Multi million pound transport hub finally lands first bus service

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

A new multi million pound transport hub which has been without a bus service for months will finally  have one by one next year.

Vale of Glamorgan Council announced that the Adventure Travel B3 bus service will start running from Barry Transport Interchange, next to the Grade II listed Docks Office building, from January 8, 2023.

The service, which will operate between Cadoxton and Barry, will be the first one to run from the £3m transport hub since phase one of the project was completed in summer 2023.

Leader of the Plaid Cymru group at Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cllr Ian Johnson, who has been critical about the slow progress in securing a bus service for the hub said one new one doesn’t go far enough.

Cllr Johnson said: “The aim of the bus station was to have a regular connection between buses and trains at Barry Docks, and while it’s good to have the new service, if you know that you could spend an hour waiting for the bus because of a train delay, you’re probably not going to take the risk.”

The council funded service will run seven times a day instead of eight – something the local authority said will will improve reliability and help it run on time.

Cllr Johnson added: “If we have eight trains an hour at Barry Docks but only seven buses a day then it’s going to be pot luck whether a bus is there waiting for you.

“In order for the bus station to operate effectively, there needs to be regular services that people can rely on, running all day and not just occasionally.

“I hope that we will have better news about more bus services soon.

“In the meantime, existing B3 bus users will be unhappy at seeing a reduced service around town because of the urgent need to cover up Labour’s embarrassing mistake of building a multi-million pound bus station without any planning on the bus services using it.”

Withdrawn

Adventure Travel’s number 88 bus service which was originally supposed to take passengers to and from Barry Transport Interchange was withdrawn this year.

The council said in April that Cardiff Bus was considering which of it’s services could operate from the hub.

However, the company made changes to a number of its services and cut some of them altogether in September.

Following its timetable update, no services were shown to be operating at Barry Transport Interchange.
Vale of Glamorgan Council cabinet member for sustainable places, Cllr Bronwen Brooks, said: “At a difficult time for bus operators, due to declining usage and reducing Welsh Government funding, I’m pleased that we are able to provide this service from the Barry Dock Transport Interchange.

“The changes made to the timetable will increase service reliability, part of wider Council work to improve this aspect of bus provision.

“We know a large number of residents depend on bus transport to travel around the county, which is why we want to provide a more useful, effective service.

“This should be of particular benefit to residents in Gibbonsdown, western and central Barry who will have a direct bus service into the interchange and is the latest development regarding that facility, with work continuing to further add to the services on offer.”

Construction on phase one of Barry Transport Interchange started in January 2023.

Delivered in partnership with the Welsh Government and Cardiff Capital Region (CCR), the hub is intended to act as a meeting point for different modes of transport.

It is situated next to Barry Docks train station and also includes a taxi rank and bike shelters.