Cardiff Ciutbacks Considered (1)

The Day Of Reckoning

The "day of reckoning" is a phrase that has its origin in Monotheistic, mainly Christian, religion. It refers to the "day" when the departed will face a "reckoning" of their life, an accounting for their sins on one hand and their good activity on the other. Biblical Christianity is somewhat more stark! Without repentance and the forgiveness of Jesus we will all fail the ultimate exam!

The Cardiff "reckoning" (September 3rd) is outlined on the company web site.

At present we are seeing just over 80% of pre-pandemic customers returning to our services. This is now the new base level that we must work from as we move back to operating with reducing support.  These are hard decisions, but we must make changes to maintain a sustainable network in Cardiff and eastern Vale of Glamorgan.

The changes are set out below.  For new timetables we have had to factor in additional journey time as we try and make sure these are robust to navigate the worsened levels of traffic congestion we face.  We also need to fully consider the changes that have been made to road layouts, loss of highway and junction capacity for bus movements, as well as preparation for new speed limits that affect journey times.

Fortunately for Cardiff residents, most of the revised timetables have been available for nearly one whole month. The web site also has a new network map. So folk can, at least, work out the consequences of any changes and adjust their travel plans accordingly.

Each service is listed with the enigmatic heading "Revised Timetable" which, as with any day of reckoning "covers a multitude of sins", but there is a good textual description for each change.

fbb has looked at routes 1 to 30 and below will take typical samples to try to understand what exactly is happening.

So we begin with routes 1 and 2.

These services offer a fascinating and wiggly circuit of inner suburbs linking the city centre with the massive Heath Hospital complex.

1 & 2 (City Circle)

Revised timetable and journeys will operate via Bute Street instead of Dumballs Road.  Weekday AM and PM journeys via Ocean Way are withdrawn and replaced by new route 3 (see below).

So here is the old timetable :-

... and the new timetable.

Eagle eyed readers will spot some massive increases in running time (1020 to 1152 becomes 1030 to 1215). We are told about Ocean Way, but we outside ignoramuses need a map.

So her is the old map ...

... and here is the new map ...

... showing replacement route 3 for which we have the timetable.

So a cut from four journeys at peak to just two.

The positive for this change, however, is that all the information is available, easy to find, and has been available in good time.

4: City Centre - Leckwith

Revised timetable will be in operation.

What it says on the tin - a jiggling of times.

If fbb has a complaint with Cardiff Bus' presentation, it appears here. The withdrawn services and the new services are listed separately after the main stuff. Surely they should be part of one single "what's new" listing?

5: City Centre - Sports Village : WITHDRAWN

Routes 1 and 2 will operate via Bute Street (instead of Dumballs Road) which will offer a direct link into the city centre as well as a direct bus to Grangetown, Canton and UHW Heath Hospital.

There were oodles of buses via Sports Village, service 5 uniquely ran via Cardiff Bay.

6: City Centre - Cardiff Bay (Baycar)

Revised timetable and all journeys will start and end at Canal Street in the city centre.  The service will no longer operate via County Hall but instead operate direct via Lloyd George Avenue.

Now this is (was?) the high profile service that ran from the city centre the short distance to Cardiff Bay.

Originally the home of articulated buses and once running evey ten minutes (?) ...

... the September 2nd 2022 timetable change shows a 15 minute frequency.

It is a bit of a shock, then, to find that from this coming weekend buses will only run every half an hour!

Ouch!

Service 7 maintains an hourly schedule - so no change there, just timetable tinkering!

Services 8 and 9 bring us a little confusion c/o Cardiff Bus. 

9: UHW Heath Hospital - City Centre - Sports Village 

Revised timetable and all journeys now run up to every 12 minutes as route 9 (route 8 will no longer operate from the city centre to UHW Heath Hospital).  For Corporation Road use revised 1, 2 and new 8 (see New Services section below).  For Atlantic Wharf / County Hall see new 8 (see New Services section below). Buses will also call at Wood Street (stop JR) outside the BBC Wales HQ after serving Westgate Street (stop KD).

Here is the old timetable:-

Service 9 ran to Sports Village, remember?

... and service 8 followed a similar route but diverted to another bit of Cardiff Bay called Atlantic Wharf.

Because of the loss of the 5 (see above) and the X45 (???) ...

... the 9 is increased to every 12 minutes.

But where are the 8 times? Aha! It is quite well hidden as a new service - which it isn't!

8: City Centre (Canal Street) – Atlantic Wharf / County Hall

New service Mondays to Fridays and Saturdays as partial replacement for existing route 8.  For Customers who travel from Corporation Road to/from Newport Road / City Road and towards UHW Heath Hospital, service 9 maintains this direct link from Clive Street & Clare Road. Buses will also call at Wood Street (stop JR) outside the BBC after serving Canal Street (JF) and St. Mary Street (JS).

It isn't new but it no longer runs through to the Hospital complex.

But as an extra privilege, the curtailed route now has its own colour on the the map!

Now fbb could continue with this study, route by route; but he won't; for two good reasons. Firstly it is hurting the old man's brain when he is supposed to be preparing for his September Fellowship meetings. 

How do you explain the book of Isaiah (66 chapters) in 20 minutes? 

Secondly it would bore his readers even more than it has done do so far.

There will, however, be more to enjoy tomorrow!

Meanwhile, some services are very little changed.

Here, for example, is the busy service 17 and 18 to Ely.

And it is frequent as well as busy. Here is the old timetable ...

... and here is the new. You will have to click to enlarge the image below as the new display is too big to squeeze in!

There are still twelve buses an hour on both tables; every 10 minutes each way round. But running times have been increased, e.g. from xx10 to xx12 up to xx10 to xx20, typically an extra eight minutes for the round trip.

Extra buses will be needed which adds to the company's problems.

Of course, once upon a time, Ely had trolleybuses ...

... running on a similar route to today but with a smaller loop as there was less of Ely than today!

Roughly sixty years ago, fbb rode a Cardiff trolleybus to Roath Park.

He can remember nothing of the ride only the colour of the bus in question! Below is the terminus with the previous tram track still in place.

Hmmm. The roundabout (now a bit bigger) and the railway bridge are still there.

SIGH!

But several other Cardiff routes have been withdrawn completely as part of the cutbacks and very recent news has revealed what is happening to the areas they served.

 Next Cardiff Cutbacks blog : Tuesday 29th August