The Welsh Government has agreed to fund alternative contracts for
the Ceredigion bus services due to be lost when Arriva pulls out on 21st
December.
The routes involved are:
- The 40 service from Aberystwyth to Carmarthen via Lampeter
- The 50 service from Aberystwyth to Synod Inn
The 40 and 50 services run on previously unsubsidised commercial
routes and it was very difficult to see how the Council could be expected to take on their funding
at a time when it is being asked to make huge savings in the next financial
year due to grant money being lost from central government.
The news will be a great relief to the many people entirely
dependent on these bus services to get to and from work who had been viewing the planned pull-out with trepidation. Transport Minister
Edwina Hart has also pleased campaigners by saying that in future the routes will be regarded as
nationally strategic.
The 585 service from Aberystwyth to Lampeter via
Tregaron, which Arriva has announced it will pull out of on February 15th,
is already subsidised by the council and new tenders for this
will also be sought.