TrawsCymru introducing new electric buses to route between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth
First Cymru has successfully tendered to operate the TrawsCymru T1 route between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth.
From next month the company which is funded by the Welsh Government and managed by four local authorities, will be introducing its new fleet of electric busses to the route.
The new buses will be introduced from 26 March and a new charging hub will open in Carmarthenshire with new facilities for drivers and the buses.
Supplied by Pelican, the new buses have been extensively tested to ensure they can cope with the terrain of Wales and TrawsCymru says they will improve the customer experience offering comfortable seats, air conditioning, reading lights, tables and mobile phone charging sockets.
Customer experience
James Price, CEO of Transport for Wales said: “We are looking forward to seeing the new electric buses come into service, improving the customer experience and encouraging more people to leave the car at home and choose public transport.”
“Buses have to an important and exciting role to play in Wales’s ongoing move to more sustainable travel,” says Chris Hanson, General Manager of First Cymru.
“We are absolutely delighted to have this opportunity to run the T1 route and the stunning electric fleet.
“People across Wales use First Cymru transport every day right now to move across town and counties in South Wales. But we know many more will do the same as buses evolve to bring all the benefits of electric to customers and their communities.”
The new fleet will be officially launched by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters MS at an event in Carmarthen on 16 March.
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Is this report conflating TransCymru and First Cymru? TrawsCymru is indeed a publicly owned company, but First Cymru is a subsidiary of the privately owned First Group. First Cymru has been operating the TI service for some years on behalf of TrawsCymru, using its own buses decorated in TrawsCymru livery. Your report gives the impression that First Cymru is publicly owned.
That new bus looks big. I just hope that the Welsh Government and councils in Sir Gar and Ceredigion have straightened some of the roads and got rid of the potholes up the A485, A 482, A486 and A487. Will it run via Synod Inn or Lampeter ? Why not alternate?
If it runs via Synod Inn, it can also serve New Quay.