The village without a bus route because of the 20mph law

A village has had its bus stop removed from a key route as the operator blames Wales’ new 20mph for the change. Residents of Llandegla in Denbighshire[1] say the decision to cut their village from the X51 bus route from Rhyl to Wrexham[2] will leave them “isolated” and “cut off”. From January 14, the service run by Arriva Wales will no longer stop at Llandegla, opposite the post office, and instead, passengers will now have to make their way to the next nearest stop on the A525 half a mile away.

The route to the net stop is also mostly unlit and without pavements – something councillors and residents say is unsuitable. This week, Arriva said it would be forced to review routes[3] and timetables because of slower journeys. They said it has been hitting punctuality on routes and increasing the length of many journeys.

Now a new timetable has been published showing changes to the frequency of services with some places no longer being served and timetable revisions., cutting Llandegla appears to be one of these services.

In Llandegla, some villagers have said they were unaware of the change until drivers told them and that there are no notices around the bus stop. Sandra Ellis Rogers, from Llandegla community council, told BBC Wales[6] that she only heard about the change whilst getting off the bus.

“The driver said, do you know you can’t get off here next week? He couldn’t tell me anything else. There are not even any notices about it in the bus shelters,” she said. “We’ll be cut off,” she also added, “This will have a detrimental effect on the village.

We’ll be cut off, there are people going to work, students, people who are elderly or with disabilities who can’t drive.” “The bus passes right by the Wrexham Maelor hospital, people catch it if they have appointments. Many people use the GP in Ruthin.

How will they get there now?” Join our WhatsApp news community here[7] for the latest breaking news The BBC[8] report that the cuts have been attributed to new 20mph speed limit across Wales and the impact it was having on it’s services. Enforcement of the new 20mph began in Wales this month after being introduced in September 2023, what this means is that the majority of roads that were once 30mph by default are now 20mph.

At new 20mph sites, if motorists are caught speeding by a mobile camera, a risk assessment is carried out. If it is deemed to be high risk, enforcement will be established, if it is lower risk, roadside engagement will be delivered. If a person is caught speeding by a fixed camera, the local authority will assess it.

Residents in Llandegla have said the decision to cut the stop feels like a “knee-jerk reaction” and that turning off to pick up and drop off in Llandegla only took five minutes out of the entire journey. . The Arriva website says: “We have been reviewing our timetables since the introduction of the 20mph speed restriction. Following this review we are now able to make a number of changes to our network across north Wales in January.”

A spokesperson for the operator also told the BBC that the new 20mph limit was having a “severe” impact on its operations. “The consequence of this change in speed has been severe and has caused increased lost mileage and reduced punctuality,” a spokesperson said. “We have been open in raising our concerns with Transport for Wales, the Welsh government[9] and local authorities.”

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We have been clear we will continually monitor any impacts of the new default 20mph speed limit on bus services.

We continue to work closely with bus operators, local authorities and TfW to tackle the wider challenges facing the bus industry and will bring forward new legislative proposals to reform the sector.”

References

1. ^ Denbighshire (www.walesonline.co.uk)
2. ^ Wrexham (www.walesonline.co.uk)
3. ^ This week, Arriva said it would be forced to review routes (www.walesonline.co.uk)
4. ^ Bus company makes major timetable changes due to 20mph speed limit (www.walesonline.co.uk)
5. ^ The rollout of Wales’ 20mph law is nothing short of a confusing mess (www.walesonline.co.uk)
6. ^ told BBC Wales (www.bbc.co.uk)
7. ^ Join our WhatsApp news community here (www.walesonline.co.uk)
8. ^ BBC (www.walesonline.co.uk)
9. ^ Welsh government (www.walesonline.co.uk)