TfW Fares to/from Cardiff Airport.

[Envoy]

The Welsh Government own Cardiff Airport and are running Transport for Wales at arms length. You can type in on the rail websites a journey from anywhere to Bristol Airport - which includes the bus link from Temple Meads to the Airport. Type in Cardiff Airport on the rail websites draws a blank yet I know that it has a code XCF which says ‘Cardiff Air Bus’ which when you call it up appears to really mean train to Rhoose station (RIA) and then a free bus link (Adventure Travel bus 905) for the short hop to the terminal building.

Using the Transport for Wales Rail website & typing in for an Anytime Day Single I get the following results:>
CDF > RIA = £5.20; CDF > XCF £5; Bridgend (BGN) > RIA = £3.60; BGN > XCF = £10.20.

As you can see, this is totally irrational. Firstly, anybody who lives in Rhoose village would save 20p by buying a ticket to XCF and just walking off from the station into the village.
Anybody going from Bridgend (& points west) would do well by buying a ticket to RIA and then a separate bus ticket to the terminal instead of paying £10.20 (from BGN).

1. Clearly, Cardiff Airport needs be appear whenever someone types it in on the rail websites - just like Bristol Airport appears and indicates the bus link from Temple Meads. Nobody is going to type in XCF for Cardiff Airport.
2. Cardiff Air Bus needs to be clarified that this is the bus shuttle between Rhoose station and the Airport terminal.
3. The fares need sorting out. No way should the fare to Cardiff Airport via Rhoose station including the bus shuttle cost £5 whilst passengers from Bridgend have to pay £10.20. (A similar mark up appears for all passengers coming from the west).
4. Ideally, a large advert should be in place on Bridgend station stating that people can take trains to Rhoose for Cardiff Airport as few people seem to be aware of this.
5. Priority should be given to increasing the service on the Vale of Glamorgan Coast Line to half hourly as it also provides a short cut to/from Barry (as well as the Airport) for places to the west (avoids going via Cardiff).

It’s a pity that people in the transport department at the Welsh Government have not taken action on these matters. Perhaps they are too busy saving the world from climate change? No wonder Bristol Airport has taken off and Cardiff Airport is struggling.

 

[Benjwri]

This is actually an interesting one. The Cardiff Air Bus destination is actually meant to be for a bus link directly from Cardiff to Cardiff Airport. This was previously operated by FirstBus, and is still documented as being the bus you should take, but doesn't actually exist anymore, and no agreement actually exists anymore with any bus company, so in theory these tickets are only valid for travel to Cardiff Central, and no further. It seems the FirstBus service hasn't run in a while, so the fact no one has noticed this is astonishing, and presumably these fares should've been withdrawn. When it was running this link cost the fare to Cardiff Central plus £5 for the bus, which presumably was reasonable for a direct service.

There is no agreement for travel to Cardiff Airport at this time, the official route is to take a train to Rhode, then pay for the ticket on the bus, and as such in any journey planner Rhoose will come up as 'Rhoose (for Cardiff Airport)'. Tickets to Cardiff Air Bus are not valid on the train to Whose, nor the bus to Cardiff Airport, although whether you would be allowed on the bus or train is another matter, and technically TfW would have to reroute you.

Firstly, anybody who lives in Rhoose village would save 20p by buying a ticket to XCF and just walking off from the station into the village.

As mentioned above this ticket is not valid to travel to Rhoose

Clearly, Cardiff Airport needs be appear whenever someone types it in on the rail websites - just like Bristol Airport appears and indicates the bus link from Temple Meads. Nobody is going to type in XCF for Cardiff Airport.

As the tickets shouldn't really be on sale this is reasonable, the current solution of 'Rhoose (For Cardiff Airport)' is a good one when the ticket doesn't include the bus.It

Cardiff Air Bus needs to be clarified that this is the bus shuttle between Rhoose station and the Airport terminal.

It isn't, it was valid for a service called 'Cardiff Air Bus', and this made sense at the time, the fare should be withdrawn.

Hopefully now this has been brought up some of the TOC staff who occasionally browse these forums might bring it up and it could get sorted.

 

[Envoy]

According to the Cardiff Airport website - ‘The Air Bus’ ticket is the one that includes the train and the 905 shuttle bus from Rhoose station to the terminal building. I phoned Adventure Travel who run the 905 and they did indeed say that as long as the train passenger has the ‘Air Bus’ ticket and not one to RIA, then they don’t have to pay for the shuttle bus. So, it would appear that this is nothing to do with the now defunct buses that once ran from Cardiff Central to the Airport.

