Madam,

The Welsh Government and Ceredigion County Council have different views over who is responsible for TrawsCymru bus service timetables.

I recently asked the Welsh Government and Ceredigion Council to consider a change to the departure time of the T1C (Aberystwyth to Cardiff coach service introduced in April 2018) from 9.30am to 9.25am and asked for more T1C services to be provided.

The change was requested in order to improve connectivity in Carmarthen of the T1C service from Aberystwyth with the T1S service to Swansea where there is currently only three minutes to connect and also to allow passengers from Gwynedd and Powys to use the T1C service.

Ceredigion council manages the T1C contract. On 30 May, Ellen ap Gwynn, leader of Ceredigion council, said: “As this service is part of a strategic bus route and is the responsibility of Ken Skates AM, Cabinet Secretary for Economic Development and Transport, I suggest that you refer this matter to him directly.” This off-hand response of Mrs ap Gwynn is clearly wrong as Ceredigion council has a responsibility to obtain the best services possible for residents and passengers travelling through Ceredigion and they manage the T1C contract. Mrs ap Gwynn should be writing to Ken Skates.

On 5 June, the Welsh Government said: “The operation and timetable of TrawsCymru bus services are the responsibility of the contracting local authority.” The Welsh Government response appears to have changed since 2016, when Ceredigion council objected to a proposed change in departure time of the T1 service in Aberystwyth to improve connectivity between T2 and T1 services.

They objected on the basis that Ceredigion council were partners in the T1 contract, which was managed by Carmarthenshire council.

Now there appear to be no partners to TrawsCymru contracts and the Welsh Government named the contracting local authority for service T1 as Carmarthenshire, T1C as Ceredigion, T2 as Gwynedd, T3 as Gwynedd, T5 as Ceredigion.

If passengers have a problem with TrawsCymru service timings on these routes then, according to the Welsh Government, they should approach the relevant contracting local authority.

However this lack of clarity over responsibility means that changes to improve TrawsCymru services cannot be progressed.

This is something that needs to be addressed and I would suggest that Elin Jones, AM for Ceredigion and presiding officer in the Welsh Assembly, whose job is to hold the Welsh Government to account, should approach both Mr Skates and Mrs ap Gwynn and arrange for both to make a clear statement on who is responsible for connectivity of TrawsCymru services in Aberystwyth.

The Welsh Government also indicated on 5 June that they would consider funding for additional T1C bus services from Aberystwyth to Cardiff. This may be another empty promise. No doubt Elin Jones will push for the additional funding for extra T1C coach services, because Elin Jones uses that service, but I would hope that her efforts would also be channelled towards obtaining a Wrexham to Aberystwyth service.

A T3 Wrexham to Aberystwyth service would provide a unique link between north-east Wales and south and south-west Wales.

Yours etc,

John McTighe, Llanrhystud

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