Bus services across south Wales will be disrupted next Monday as the Queen's funeral takes place - with one city stopping services entirely during the event. Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning UK monarch, died on Thursday, September 8, aged 96 and is set to be laid to rest on Monday, September 19.
T he funeral service will take place at 11am that day, which has been designated as a bank holiday for the entirety of the UK including Wales. Schools will be closed, most shops and supermarkets will not open their stores and GP services will not open on the day. One Welsh health board announced that all planned appointments and clinics scheduled on the day of the Queen's funeral have been cancelled.
Bus services in Wales will be majorly disrupted on the day, with several confirming they will be running a reduced schedule and one city will run no services at all while the funeral itself takes place. Here is a roundup of the key bus services in south Wales and how they will be impacted on Monday September 19.
Read more: 'Mourning the Queen does not justify public services grinding to a halt
Newport Transport confirmed there will be no bus services at all between 10am and 2pm next Monday, saying this was to allow staff to watch the funeral. Services will run a Sunday schedule after 2pm. A statement read: "On Monday September 19, we will operate a Sunday service with the following exceptions:
"As a mark of respect and to allow our staff to watch the state funeral, there will be no service between 10am and 2pm.
- Route 2 - the 9.45 journey will operate 20 minutes earlier, leaving the bus station at 9.25.
- Route 30 - the 9.30 journey from Newport will operate 30 minutes earlier leaving Newport at 9am.
- Route T7 - the 8.30 journey from Magor will operate 30 minutes earlier leaving Magor at 8am.
- Fflecsi will operate as normal with no service between 10am and 2pm.
- DRT 31, 62, 63 - As our offices will be closed, if you require a DRT service on Tuesday, you will need to book on Friday before 4pm."
Cardiff Bus said it will be running a Sunday timetable on the day of the funeral as a mark of respect to the Queen. A spokesperson confirmed a host of diversions will also be in place on Friday September 16 to facilitate the visit of King Charles III, with some city roads closed between 6am and 6pm. The list of diversions on Friday are as follows:
Journeys on the Baycar, service 6 and CAVC Rider will start and end at Customhouse Street JL. Bus stops on St Mary Street will not be in use. Journeys on routes 7, 8, 9 and X45 from Grangetown will follow their normal route to Penarth Road/Clare Road junction then divert via Penarth Road, Callaghan Square and then St. Mary Street Underpass and Mill Lane to Canal Street (route 7) or Callaghan Square and Bute Street Underpass to Bute Terrace JK for services 8, 9 and X45.
Journeys towards Cardiff Bay/Sports Village on 8, 9 and X45 will follow their normal route as far as Bute Terrace then via Customhouse Street, Central Station (southside) and Penarth Road to Penarth Road/Clare Road junction then back to normal route. Customers wishing to board in the city centre can do so from Customhouse Street JL. This will mean stops on Clare Road and Tudor Street will not be served.
Journeys on routes 21, 23, 24 and 35 will start and end at Greyfriars Road GN (southside opposite New Theatre). Towards the city buses will travel via Colum Road and Park Place. Journeys on route 27 will start and end at Kingsway (temp stop near to the final outbound bus shelter – stop GC).
Journeys on routes 44, 45, 49 and 50 will start and end at Bute Terrace JK. Journeys towards the city centre will follow their normal route to Newport Road then divert via Station Terrace, lower Churchill Way, Bute Terrace, Bute Street underpass,
Callaghan Square, Bute Street underpass to Bute Terrace JK. Journeys from the city centre will start from Bute Terrace JK then run via their normal route to St Mellons/Llanrumney. This will mean stops on Castle Street (stop KC) and Westgate Street (Royal Hotel KH) will not be served.
Journeys on route 95 that extend to Heath Hospital will operate via Scott Road and Park Street to Central Square (Wood Street stop JR) and then via Tudor Street, Lower Cathedral Road, Cathedral Road, Cardiff Road, Western Avenue and A48 slip Road into UHW Heath Hospital. Journeys between Cardiff city centre and Barry will not be affected.
Journeys on routes 1, 2, 4, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 25, 28, 28A, 28B, 30, 32, 51, 52, 53, 57, 58, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 92, 93, 94, 95 (see above for through journeys to/from Heath Hospital), 96 and X59 are not affected and will follow their normal route within the city centre. Bus stops on these routes remain unchanged.
Gareth Stevens, Commercial Director of Cardiff Bus, said: “With the visit of King Charles III to Cardiff this coming Friday, and with the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday September 19, there will be some disruption to bus routes and timetables that we would like our customers to be aware of. However, we would like to assure our customers that we will do everything possible to minimise the impact these route changes will have, and we ask that all customers plan their journeys in advance.
“We would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family at this very sad time, from everyone here at Cardiff Bus.”
First Cymru which operates in Swansea city centre, said it would be updating customers on any updates via its website. Adventure Travel Cymru, which runs many services between Swansea and the Gower, confirmed it would be running Sunday service. A spokesperson said: "Adventure Travel will be running Sunday service on all routes except route 905."
National Express will be operating a normal service on Monday, saying online enquiries for travel on London routes increased by 40% following the announcement of the Queen's death and that the majority of seats across all London services have been sold in the last four days (Friday to Monday).
A normal timetable will operate but the transport operator is increasing capacity on London services across its scheduled network to help mourners travel to the capital to attend ceremonial and commemorative events, including the state funeral. National Express customers who no longer wish to travel from over the period are being offered a free amendment to change their plans.
Tom Stables, CEO of National Express UK, said: “A huge number of people want to pay their condolences in person and we are working hard to meet the additional demand for travel so they can safely get where they need to be.
“We are operating a pop-up coach station at Wembley on the day of the state funeral when there will be major road closures and London Victoria Coach Station will be out of use. We will have a team in place to help customers and are expecting to run around 540 coaches through the temporary location in less than 24 hours.
“Our private hire business is also playing its part in supporting Metropolitan Police operations during the period of national mourning by providing transport for over one thousand officers to get to and around the Capital each day to manage the events and crowds.
“We appreciate that travel requirements will be different for everyone over the next week and are listening to our customers and people. For example, in contrast to our UK coach network, we will be operating a Sunday timetable for our local bus services in the West Midlands when we expect to see less passengers and want to allow our teams to watch the funeral if they choose to do so.”
Stagecoach has confirmed it will be running a Sunday schedule on the day. It said: "Due to the Queen's state funeral, we will be running Sunday timetables on bank holiday Monday September 19. The 124, 131 and 404 bus services in the Rhondda will be running.
"You can find out which services we operate on Sundays here. Our website and app timetables will be updated soon to reflect this change. We will be asking our staff to join together in the national silence to remember Her Majesty The Queen on Sunday September 18 and during the funeral on Monday September 19."
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