Cardiff Airport - Procurement

Cardiff Airport is the national airport for Wales and an important part of the national transport infrastructure and key gateway to the UK for international visitors. The airport is a major contributor to the Welsh economy, supporting 2,400 aviation-related jobs and typically driving over £246m...

www.cardiff-airport.com

From the Cardiff Airport website:> "If you are travelling to Cardiff Airport by train from any station on the National Rail Network you can purchase a through ticket which includes combines rail travel and the 905 shuttle bus on a single ticket. Just ask for “Cardiff Air Bus” when you purchase your ticket".

Tickets marked ‘Cardiff Air Bus’ must be valid on the trains to Rhoose as they show up in the schedules (on rail websites) from Cardiff to Rhoose station along with the bus link - as long as you put destination as XCF.

 

[Benjwri]

According to the Cardiff Airport website - ‘The Air Bus’ ticket is the one that includes the train and the 905 shuttle bus from Rhoose station to the terminal building. I phoned Adventure Travel who run the 905 and they did indeed say that as long as the train passenger has the ‘Air Bus’ ticket and not one to RIA, then they don’t have to pay for the shuttle bus. So, it would appear that this is nothing to do with the now defunct buses that once ran from Cardiff Central to the Airport.

Interesting, contradicts the internal knowledge base, and the pricing still appears to be the same as it was for the original service, so vastly overpriced.

 

[Dai Corner]

A bit of an aside, but for the record the bus service from Central Cardiff to the airport was run by New Adventure Travel as the T9 under the Welsh Government's TrawsCymru brand. I think it ceased during the Covid lockdown and hasn't returned.

 

[Envoy]

I also see that TfW run an empty train (departing Cardiff Central at 5.08am) down the main line to Bridgend in order to form the first eastbound service along the Vale of Glamorgan Coast Line. Goodness knows why this train can’t run in full service westbound via Rhoose as so many flights leave really early? What a wasted opportunity? Here is that empty train today (11 March 2023):>

Realtime Trains | 5A04 0455 Cardiff Canton Sidings to Bridgend | 11/03/2023

Real-time train running information for 5A04 0455 departure from Cardiff Canton Sidings to Bridgend on 11/03/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Watershed]

I also see that TfW run an empty train (departing Cardiff Central at 5.08am) down the main line to Bridgend in order to form the first eastbound service along the Vale of Glamorgan Coast Line. Goodness knows why this train can’t run in full service westbound via Rhoose as so many flights leave really early? What a wasted opportunity? Here is that empty train today (11 March 2023):>

Realtime Trains | 5A04 0455 Cardiff Canton Sidings to Bridgend | 11/03/2023

Real-time train running information for 5A04 0455 departure from Cardiff Canton Sidings to Bridgend on 11/03/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Because it would often have to be cancelled or re-routed via Pontyclun due to engineering works. Running it ECS allows it to take whichever route is open on a particular date.

In any event, it seems fairly unlikely that many people would consider taking the train to a Parkway-type station for Cardiff Airport, before taking another bus - when they can either drive, take a taxi or take a direct bus from Cardiff.

 

[Envoy]

Because it would often have to be cancelled or re-routed via Pontyclun due to engineering works. Running it ECS allows it to take whichever route is open on a particular date.

In any event, it seems fairly unlikely that many people would consider taking the train to a Parkway-type station for Cardiff Airport, before taking another bus - when they can either drive, take a taxi or take a direct bus from Cardiff.

The Welsh Government are anti car and have a policy of practically refusing to build new roads. Last year they cancelled the building of a road link going south from M4 J34 towards Cardiff Airport. They have also cancelled building new roads between Cardiff and the Airport. Some people don’t have cars and some foreigners arriving at Cardiff and other UK airports are reluctant to hire cars and drive on the ‘wrong side’ of the road.

The Adventure Travel ‘direct bus’ service 304 is not direct between Cardiff City Centre & Cardiff Airport but takes a long and winding route through Dinas Powis and Barry. This bus takes a whopping 1 hour 20 minutes to get from Cardiff City Centre to Cardiff Airport. The train plus the short bus link from Rhoose station to the Airport terminal takes only 42 minutes. The train is also the clear public transport winner for anyone wishing to go to Bridgend and points west - such as Swansea. The train on this line via Rhoose also provides the fastest way between the large town of Barry and Bridgend and points west and avoids the need to go in the wrong direction via Cardiff. That early morning coaching stock move from Canton to Bridgend should use the VOG Coast Line in passenger service.
Now that the FLIRT trains have arrived and 197’s are operating on Chester to Liverpool and other routes in the north, surely TfW should now have enough 150’s spare to start operating a half hourly service on the VOG Coast Line from May 2023?

 

[TPO]

Not many flights in/out of Cardiff airport these days.

Although quite a few Valleys cancellations, TfW seem short of 150's at moment, presumably have them covering the 175 diagrams.......

Train to Barry (3/hour in addition to the hourly VoG service). Pre-booked Taxi Barry-Airport.

