or waiting at further stops to go to the hospital. Likewise, the service has always seemed to be well used on it’s return back from the hospital.
However, should Stagecoach take this service, via Caerphilly Road and Thornhill Road, off then it is their loss and I feel sure that NAT could divert their X8 into the Hospital or Cardiff Bus divert 2 bus’s per hour there as a 27H or something.
The reasons given by Stagecoach have as many holes as a Swiss cheese. Whenever I have used the service it is well patronised with it being at least two thirds full, so I’m not sure how their survey “identified few users on the unique service 25 routing”.
They may salve their conscience by saying that they will be providing a service that should be sustainable, but I suggest that this sustainability will only come about due to the extended route being chiefly available to more Cardiff residents than can use the current 25 service.
As to their comments regarding the number of passengers from the Caerphilly Road area coming to Caerphilly, most passengers will have started their journey from St. Mary Street or Kingsway. How do they quantify “many buses serving the (Caerphilly Road ) area”? To my knowledge there are only two services, the 27 and X.8, using that route. Are they saying that as buses on those routes are running at 15 minute intervals that that constitutes many buses? What a cop out!
If they wished to modify the 25 service, surely they could have considered withdrawing the extension to Cardiff Bay, which was always accessible by using the Baycar Service from Kingsway, and reducing the frequency from every 30 to every 40 minutes. They could also have considered reverting to the former system of extensions to routes A and B which seemed to operate successfully for a number of years prior to the introduction of route 25.
I wonder whether, from the submission date of 9th July quoted by the Traffic Commissioners, Stagecoach have in fact given their legal requirement of “at least 56 days” notice of the intended change, and I am asking Mr Hefin David to look into this aspect.
I’m shocked that the 25 bus service is being axed. I was under the impression that we are to be encouraged to use public transport. I should have thought that a more frequent, cheaper service would be the future, especially if some of the additional journeys provided a super fast service direct to Cardiff Centre and The Bay. How else can travellers be persuaded out of their cars and onto public transport?
I understand the new service is going to be only hourly instead of every half hour. Couldn’t the current route be maintained and simply changed to hourly from every 30 mins? I would imagine the buses would be much fuller then.
I regularly use this service and find it incredible for stagecoach to state they have made the decision after passenger feedback.That statement is laughable ah yes let’s cut the service to one bus an hour re route it via Lisvane and Lanishen and take 30 minutes longer to get to Cardiff from Caerphilly . Yes I’m sure all their passengers told them that’s a good idea. I’m afraid stagecoach are going to lose even more passengers following this decision not gaining them
I’m shocked every time I use the number 25 from Caerphilly to the UHW around 3 times a week it’s full and this is on different days and different times .I rely on this bus service and the time it takes to get there isnt too long as I am getting on at Thornhill I couldnt travel on a bus if it took an hour I can no longer drive due to ill health and have to go back and for to the hospital for appointments I am just one of many people not just patients but also staff that rely on this service It’s disgraceful that it is being stopped There is no parking at the UHW as it is and it is the main hospital in and around Cardiff / South Wales it is essential that myself and the people of Caerphilly have this service .
I regularly use this service from caerphilly to the hospital due to the problem with parking. We are being urged to cut our carbon footprint by cutting down on car usage then the public transport is being cut.
I have an appointment at the hospital for 12.45 in September what number bus would I catch and what time from caerphilly terminal
As well as the extra 30 mins to the hospital, I am also concerned at the bus stops along the route which will no longer be served. My daughter, who has a learning disability, uses the 25 two or three times a week to get to a charity shop where she volunteers on the corner of Beulah Road. We have worked out that she’ll be able to get there now by linking up with the 27 which goes down Excalibur Drive and then across the Llanishen estate before rejoining the main road. The return journey will be trickier, making sure to link up with the 86 in time and avoiding a wait of up to an hour if she misses it. This will all involve a longer journey, 2 buses instead of one, and the possibility of a lot of hanging about or a long walk in bad weather. The 25 is also useful for reaching the main entrance of the crematorium. Non-drivers will now have to walk from the roundabout by Excalibur Drive or take a taxi.
Very disappointed. I use no. 25 to connect with service no. 9 @ U H W . Also, How living in Rhiwbina do I now get to Caerphilly? There are enough services to Cardiff Bay from Kingsway/end St Mary St. You could cut this part of the route. Also, how about people visiting Thornhill cemetery?? It is hard to access this area without your present service in both directions. So many retired/elderly people live on the Rhiwbina side of Thornhill Rd, & do not wish to drive on this very busy Rd. Please reconsider this awful proposal.
I think the people of Caerphilly should be made aware of what has actually being going on, behind the scenes about this bus service.
