Passengers can now travel between South Wales and Aberystwyth with a single ticket, saving both money and time.
Transport for Wales (TfW) in partnership with TrawsCymru, has introduced integrated train and bus ticketing on journeys between South Wales and Aberystwyth.
The ticket covers rail travel to Carmarthen, and TrawsCymru bus service between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth, via Aberaeron and Lampeter.
The bus will also make additional stops between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth for those passengers without an integrated ticket. TrawsCymru is sponsored by the Welsh Government and operates a network of medium and long-distance express bus routes in Wales.
Passengers can buy a single ticket that will cover both the TfW and TrawsCymru T1 sections of their journey from TfW's website, app, or from selected station ticket offices. The integrated ticket avoids passengers having to access different websites and apps to purchase separate tickets for the different transport modes.
Head of Commercial Strategy for TfW, Chris Williams, said: “We know that customers want to travel to their destinations as easily, as quickly and as cheaply as possible, with minimum fuss. Working with TrawsCymru we are able to deliver this for customers who want to travel in either direction between south Wales and Aberystwyth.
“These joined up services will not only benefit customers wanting to save time and money on their journeys, but it will also benefit local communities and businesses. It also contributes to our commitments around climate change by promoting better and improved public transport.”
Gethin George from TrawsCymru, added: “This is the first integrated ticketing pilot between bus and rail here in Wales and a great opportunity to deliver time and cost savings to passengers travelling along this route. It will be great to see who uses it and use the data to help us plan further pilots in the future.
“We have plans to develop new infrastructure and introduce new zero-emission vehicles on this route too which will encourage people to use public transport and support the climate change agenda.”
Passengers travelling from South Wales to Aberystwyth will start their journey on TfW services to Carmarthen, then transfer to the TrawsCymru T1 bus service at Carmarthen for onward travel to Aberystwyth.
Travelling from Aberystwyth to destinations in South Wales, passengers will start their journey on the TrawsCymru T1 bus services to Carmarthen, then transfer to their chosen TfW service to their destination.
Passengers can also start or finish their journey at T1 bus stops in Aberaeron and Lampeter.
Examples of financial savings based on July 2021 data comparing the cost of an integrated ticket across rail and bus with a standard single fare for a rail-only journey (subject to change):
Swansea to Aberystwyth – £59.20
Aberystwyth to Bridgend – £52.30
Aberystwyth to Cardiff – £38.40
Aberystwyth to Newport – £32.80
Examples of time savings based on selected journeys by integrated route versus rail-only journeys according to the September 2021 timetable (subject to change):
Gowerton to Aberystwyth – 2hrs 37mins
Swansea to Aberystwyth – 1hr 42mins
Neath to Aberystwyth – 1hr 9mins
Bridgend to Aberystwyth – 23mins
Integrated tickets or tickets for rail-only travel can be purchased on the TfW website, TfW app, or at any railway station.
Unless exempt, wearing a face-covering remains the law in Wales when travelling on public transport, which includes travel on both train and bus.
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It shouldn’t be difficult to add 20 or 30-odd principal towns on the Trawscymru network to the railway fares database, especially as the bus fare is flat – no need for Anytime, Off-Peak, Advance, Super Off Peak, Return, Day Return etc etc etc.