Request to Carmarthenshire Council for a Trawscymru T1 departure time change in aberystwyth

23rd July 2018

639

Reply-To: john.mct@

Dear Stephen Pillinar,

The request I made on 25/06/2018 for a change to T1 departure time in Aberystwyth contained 11 requests foe information which should be replied to within 20 working days.

Yours Sincerely ,

Dr John McTighe

Subject : Request to Carmarthenshire

> Council for a Trawscymru T1 departure time change in aberystwyth

> Request to Carmarthenshire Council for a Trawscymru T1 departure time

> change in aberystwyth

> Dear Stephen Pillinar,

> In 2016 the Welsh Government and Ceredigion County Council refused to

> support a change to the T1 departure time in Aberystwyth from 18.40 to

> 18.45 in order for the last T2 of the day to from Bangor arriving at

> 18.40 to connect with the T1 to Carmarthen departing at 18.40. At

> that time there were 3 partners to the T1 contract (Carmarthenshire

> Council, Ceredigion Council and the bus provider and the Welsh

> Government had overall control for the timetable) . The situation has

> now changed and according to the Welsh Government there are now only 2

> partners to each contract, (the Local Authority. and the service

> provider), and responsibility for the T1 service operation and

> timetable are with Carmarthenshire Council. (see attached letter dated

> 05/06/2018 from Simon Jones, Director of Transport, Welsh Government).

> In this letter the Welsh Government said that “”the operation of each

> Trawscymru bus service is the responsibility of the relevant

> contracting local authority . This includes determining the timetable

> for each Trawscymru service””.

> I wish therefore to request that Carmarthenshire Council arrange for a

> change to the T1 departure time in Aberystwyth at 18.40 I shall

> cover (1) The History of the original request (2) The new request and

> (3) The results of 17 T1 service arrival timings at Carmarthen railway

> station over the past 2 years. This request is made in conjunction

> with a similar request to Gwynedd Council for a change to the T2

> arrival time in Aberystwyth which can be viewed in the attached email

> below.

> (1) THE HISTORY OF THE REQUEST

> On 10/11/2016 I received a reply to a Freedom of Information Request

> regarding a requested change in T1 departure time in Aberystwyth from

> 18.40 to 18.45 . The reply was from John Tillman Information & Data

> Protection Officer for Carmarthenshire Council. My request to

> Carmarthenshire Council followed a period of requests made to Mr David

> Hall, the Trawscymru Network Manager, Welsh Government who had said

> that the time could not be altered for contractual and operational

> reasons and that the Welsh Government did not hold a copy of the T1

> contract document.. The Trawscymru Network Manager referred me to

> Carmarthenshire Council. who were very open in their responses to my

> requests and provided the following replies (in red) to my questions

> (in blue).

> (1) Could you please clarify whether all the service delivery partners

> were issued with a copy of the T1 contract document , namely:

> · The Welsh Government

> · Ceredigion County Council

> · The bus operator

> Yes, all providers have received this document.

> (2)__Can you please provide any text within the T1 contract document

> that provides evidence that the T1 bus timetable cannot be altered for

> “contractual reasons”.

> There is no such text. There is no contractual reason why the

> timetable cannot be altered if agreed by all partners, in particular

> the bus operator who is ultimately responsible for the operation of

> the service in accordance with their operator’s license.

> (3) Could you please clarify whether Ceredigion Council were consulted

> regarding ““THE VIEW OF THE PARTNERS THAT THE 18.40 T1 JOURNEY FROM

> ABERYSTWYTH TO CARMARTHEN SHOULD NOT BE RETIMED”” .

> If so which officer of Ceredigion Council was consulted._ CAN YOU

> CONFIRM THE NAME, JOB TITLE AND CONTACT DETAILS FOR THE PERSON

> INVOLVED FROM CEREDIGION COUNCIL_

> We do not hold this information as the Welsh Government was

> responsible for consultations.

