Annual Report 2018-19 Network in 2018/19 In 2018-19 the funded TrawsCymru® network carried a record 2.54 million passengers a 45% increase (792,872) passengers compared to the previous twelve months 2017-18

Details for the individual TrawsCymru® services are show below:- Patronage Patronage Percentage Service: in 2017-18 in 2018-19 Increase

T1 295,944 302,255 +2.13%

T2 345,814 691,628 +20%

T3 131,040 238,948 +82%

T4 443,645 550,672 +24%

T5 437,920 434,858 -0.6%

T6 156,329 169,478 +8.41%

T9 132,042 127,434 -0.34%

T1C 15,195(*)

T1S 12,112(*)

(*) Services T1C and T1S were introduced in April 2018, so no comparable figures available for 2017-18. 2018-19 saw large increases in patronage on the T2, T3, T4 and T6 services. Patronage on the T2 to Bangor service grew by 20% in 2018-19 in response to a 60% increase in scheduled journeys introduced on the route in January 2018 in response to increasing passenger demand, and the number of passengers using the T4 increased by 24% in 2018-19 as a result of an increase in learners travelling to post 16 education provision in . However, passenger numbers fell on the T9 Airport Express service in part due to a change in the flight programme at the Airport during this period. The Welsh Government provided local authorities across with £2.381m of revenue support grant in 2018-19 to provide TrawsCymru services. The majority of the network is operated under contract, but some sections are operated commercially by bus companies such as the section of the T4 route between Cardiff and . TrawsCymru Network Map

Gwasanaethau TrawsCymru T2 Bangor TrawsCymru Services T3 • T12 Gorsaf drenau Wrecsam Rhiwabon Railway station Ruabon Maes awyr Airport Croesoswallt Oswestry Abermo T3 Y Trallwng Welshpool T12 T4 Y Drenewydd T1 • T1C • T2 •T5 Aberystwyth Newtown Llandrindod Llandrindod Aberteifi Wells Cardigan Y Gelli Gandryll 460 Abergwaun Llanbedr Llanfair Hay on Wye Fishguard Pont Steffan ym Muallt T14 Henffordd T1•T1C • T1S T6 Caerfyrddin Aberhonddu Y Fenni Abergavenny Tyddewi 460 Brecon X43 St David’s Hwlffordd T5 Merthyr Tudful Cross Hands Castell-nedd Merthyr Tydfil Abertawe T1S • T6 Gorsaf drenau Railway station T1C • T4 • T9 • T14 Maes awyr Maes Awyr Caerdydd T9 Caerdydd Airport Cardiff Airport Cardiff

Aberystwyth • Caerfyrddin Aberystwyth • Bangor Aberystwyth • Hwlffordd T1 Aberystwyth • Carmarthen T2 T5 Aberystwyth • Haverfordwest Aberystwyth • Caerdydd Abermo • Wrecsam Abertawe • Aberhonddu T1C T3 Aberystwyth • Cardiff Barmouth • Wrexham T6 Swansea • Brecon Caerfyrddin • Abertawe Caerdydd • Y Drenewydd Maes Awyr Cymru Caerdydd • Caerdydd T1S Carmarthen • Swansea T4 Cardiff • Newtown T9 Cardiff Wales Airport • Cardiff Wrecsam • Machynlleth Aberteifi • Caerfyrddin Caerdydd • Henffordd T12 Wrexham • Machynlleth 460 Cardigan • Carmarthen T14 Cardiff • Hereford Aberhonddu • Y Fenni X43 Brecon Abergavenny

Services strengthened in Powys In response to a growth in passengers on the key Brecon to Cardiff section of the TrawsCymru T4 north – south route over the last five years, Powys County Council introduced in September 2018, a package of substantial service improvements for passengers on this key route. These included the introduction of more ‘end to end’ journeys between Newtown, Brecon and Cardiff throughout the week, as well as the introduction of more Sunday journeys following feedback from passengers.

As part of these service enhancements, a brand new TrawsCymru T14 service was introduced linking Cardiff to Hereford via Merthyr Tydfil, Brecon and Hay on Wye. This new service operates once every 2 hours in each direction (weekdays and Saturday daytimes). The T14 service provides a combined hourly (weekday and Saturday daytime service) with the T4 linking Brecon, Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd and Cardiff city centre. As part of this package of improvements, the Welsh Government provided capital funding to Powys County Council to enable a significant upgrade to the quality of vehicles used on these key services.

The T4 and T14 services are now operated by a dedicated fleet of 12 new EURO 6 environmentally friendly buses equipped with the usual high standard TrawsCymru coach style interiors.

Improved T1C Coach Service Cardiff to Aberystwyth April 2018 saw the introduction of the new daily TrawsCymru T1C coach service which links Aberystwyth, Carmarthen, Port Talbot and Cardiff. The service is designed to connect with other TrawsCymru services at key hubs and operates via Swansea on Sundays.

This new express coach service has helped reduce ‘end to end’ journey times between Aberystwyth and Cardiff to 3.5 hours by public transport.

We are looking for opportunities to further strengthen this key service to facilitate improved access to communities in west Wales.

Weekend Free Travel Trial We launched the ‘ground breaking’ weekend free travel initiative across the TrawsCymru network in July 2017.

This has generated significant additional passengers to the network on weekends. This growth has been sustained during 2018-19. For instance during the six months between July 2018 and December 2018, there was further increase with 81,336 passengers carried on weekends compared to the equivalent period in (July – Dec) 2017 – a rise of 32%.

This initiative was strongly supported and complemented by a strong and focused programme of social media marketing to encourage new users to try TrawsCymru services on weekends, highlighting key tourism and visitor attractions across the network. Ken Skates AM Minister for Economy and Transport at the launch of the new TrawsCymru T1C coach service in Cardiff April 2018 which facilitates improved access to communities in west Wales.

Improved Customer Engagement We strengthened our customer engagement programme in 2018-19. Working with Traveline Cymru who manage the customer relationships for TrawsCymru we launched an improved web site and social media using the Twitter and Facebook platforms. In 2018-19, we attracted 189,484 new users to TrawsCymru web site at www.trawscymru.info, of which 65% used mobile devices to access information on TrawsCymru services and fares. During the course of the year 2018-19 we handled 1,486 customer enquiries by telephone and 3,290 customer enquiries by email on TrawsCymru services.

© Crown copyright 2020 WG38559 Digital ISBN: 978 1 83876 952 9 Mae’r ddogfen yma hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg. This document is also available in Welsh.