A change to a bus route through Tonyrefail has left people feeling “confined” and made it harder to reach their doctors' appointments. Dilwyn and Elizabeth Bishop, who live on the Capel Estate, have spoken about the impact that a change to the 124 service between Maerdy and Cardiff has had on them and others in the area.
The 124 bus, operated by Stagecoach and funded by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, previously took a route around Glyn/Capel estate and continued down Llantrisant Road and Pretoria Road. But because of access issues along Pretoria Road when cars are parked around the junction, the route is being changed and will now be sent down Collenna Road and will go nowhere near the estate – leaving many elderly people at a loss when it comes to making their GP appointments, according to local councillor Danny Grehan.
He said the Bishops will now be left to walk to the top of the estate, cross a busy road and another 200 yards to the nearest bus stop. The buses that stop there (the 122 and the 110) also don’t go down Mill Street to the GP surgery, so they would have another half a mile to walk to the surgery. He claimed it is now impossible for people to get from the estate to the surgery – a journey used a lot by the elderly people there who do not drive.
