The long-awaited new Cardiff bus station will open on 30 June after an almost seven-year delay to the flagship project.
Situated adjacent to Cardiff Central railway station, the facility will have 14 bays and be operated by Transport for Wales (TfW). Three “customer familiarisation days” will be staged prior to the opening, with customer ambassadors on hand then to give more information.
Despite the firm date for opening, TfW says it will share details “soon” on which services will use the bus interchange.
Comments Chief Customer and Culture Officer Marie Daly: “We are pleased to be opening the new bus interchange next month, and look forward to welcoming customers on 27, 28 and 29 June to see the new facilities and learn about the new bus services.
TfW is noted by Cardiff City Council as having taken ownership of the bus station during March 2023 as part of TfW’s work on the development of an integrated transport system in Wales, which includes planned nationwide franchising of bus services.
Extensive delay to the opening of the Cardiff bus interchange follows closure of the final part of the city’s previous bus station on 1 August 2015. Since then, services have used various street stops. It is not yet known if coach services will utilise the new facility.
Papers for a Cardiff City Council meeting on 3 December 2015 note that the bus station was expected to become operational in late 2017 as part of the wider Central Square regeneration project. Funding has since been cited as being among various reasons for the delay along with difficulties in finding tenants for associated commercial property.
In early 2018, it was revealed in further papers that the developer of the site had “undertaken a comprehensive review of the approved scheme to establish a commercially viable and deliverable proposition,” with that including change to how the associated car parking element was to be delivered.
That required a new planning application to secure changes to previously granted permission. The new bus interchange has been described as “a catalyst for developing an integrated network connecting the Cardiff City Region.”