> (4) COULD YOU PLEASE CLARIFY WHETHER YOUR AUTHORITY HAS DISCUSSED THE

> BENEFITS OF A CHANGE IN DEPARTURE TIME OF THE T1 FROM 18.40 TO 18.45

> IN ABERYSTWYTH.

> As above, consultation was undertaken by the Welsh Government and we

> do not hold this information.

> _(5) HAVE CARMARTHENSHIRE COUNCIL EVER OBJECTED TO TIMETABLE CHANGES

> TO THE T1 SERVICE LEAVING ABERYSTWYTH AT 18.40 FOR “CONTRACTUAL

> REASONS”. _

> “”No. In reviewing service changes the Authority would look at the

> overall implications of such services and discuss the consequences as

> well as the benefits of any timetable changes. “”

> (6) Could you please confirm you are aware that the T1 departing

> Aberystwyth at 18.40 currently arrives at Carmarthen at 20.36 and the

> eastbound train departs at 20.47 leaving 11 minutes for passengers to

> move 20 yards from bus to train and the T1 bus is also travelling

> after the end of the working day when disruption on the roads is

> minimal.

> Could you please also confirm that you are aware that the T1 arrival

> at 16.53 at the very busiest time of day connects with the 16.58 train

> which is the last of the day to Manchester Picadilly leaving 5

> minutes for passengers to move 20 yards to reach the train

> The Council is aware of the timings of these journeys.

> Following questions to Carmarthenshire Council in which there was no

> clear objection by Carmarthenshire Council to the change in T1

> departure time in Aberystwyth , Ceredigion Council were asked to

> support the change to departure time in Aberystwyth and they refused

> with statements from Councillor Alun Williams, the Transport

> representative for Ceredigion Council that :-

> (a) “” it will not be possible in all circumstances with factors

> influencing this include constraints and demands related to vehicles

> and drivers as well as the desire to maintain other connections.””

> (b) “”I know from personal experience of using the connection that

> quite a number of people travelling from Ceredigion use the T1 to link

> to trains at Carmarthen. My information is that the numbers wanting to

> link between the T2 and the T1 in Aberystwyth do not come close to

> matching this””

> CONTRARY TO THE ABOVE STATEMENTS BY COUNCILLOR ALUN WILLIAMS, THE

> TRANSPORT REPRESENTATIVE FOR CEREDIGION COUNCIL, THAT PASSENGERS DO

> NOT WANT TO LINK BETWEEN THE T2 AND T1 IN ABERYSTWYTH, I KNOW FROM

> PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THAT PASSENGERS DO WANT TO LINK BETWEEN THE T2 AND

> T1 IN ABERYSTWYTH AND PASSENGERS HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY DISTRESSED BY

> FAILING TO MAKE A CONNECTION WITH THE T1 TO CARMARTHEN IN ABERYSTWYTH.

> .

> (2) THE NEW REQUEST

> On 05/06/2018 Simon Jones, Director of Transport, Welsh Government)

> indicated that there are only 2 partners to each contract, the Local

> Authority. and the service provider and said that “”THE OPERATION OF

> EACH TRAWSCYMRU BUS SERVICE IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE RELEVANT

> CONTRACTING LOCAL AUTHORITY . THIS INCLUDES DETERMINING THE TIMETABLE

> FOR EACH TRAWSCYMRU SERVICE””.

> Providing that Gwynedd Council agree to remove an unnecessary 5 minute

> wait in Machynleth and a 5 minute diversion off the A487 on the edge

> of Aberystwyth, ( introduced by the Welsh Government and not by Powys

> or Ceredigion Councils) , the T2 arrival time in Aberystwyth can be

> returned to 18.40 .

