Pembrokeshire CC - Bus Operators Taken In-House

[Rhydgaled]

The same Richard Bros who split the T5 and refuse to guarantee connections between the two separate parts despite being the exact same route number, ran by the same firm? Checking punctuality on the T11 today and none of the buses have got into St Davids on time today. That is from either direction. Richard Bros just plod on and if they catch up, they catch up. Despite having plenty of TrawsCymru vehicles, they manage to still send out buses not in livery and they also have the oldest TrawsCymru fleet.

They aren't the worst operator but they aren't the best either with minimal promotion and now they are the same as most other Wales operators, want the Welsh Govt to pay all of the bills.

As I said, I have very little recent experience; it's possible they're not as good as they used to be. Certainly, they used to have the domain gobybus.net which could be thought of as innovative promotion but they have now let that lapse by the looks of things. Or maybe the St. Davids routes (411+413, now known as T11), which I've never been a heavy user of, have never been good. Back in TrawsCambria days, I always felt Richards were doing a better job than Arriva of maintaining the X50/550-X40 connections and if I wrote to Richards I'd get a reply which was more than could be said for Arriva.

As for the split in the T5...

Don't TfW specify the Trawscymru tables and monitor the operators' performance?

I'm not sure who specifiy the timetables, but certainly my assumption is that a contract specification (which includes the timetable to some extent) is drawn up by somebody (not sure if that is Welsh Government, TfW, Local Authorities or if the TrawsCymru Network Manager does it (I'm not sure which, if any, of those organisations he is employed by)) and that potential operators bid to run them. In the early days at least I think it was the local authorities, and didn't the T5 North (Ceredigion council) get a seperate tender from T5 South (Pembrokeshire council). Certainly the northern half of the T5 was previously the Ceredigion X50/550 (indeed a timetable almost identical to that which would become the launch timetable for the T5 (north) had been in operation using the X50 service number for about a year before the TrawsCymru branding appeared) and the routes which would become T5 (south) had been let by Pembrokeshire CC for years (albeit with some commerical journeys) as the 412 service.

Going back to connections between Richards Bros services, does the T11 run through and if not is the connection in St. Davids between what used to be the 411 and 413 guaranteed?

The frequency of the trains isn't awful (given the area), the reliability is however. Services west of Carmarthen have been dismal since Covid with almost daily cancellations or severe delays. Mostly seem to be operated by 150 and 153s these days due to the better trains being needed elsewhere. With the unreliability, people need transport that they can be certain of. Unreliable transport costs people their jobs and if the buses were better, it could really create that reliable transport link that is really needed.

So it has gone downhill then. Shame - having 175s on nearly every Milford Haven service was boring as hell but it was a far better quality service than TfW (not the frontline staff, who I'm told are trying their best and doing good work) seem willing to offer.

 

[markymark2000]

Going back to connections between Richards Bros services, does the T11 run through and if not is the connection in St. Davids between what used to be the 411 and 413 guaranteed?

The T11 does run through.

 

[Rhydgaled]

The T11 does run through.

Thanks; glad to hear it.