Hopes for bus service to be more dependable
POLITICIANS representing Llanelli and the village of Llangennech say they have been assured bus services between the two communities will be more reliable in future following reports of delays and no-shows.
Llanelli Senedd Member Lee Waters and Llangennech county councillor Gary Jones say they have secured the promise from operator First Cymru that they will make sure bus services between Llanelli and Llangennech are ones the public can count on.
The pledge was made when the MS and county councillor met the firm’s managing director Jane ReakesDavies and commercial manager Owen Williams last week.
Mr Waters said: “I have received a number of complaints from constituents about recent bus disturbances, and in particular, buses either not turning up on time, or, in some cases, not at all.
“I completely understand the challenges faced by First Cymru as they come out of the pandemic, but equally it is not acceptable for people to be standing for long periods at a bus stop without knowing whether or not the bus will turn up.”
Ms Reakes-Davies and Mr Williams told the MS and councillor that recent staffing issues from a driver shortage and Covid self-isolation problems had led to the unpredictability.
However, the company is understood to be recruiting new drivers and had some success in outer depots, such as Ammanford, where the Llangennech to Llanelli service will now run from to improve its reliability.
Cllr Jones said: “I’d like to thank
Jane and Owen for taking the meeting with us and listening to our concerns.
“I am pleased that they have promised to improve communication so that people will have a better understanding if a particular bus is not going to turn up. I am also pleased they have agreed to work with me on producing leaflets to hand out to travellers stating how they can report when buses do not show up.”
Mr Waters added: “It was good to hear that the company’s priority is to restore passengers’ confidence in using buses, and her promise to look into this issue and work with us will go some way to helping.”
Ms Reakes-Davies said the reliability of some services had been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing driver shortages.
“I was concerned to hear that our services have failed to meet the standard expected and apologise to the passengers affected,” she said.
“The short-notice cancellations have been exacerbated by the requirement for some of our staff to self-isolate and by ongoing driver shortages. We are working hard to minimise the impact of these issues on all our customers.”