> There are then a number of options to consider by Carmarthenshire

> Council to restore the T2/T1/train to Cardiff connectivity through

> Aberystwyth that existed before the T3 Wrexham to Barmouth Service was

> introduced in 2014 . According to the Welsh Government this is a

> decision for Carmarthenshire Council and should therefore not be

> subjected to a veto by Ceredigion Council . The following options are

> possible and Carmarthenshire Council may have options of their own. :-

> OPTION A. The T1 departure time in Aberystwyth be changed from 18.40

> to 18.45 leaving 5 minutes for passengers to catch the last train to

> Cardiff The Traffic Commissioner’s regulations require that 95% of

> services arrive at their destination within 5 minutes of their

> timetabled arrival time. Bus journeys are usually designed with this

> in mind and it is possible to make up time in the event of delays. The

> only reason a 95% figure would not be achieved is a major disruption

> ie bus breakdown, RTC etc. There is little risk to this change. The

> T1 arrival to Carmarthen rail station at 16.53 at the very busiest

> time of day connects with the 16.58 train which is the last of the day

> to Manchester Picadilly leaving 5 minutes for passengers to move 20

> yards to reach the train . An 18.45 T1 departure from Aberystwyth

> would be travelling at a less busy time of day where traffic is

> lighter, there is no road maintenance etc.

> OPTION B. The T1 departure time in Aberystwyth be changed from 18.40

> to 18.43 . This would allow the T1 to arrive at Carmarthen railway

> station 7 minutes before the train departs for Cardiff. There would

> be no risk whatsoever of the train being missed unless there was a

> major disruption ie bus breakdown, RTC etc. A 3 minute connection

> time in Aberystwyth would be tight, but is no different to the

> connection time being employed in Carmarthen between the Trawscymru

> T1C (Aberystwyth to Cardiff) service recently introduced on 16/03/2018

> and the Trawscymru T1S to Swansea, which has the same 3 minutes of

> connectivity..

> OPTION C. The T1 departure time in Aberystwyth be changed from 18.40

> to 18.43 and a 2 minute delayed departure under a Quality Partnership

> Agreement be introduced . In my experience based on using the T2

> regularly between 2015 and 2017 this would result in 95% of T2

> journeys arriving and connecting with the T1 service.

> I WOULD ALSO WISH TO REQUEST THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

> (a) Do Carmarthenshire Council receive Trawwscymru T1 service bus

> performance monitoring information from Bus users Cymru ?

> (b) If the answer to (a) is “yes” could Carmarthenshire Council

> provide the most recent report covering the T1 arrival times in

> Carmarthen ?

> (c) If the answer to (a) is “yes” could Carmarthenshire Council

> provide the most recent report covering the T1 arrival times in

> Aberystwyth ?

> (d) Do Carmarthenshire Council conduct their own investigations of

> Trawscymru T1 arrival times in Carmarthen ? If so, how often is the

> investigation carried out , is the data reported and available for

> examination and when was the last investigation carried out ?

> (e) Are Carmarthenshire Council aware that there is no connectivity

> going North through Aberystwyth on the T1/T2 Carmarthen to Bangor

> route. ?

> (f) Do Carmarthenshire Council hold a copy of the Bevan Foundation

> Review into Trawscymru and the Welsh Government Transport Strategy. ?

> If so are Carmarthenshire Council aware of the Key Action in Welsh

> Government Transport Strategy to “improve reliability and journey

> times on the Carmarthen to Bangor route ?

> (g) Have Carmarthenshire Council considered a Quality Partnership

> Agreement in Aberystwyth to allow the T1 to wait for the T2 service

> from Bangor. ? (This action would be pointless going North as there is

> no connectivity)

> (h) With respect to the T1 Aberystwyth to Carmarthen service are

> Carmarthenshire Council a member of a Trawscymru Service Delivery

> Group for the T1 and if so which other Trawscymru Services are

> involved in that group ?

> (i) Have Carmarthenshire Council been asked to join a Trawscymru T1C ,

> T1S Service Delivery Group and if so when is the group expected to

> meet ?

