‘We don’t know whether we are coming or going,’ say passengers on the 136 route
TRAVEL between Pentyrch and Cardiff City Centre has become difficult for some bus passengers.
The Stagecoach South Wales 136 bus from Greyfriars Road to Pentyrch is one of the few public transport links between the two places.
But confusion over the service, high ticket prices and an early final daily bus mean travel is often difficult.
Without a bus pass, a return ticket is £7, and the last bus home from Greyfriars Road is 5.45pm.
‘’Last week and the week before the bus came in and went straight away without checking to see if anyone was waiting,’’ said bus passenger Carol Saint, 69, from Pentyrch.
More confusion arises as this bus comes in as a 136, but it may leave as an 86 which will go to Thornhill and not Pentyrch.
‘’You have to check both ends of the street as very often it will say it is stopping at the stop it is meant to stop at, but it will actually stop at the bottom end of Greyfriars Street,’’ said passenger Ann Jones, 75, from Pentyrch.
‘’Last week I had to run to a different end.’’
A Stagecoach South Wales spokesperson said: ‘’Service 136 and 86 interwork together as routes, therefore the bus will arrive in Cardiff as Service 136 and go out of Cardiff as Service 86.’’
Problems with the service often means people have to make other arrangements to get back to Pentyrch.
Mrs Saint said: ‘’My husband has had to come and pick me up from Cardiff many times if the bus does not show up.
‘’But there are elderly people in the village with no other alternatives. You can’t always rely on families as many will work and be unable to pick you up.’’
The Stagecoach South Wales spokesperson said: ‘’We have had to make some short-term timetable changes to service 136 to improve the reliability of key services and keep passengers connected across our most popular routes.
‘’As with many industries across the country, we are continuing to face a short-term staffing situation that is out of our control.
‘’We would like to thank all of our passengers for their patience.’’
At the moment a return ticket is £7, while a single ticket is £4.10. But from today until December 16, bus passengers on this route can expect fares as low as £1 as Stagecoach South Wales take part in the Cardiff Council £1 fare bus promotion.
- For more information on bus routes, timetables and delays you can visit the stagecoach bus website here, or follow them on social media.