There's viable alternatives to a lot of public subsidy going into a bus which was hardly used. I'd far rather they brought back the 95 bus to 3/hour (as before, it's currently 2/hour) than subsidise the mostly empty Airport bus. I'm sure a lot of local residents feel the same. I also seem to recall that the subsidised airport bus originated from the days when there was no rail link via Rhoose as VoG was a diversionary only (no scheduled passenger services). Not that long ago, yet there were more flights in/out of Cardiff airport in those days.

Cardiff Airport is unlikely to every be a major hub because the BA Maintenance shed is (I am told) in the way, making it not possible to put full ILS in. So when visibility is bad, after 3 failed goes at landing on visual, it's off to Bristol which has full ILS. (DAMHIKT......). As the Severn Estuary can be subject to fog at certain times of year this is a problem.

TPO

 

[mrmartin]

Really what Cardiff needs is better connections to Bristol Airport & Heathrow, despite what the WG might think about its basket case airport.

Would be great if direct through services to a future Bristol airport link could be ran. Or even a more regular direct coach would be a great start. Did that ever run before covid? I suppose you get stuck in M4 traffic though which isn't ideal.

Or getting Cardiff to Bristol TM up to 3 or 4tph would also help.

 

[Envoy]

There's viable alternatives to a lot of public subsidy going into a bus which was hardly used. I'd far rather they brought back the 95 bus to 3/hour (as before, it's currently 2/hour) than subsidise the mostly empty Airport bus. I'm sure a lot of local residents feel the same. I also seem to recall that the subsidised airport bus originated from the days when there was no rail link via Rhoose as VoG was a diversionary only (no scheduled passenger services). Not that long ago, yet there were more flights in/out of Cardiff airport in those days.

If they had allowed people in north Barry and Wenvoe to use the Welsh Government T9 buses - space permitting, it would have offset the subsidy cost as those buses ran down the A4232 expressway into Cardiff via the Bay. The rail/bus link from Rhoose station was already up and running when they started the T9 bus route.

If they could get the half hourly (planned) train service on the Rhoose line up and running, it would be a major plus which might induce airlines to use Cardiff Airport. It is not exactly a rapid transit system by bus from Temple Meads to Bristol Airport - which also has poor road links to the motorway system. It’s a pity they did not build a new airport at Llanwern which would have had main line trains calling and Cardiff & Bristol Airports could have closed. (Cardiff would just have remained for BA maintenance).

I understand that Bristol Airport has a worse weather record than Cardiff Airport due to being at a higher altitude and prone to low cloud. It also has a dip in the middle. Cardiff Airport once had direct trans-Atlantic flights to Toronto plus the more reason pre-Covid Qatar flights. It’s a pity that BA don’t have trans Atlantic flights from Cardiff being as they already have a maintenance base at the airport. Anyway, we digress from my original post here about the irrational fares to Cardiff Airport.

 

[Dai Corner]

Anyway, we digress from my original post here about the irrational fares to Cardiff Airport.

According to this document on the Adventure Travel Website the following standalone fares are available on the 905 shuttle bus

Singles Returns Concessions
£2.00 Adult £3.00 Adult £0.00 Welsh Concessionary Pass Holders
£1.00 Child £1.50 Child
Tickets for the Rail Linc Shuttle Bus service can also be purchased onboard the train and must be accepted
by the succesful operator.
Other applicable passes and must be accepted (e.g. My Travel Pass and Network Rider tickets)

I think the solution is to write to TfW pointing out the anomaly and asking them to fix it and until they do so split your ticket at RIA. Or buy a rail only ticket and use your Concessionary pass on the bus if you have one.

 

[Envoy]

According to this document on the Adventure Travel Website the following standalone fares are available on the 905 shuttle bus


I think the solution is to write to TfW pointing out the anomaly and asking them to fix it and until they do so split your ticket at RIA. Or buy a rail only ticket and use your Concessionary pass on the bus if you have one.

I verbally told a representative of TfW during a Metro public consultation regarding the fares issue for Cardiff Airport and he said that he would inform their fare setting department. Now, a couple of months later and nothing has happened. I have posted it on here because I was hoping that someone with authority would take action. It also does not say much for the Welsh Goverment’s Transport
Department that they have failed to check fares on the train company that they effectively own to the airport that they also own.

No wonder Bristol Airport has done so well when you tap in Bristol on the rail websites and up comes Parkway / Temple Meads / Airport yet tap in Cardiff and you get Central/ Bay /Queen Street but no Airport. I also checked what Traveline.info (the UK version) and it said that Cardiff Airport had no public transport > See screenshot below:>

 

[Caaardiff]

It is now possible to book a through ticket on the connecting bus to/from Cardiff Airport