> (j) Are Carmarthenshire Council aware that passengers on the T2 from

> Dolgellau arriving in Aberystwyth at 9.30am cannot use the T1C 9.30am

> departure from Aberystwyth to Carmarthen/Cardiff and therefore cannot

> connect with the T1S service from Carmarthen to Swansea which is

> managed by Carmarthenshire Council ?

> (k) Would Carmarthenshire Council support a change to the T1C

> departure time in Aberystwyth from 9.30 to 9.25 in order for the

> connectivity time in Carmarthen to the T1S to be increased from 3

> minutes to 8 minutes.

> (3) THE RESULTS OF 17 T1 SERVICE ARRIVAL TIMINGS AT CARMARTHEN RAILWAY

> STATION OVER THE PAST 2 YEARS

> ADDENDUM 1 ARRIVAL TIMES OF THE T1 ABERYSTWYTH TO CARMARTHEN

> SERVICE AT CARMARTHEN RAILWAY STATION BETWEEN JULY 2016 AND NOW.

> In 2016 I requested that the T1 departure in Aberystwyth be changed

> from 18.40 to 18.45 to allow connection with the T2 arrival from

> Bangor at 18.40 or alternatively the 18.40 T1 departure time to be

> delayed by upto 5 minutes to wait for the 18.40 T2 arrival under a

> Quality Partnership Agreement in the same way as the T2 services

> delayed their departures in Dolgellau to wait for late T3 services

> from Wrexham. This change would have resulted in 5 minutes of

> connection time of the T1 with the train in Carmarthen. The Trawscymru

> Network Manager refused to take either of these actions because he

> said the T1 needed 10 minutes to connect with the last train to

> Cardiff. The Trawscymru Network Manager refused to examine T1

> arrival times at Carmarthen railway station in order to assess whether

> it was possible to change the T1 departure time in Aberystwyth from

> 18.40 to 18.45 .

> I have therefore conducted my own investigation on 17 journeys from

> llanrhystud to Carmarthen using the T1 service (9.40 or 10.40

> departures from Aberystwyth) between July 2016 and now with the

> following results

> 1 T1 service arrived Carmarthen railway station 2 mins early

> 3 T1 services arrived Carmarthen railway station 1 min early

> 2 T1 services arrived Carmarthen railway station on time

> 6 T1 services arrived Carmarthen railway station 1 minute late

> 3 T1 services arrived Carmarthen railway station 2 minutes late

> 1 T1 service arrived Carmarthen railway station 4 minutes late

> (service was 9 minutes late when it left Llanrhystud)

> 1 T1 service arrived Carmarthen railway station 13 minutes late

> (delay between Pencader and Carmarthen – driver apologised due to low

> loader delivery for a wind farm)

> The above shows that all T1 services arrive at Carmarthen railway

> station well within 5 minutes of the published arrival time . The only

> exception to this is where an unexpected event occurs such as an RTC,

> bus breakdown or as in the case of the service 13 minutes late the

> road blocked by escort vehicles/police. Even where a bus is late at

> the start of a journey the timetable should be designed to allow the

> service to make up time on the rest of the journey and this was the

> case with the service that arrived 9 minutes late in llanrhystud but

> made up 5 minutes of time on the rest of the journey and arrived only

> 4 minutes late at Carmarthen railway station . The above timings were

> on journeys in the morning during a working day when traffic on the

> roads would be high. The T1 journey which I asked to be changed

> (departure in Aberystwyth to be changed from 18.40 to 18.45) is one

> that is running in the evening when traffic is light, no road

> maintenance is taking place and hold ups would be minimal. Based on

> the above evidence there was no basis for the Trawscymru Network

> Manager to refuse to make the change from 18.40 to 18.45 and he should

> have been able to quickly do a similar investigation to the one above

> on the 18.40 Aberystwyth T1 departure.

