Labour offer “sticking plaster” to cover crisis in Welsh bus services and no direct service to Cardiff from Cynon Valley
Welsh Conservatives have called on the Transport Secretary to solve the crisis in Wales’ bus network as he meets with figures from local authorities, bus firms, and passengers in Swansea at his latest ‘bus summit’.
Welsh Labour’s neglect of the bus network in Wales over the past twenty years has left services in tatters: Since 2010, spending on bus service provision by the Welsh Government has fallen by over 20% and in 2015/16 alone, 53 separate bus services were reduced, altered or withdrawn.
In addition, the number of registered bus services in Wales has declined from 1,943 in 2005 to just 1,283 in 2016.
Commenting, Conservative Transport Spokesman, Russell George AM, said:
“What passengers in Wales want to see is a more clean, safe and reliable bus network which is valued and invested in by the Welsh Labour Government.
“Summits alone won’t improve services and only proper levels of funding underpinned by a genuine understanding of the importance of bus services to communities will deliver the services that Welsh taxpayers deserve.
“Wales desperately needs fresh thinking on how to deliver an integrated public transport network, yet sadly this Welsh Labour Government has clearly run out of ideas as to how to deliver it.”