New TrawsCymru and TrawsCymru Connect services are to be launched in Gwynedd and Conwy, using six electric buses. Neither was recommended in last year’s TrawsCymru review, which proposed two other routes which are now part of a further review.
Service T22 will link Caernarfon and Blaenau Ffestiniog via Porthmadog, a route operated for decades by Express Motors until the operator lost its licence in 2017. The T22 timetable will be coordinated with that of the Bangor-Aberystwyth T2 between Caernarfon and Porthmadog, two substantial towns which have been poorly connected since Express Motors’ demise.
The T19 TrawsCymru Connect service will operate between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog. Despite its name, it will not connect with the T2, which bypasses Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Last year’s strategic review by David Blainey recommended only two specific new routes, both said to meet the TrawsCymru service criteria: Rhyl-Ruthin-Wrexham and Corwen-Ruthin-Mold. Asked why those routes had not been implemented, a government spokesman said: ‘We are currently working with Transport for Wales to carry out a comprehensive review of the regional bus network across north Wales. We will be considering these routes as part of this work.’