> ADDENDUM 2 ARRIVAL TIMES OF THE T1C ABERYSTWYTH TO CARDIFF SERVICE

> AT CARMARTHEN ON SATURDAY 23/06/2018

> Depart Llanrhystud 9.50 (4 minutes late)

> Depart Aberaeron 10.04 (4 minutes late)

> Depart Llandysul 10.33 (1 minute late)

> Arrive Carmarthen 11.04 (2 minutes late)

> Yours Sincerely ,

> Dr John McTigh

Subject :

> Request to Gwynedd Council regarding Trawscymru T2 timetable changes

> to restore T2/T1 Bangor to Carmarthen connectivity in Aberystwyth.

> copies Traffic Commissioner , Welsh Assembly Members, Gwynedd Council

> members, Powys Council members, Ceredigion Council members,

> Carmarthenshire Council members, Aberystwyth Council members.

> Dear Gwawr Owen ,

> With respect to the information provided by Gwynedd Council on

> 28/03/2018 relating to Freedom of Information request T938, the

> following replies were given by Gwynedd Council . Against each

> reply a comment is included, which reflects recent statements made by

> Simon Jones (the Director of Transport, Department for Economy and

> Infrastructure, Welsh Government), and which requests Gwynedd Council

> to clarify their answers made on 28/03/2018 :-

> Question (1) Are Powys and Ceredigion Councils partners along with the

> bus service provider to the T2 contract managed by Gwynedd Council?

> Reply on 28/03/2018 (1) “Yes”.

> Comment (1) The Welsh Government on 05/06/2018 have said that there

> are only 2 partners in each Trawscymru contract , the Local Authority

> managing the Trawscymru contract and the bus service provider.

> AS MANAGER OF THE T2 CONTRACT DO GWYNEDD COUNCIL NOW WISH TO CHANGE

> THE “YES” TO A “NO” OR DO GWYNEDD COUNCIL STILL BELIEVE POWYS AND

> CEREDIGION COUNCILS ARE PARTNERS ALONG WITH THE BUS SERVICE PROVIDER

> TO THE T2 CONTRACT. ?

> Question (11) Are Gwynedd Council aware of the published Welsh

> Government Transport strategy (page 48) which states _“”There

> will be improvements __to the north-south __TrawsCambria__ bus service

> (T2/T1) and improvements will be concentrated on the reliability and

> journey time on the route. “”_?

> Reply on 28/03/2018 (11) “Yes”

> Question (13) Did Gwynedd Council propose a change to the T2 departure

> time in Aberystwyth from 10.05 to 10.00am and if so why ?

> Reply on 28/03/2018 “”No but it is effective to have a clockface

> timetable. Bus is to wait up to 5 minutes for arrival of service

> T1/T5. “”

> Comment (13) The Welsh Government on 05/06/2018 have said that

> _“”__the operation of each Trawscymru bus service is the

> responsibility of the relevant contracting local authority . This

> includes determining the timetable for each Trawscymru service.””._

> AS MANAGER OF THE T2 CONTRACT DO GWYNEDD COUNCIL STILL MAINTAIN THEY

> DID NOT PROPOSE THE CHANGE TO THE T2 DEPARTURE TIME IN ABERYSTWYTH

> FROM 10.05 TO 10.00AM ? IF GWYNEDD COUNCIL STILL MAINTAIN THEY DID

> NOT PROPOSE THE CHANGE TO THE T2 DEPARTURE TIME IN ABERYSTWYTH COULD

> GWYNEDD COUNCIL SAY WHICH ORGANISATION DID PROPOSE THE CHANGE TO THE

> T2 DEPARTURE TIME IN ABERYSTWYTH FROM 10.05 TO 10.00AM.?

> Question (14) Did Gwynedd Council propose a change to most of the T2

> arrival and departure times in Dolgellau which resulted in the planned

> timetable wait of the T2 in Dolgellau being increased from 5 minutes

> to 10 minutes If so could Gwynedd Council give the reason they were

> proposed ?

> Reply on 28/03/2018 (14) “No”

> Comment (14) The Welsh Government on 05/06/2018 have said that

> _“”__the operation of each Trawscymru bus service is the

> responsibility of the relevant contracting local authority . This

> includes determining the timetable for each Trawscymru service.””_.