I was informed, by a Stagecoach driver, that the No 86 bus, which currently runs the Cardiff route until 1st Sept when it will run from Caerphilly. Is now and has been, for at least 3 months, subsidised by Caerphilly County Borough Council. As Cardiff Council deemed the route unprofitable, they withdrew subsidiaries. Also, included was the service of Stagecoach drivers, who have to catch a train from Caerphilly to Lisvane Station, to collect and run the Cardiff only service bus.
Can someone please explain to me why my money, as a Caerphilly resident, is paying for a bus route that services Cardiff!!!
And why are council members expressing their shock and horror, when the same members voted to pay the subsidiary. CCBC have known about this cancellation of No 25 bus for months!!!
So let’s recap, after Stagecoach approached CCBC asking to subside the No 25 bus, that delivers a service for the people of Caerphilly, they refused.
But then decided to subsidise a bus running a route servicing Cardiff!!!
Questions need to be asked and answered.
I too am really disappointed with the news that Stagecoach has axed the 25 bus route. I have listened to friends and family that use the bus to get to work, my sister in law and niece & nephew actually work at UHW they work very hard. What happens if they are late ? Like lots of other people too. I have mobility issues and have used the 25 many times, also my husband sometimes uses this bus to get to his job. People are saying that the new 86 is going to take about hour & half? This is not good enough, we are advised to use public transport?
This is going to cause people a lot of bother, whether they are going to work or into Cardiff. I’m told that we are having 16 electric buses in Caerphilly, let’s hope that they go to Cardiff, they too will have 36 of these buses.
I am shocked that the 25 service is being stopped from caerphilly to u.h.w. we have used this service regularly for the past couple of years due to my husbands health problems . Trying to park a car there is difficult at the best of times . The 25 bus drops of at entrance to concourse and then picks up by carpark (2 MINS walk) which is perfect. Please reconsider!
As a family we do not have a car. I have relied on buses from Watford in Caerphilly to get to Cardiff to work for 27 years. I have experienced Cardiff Bus and Stagecoach, many different routes BUT I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING AS BAD AS THIS. In the first instance the service being halved, hourly instead of half hourly and therefore the loss of flexibility, especially if a working parent with young children and childcare needs. Secondly the journey time has all but doubled, making the working day plus commute unbearably and unecessarily long. Finally the service now begins and ends at Greyfriars, further hindering those who have onward travel whether it be by foot or another bus service. This latest change will devastate commuters.
Having now travelled on this service for two days it is exactly as bad as i had dreaded. The working day has been extended by an hour, and that is not counting the extended walk from Greyfriars to my work. The number of people getting on the bus on parts of the route the 25 did not cover (i.e. most of it) has added up to no more than a half dozen at both peak times i have travelled. The bus has to stop several times to ‘waste’ minutes in order to keep to the timetable.
To add insult to injury those getting on at Lisvane and Llanishen are bemused that suddenly their 86 service now comes from Caerphilly, but glad that the new ‘improved’ service sold to them by Stagecoach is hourly instead of the 90minute service they had been used to and were perfectly happy with. Especially as they are already well serviced by more than one service. This morning the 86 08.10 service from Caerphilly followed a Cross Country X8 bus for most of the route through Lisvane and Llanishen !!!
I am distraught and angry and wonder how long i will be able to continue commuting. I do not drive so have no choice but to use public transport or simply give up my job. I cannot say any more
“The bus has to stop several times to ‘waste’ minutes in order to keep to the timetable” – I would certainly agree with this observation, but unfortunately this is the nature of many routes when traffic is considered as part of the timetabling process.
This is where my agreement with Mair stops, however.
“The 90 minute route that they were used to and perfectly happy with” – no-one was happy with this arrangement; the route had been drastically cut year after year for several years. Well within memory, are the 85 and 86 routes, both running simultaneously and frequently to provide barely-adequate links from the North of Cardiff to the city centre and hospital: Quite a world apart from one 86 bus every 90 minutes, that didn’t serve the hospital any longer.
“They are already well serviced by more than one service” – See above. I’d estimate that >70% of the route is not serviced by any other bus, with those residents in the most northern throes of the current 86 route having to walk for 20-30 minutes in order to catch a bus – and that’s without considering any commute at the other side of their bus journey, so journeys really are very very long.
“Followed by a [NAT] X8 bus for most of the route through Lisvane and Llanishen” – Patently untrue and certainly exaggerated. The portion of the route to which you presumably refer is between Morrison’s and Lidl (approx 0.4 miles), then from Gabalfa flyover to the city centre. Any NAT service travelling anywhere else in Lisvane/Llanishen was certainly lost, or being used for a private hire.