> AS MANAGER OF THE T2 CONTRACT DO GWYNEDD COUNCIL STILL MAINTAIN THEY

> DID NOT PROPOSE THE CHANGES TO THE T2 TIMETABLE ON 01/01/2018.?

> Question (15) If the answer to (14) is “No” could Gwynedd Council say

> which organisation proposed a change to most of the T2 arrival and

> departure times in Dolgellau which resulted in the planned timetable

> wait of the T2 in Dolgellau being increased from 5 minutes to 10

> minutes and could Gwynedd Council give the reason these changes were

> made ?

> Reply on 28/03/2018 (15) “Operational changes to ensure connectivity

> with T3.”

> Comment (15) The Welsh Government on 05/06/2018 have said that “”THE

> OPERATION OF EACH TRAWSCYMRU BUS SERVICE IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE

> RELEVANT CONTRACTING LOCAL AUTHORITY . THIS INCLUDES DETERMINING THE

> TIMETABLE FOR EACH TRAWSCYMRU SERVICE.””.

> AS MANAGER OF BOTH THE T2 AND THE T3 CONTRACTS DO GWYNEDD COUNCIL

> STILL MAINTAIN THEY DID NOT PROPOSE THE CHANGES AND COULD GWYNEDD

> COUNCIL ANSWER THE ORIGINAL QUESTION AND “SAY WHICH ORGANISATION

> PROPOSED A CHANGE TO MOST OF THE T2 ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE TIMES IN

> DOLGELLAU” ?

> Could Gwynedd Council please also look at the following requests in

> relation to the T2/T3 services.

> (1) DO GWYNEDD COUNCIL PROVIDE COPIES OF THE T2 CONTRACT TO ANY OTHER

> ORGANISATIONS IN ADDITION TO LLOYDS COACHES AND IF SO COULD GWYNEDD

> COUNCIL NAME THOSE ORGANISATIONS WHO RECEIVE A COPY.? DO GWYNEDD

> COUNCIL PROVIDE COPIES OF THE T2 CONTRACT TO THE TRAWSCYMRU NETWORK

> MANAGER OR TO ANY OTHER PERSON WITHIN THE WELSH GOVERNMENT? COULD

> GWYNEDD COUNCIL PROVIDE THE TEXT OF ANY PART OF THE CONTRACT DOCUMENT

> THAT DEALS WITH WHICH ORGANISATION HAS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE

> TIMETABLE AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAILY OPERATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITY

> FOR the bus route. ?

> (2) DO GWYNEDD COUNCIL RECEIVE COPIES OF REPORTS OF THE WORK OF BUS

> COMPLIANCE OFFICERS ON T2 AND T3 BUS PUNCTUALITY AND RELIABILITY FROM

> BUS USERS CYMRU.?

> The reports record for Trawscymru services the percentage of services

> which arrived within 5 minutes of their published arrival time

> (3) ON THE LAST T2 SERVICE OF THE DAY , WHERE THE ARRIVAL TIME WAS

> CHANGED FROM 18.40 TO 18.50 ON 01/01/2018 COULD GWYNEDD COUNCIL SAY

> WHICH ORGANISATION PROPOSED THE UNNECESSARY 5 MINUTE WAIT IN

> MACHYNLETH AND THE DIVERSION OFF THE A487 ON THE EDGE OF ABERYSTWYTH

> THROUGH THE VILLAGE OF COMINS COCH AND THE WAUNFAWR HOUSING ESTATE ?

> COULD GWYNEDD COUNCIL PLEASE ARRANGE FOR THE UNNECESSARY 5 MINUTE

> WAIT IN MACHYNLETH AND THE DIVERSION OFF THE A487 ON THE EDGE OF

> ABERYSTWYTH THROUGH THE VILLAGE OF COMINS COCH AND THE WAUNFAWR

> HOUSING ESTATE TO BE REMOVED AND THE T2 ARRIVAL TIME IN ABERYSTWYTH

> RETURNED TO 18.40 ?

> This request to Gwynedd Council will be accompanied by a request to

> Carmarthenshire Council to change the departure time of the T1 service

> from Aberystwyth to Carmarthen (currently at 18.40).to make the T2 and

> T1 connecting services which will be of benefit to Gwynedd residents

> wishing to travel between Bangor and Carmarthen where they will be

> able to connect with the last train of the day from Carmarthen to

> Cardiff. (see Addendum 1)

> Before the T3 Wrexham to Barmouth service was introduced the last T2

> of the day from Bangor left Dolgellau at 17.20 and connected in

> Aberystwyth with the last T1 departure of the day to Carmarthen at

> 18.40. Following the introduction of the T3 Wrexham to Barmouth

> service in 2014 the last T2 of the day from Bangor left Dolgellau at

> 17.35 (not 17.20) and arrived in Aberystwyth at 18.40 so that

> connection with the last T1 departure of the day to Carmarthen at

> 18.40 was intermittent . On 01/01/2018 Gwynedd Council changed the

> T2 timetable . For all T2 departures from Bangor the departure time

> was brought forward by 10 minutes , the journey time between Bangor

> and Porthmadog was increased by 10 minutes and the total journey time

> between Bangor and Aberystwyth was increased by 10 minutes, but the T2

> arrival times in Aberystwyth remained the same . This 10 minute

> increase in journey time on 01/01/2018 was to cater for future delays

> when work on the new _bypass_ between Caernarfon and _Bontnewydd would

> start (_Construction could start in November 2018 !! ) _. The one

> exception to the 10 minute increase was the 18.40 T2 arrival in

> Aberystwyth where_ the departure time from Bangor was brought forward

> by 10 minutes, the journey time between Bangor and Porthmadog was

> increased by 10 minutes and the total journey time between Bangor and

> Aberystwyth was increased by 20 minutes (not 10 minutes) so that the

> T2 then arrived in Aberystwyth at 18.50 and connection with the last

> T1 departure of the day to Carmarthen at 18.40 was completely

> impossible ,_. The extra 10 minutes of journey time on the last T2

> of the day was due to delays introduced on the last 15 miles before

> reaching Aberystwyth. An _unnecessary 5 minute wait in Machynleth and

> a diversion off the A487 on the edge of Aberystwyth through the

> village of Comins Coch and the Waunfawr Housing estate were

> introduced. Powys Council have said they did not request the

> unnecessary 5 minute wait in Machynleth and Ceredigion Council have

> said they did not request a diversion off the A487 on the edge of

> Aberystwyth. Could Gwynedd Council please arrange for the

> unnecessary 5 minute wait in Machynleth and the diversion off the A487

> on the edge of Aberystwyth through the village of Comins Coch and the

> Waunfawr Housing estate to be removed and the T2 arrival time in

> Aberystwyth returned to 18.40 ?

> (4) COULD GWYNEDD COUNCIL PLEASE ARRANGE FOR THE CHANGE TO T2

> DEPARTURE TIME FROM 10.05 TO 10.00AM MADE BY GWYNEDD COUNCIL ON

> 01/01/2018 TO BE REVERSED AND PUT THE T2 DEPARTURE TIME BACK TO

> 10.05AM ?

> The 10.0 am T2 departure from Aberystwyth to Bangor was changed to

> 10.05am by the previous Transport Minister , Edwina hart (see

> attached letter reference EH/01450/16 dated 29/04/2016). On

> 01/01/2018 Gwynedd Council changed the T2 departure time in

> Aberystwyth from 10.05 to 10.00am. This change reversed the decision

> taken by the previous Transport Minister, Edwina Hart .

> Three minutes is not enough to guarantee connection with the 9.57 T5

> arrival in Aberystwyth from Cardigan . This particular T5 is a service

> not unlike the T3 Wrexham to Barmouth service, where a large

> proportion of the journey is as diversions off the main route to the

> coastal villages of Aberporth and Newquay. . Gwynedd Council as

> contract managers of both the T2 and T3 contracts have made sure that

> the T2 services are held back by 10 minutes to wait for the T3 from

> Wrexham and T2 services also have a further 5 minutes wait under a

> Quality Partnership Agreement to wait for the T3 from Wrexham. If 10

> minutes is required for the T2 to connect with the T3 then 8 minutes

> for the T2 to connect with the T5 is not unreasonable and the T2

> departure time in Aberystwyth should be put back to 10.05am . .

> On 28/03/2018 Gwynedd Council tried to justify the change to a

> 10.00am T2 departure time in Aberystwyth by saying_ “”__it is

> effective to have a clockface timetable””__ _ . The following

> statement is taken from the documentation of the Traffic Commissioner.

> _“”COMMISSIONERS ARE OF THE VIEW THAT IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO OFFER

> PASSENGERS A TIMETABLE THAT CAN NORMALLY BE ACHIEVED RATHER THAN ONE

> WHICH IN THEORY RELIES UPON CLOCK FACE HEADWAY “WHICH IS EASY FOR THE

> PUBLIC TO REMEMBER” BUT WHICH RARELY ACHIEVES ITS

> ASPIRATIONS.””. _Could Gwynedd Council therefore arrange for

> the T2 departure time in Aberystwyth to be changed back to 10.05 ?

> (5) COULD GWYNEDD COUNCIL PLEASE CONSIDER A DIRECT ROUTE FOR THE T3

> SERVICE BETWEEN LLANGOLLEN AND WREXHAM ON THE A5/A483 SAVING 15

> MINUTES IN JOURNEY TIME.?

> COULD GWYNEDD COUNCIL PLEASE ALSO CONSIDER REMOVING THE QUALITY

> PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE T2 AND T3 SERVICES IN DOLGELLAU.?.

> The Quality Partnership Agreement is ineffective as the T3 service

> from Wrexham is frequently more than 15 minutes late into Dolgellau

> and T2 services are therefore being held back unnecessarily. The 15

> minute delays to the T2 in Dolgellau have seriously disrupted the

> connectivity between T2/T1 in Aberystwyth and in reply to Question

> (11) on 28/03/2018 Gwynedd Council indicated they were aware of the

> published Welsh Government Transport strategy (page 48) which states

> _“”There will be improvements to the __north-south __TrawsCambria bus

> service (T2/T1) and improvements will be concentrated on the

> reliability and journey time on the route. “”_. The published

> Welsh Government Transport strategy has not been employed.by Gwynedd

> Council with the 15 minute delays to the T2 services in Dolgellau and

> this is all the more surprising since the 15 minute delays are to the

> detriment of Gwynedd residents wishing to use the T2/T1 route between

> Bangor and Carmarthen.. .

> Gwynedd Council should also be aware that the No 5 service by Arriva

> runs from Llangollen to Wrexham using the same route as the T3 via

> ruabon station and Johnstown . It operates every 15 minutes/half

> hour (24 services per day in both directions) and takes 35 minutes.

> (Exactly the same time as the T3 which also takes 35 minutes ). The

> Trawscymru T3 service could easily employ a direct route between

> Llangollen and Wrexham on the A5/A483. This would save 15 minutes

> in journey time which would mean a more sensible arrangement could be

> put in place in Dolgellau avoiding the 15 minute delays to the T2

> services in Dolgellau and allowing restoration of connectivity on the

> T2/T1 Bangor to Carmarthen route in Aberystwyth.

> Yours Sincerely

> Dr John McTighe

> _ADDENDUM 1 ARRIVAL TIMES OF THE T1 ABERYSTWYTH TO CARMARTHEN

> SERVICE AT CARMARTHEN RAILWAY STATION BETWEEN JULY 2016 AND NOW._