Vale leader Lis Burnett defends Barry's bus interchange

The Barry Docks bus interchange was built at the cost of an estimated £2.7m, set to provide what was described as a “huge impact” on public transport in the area, however since it opened in the middle of the year, no buses have used the site.

Councillors and politicians across the spectrum from local government all the way to the Senedd have described the project as a massive blot on the Labour led Vale of Glamorgan council’s legacy, however leader of the council Cllr Lis Burnett has attempted to put a few facts straight.

Cllr Burnett argues the plans will not all fall into place at once (Image: Newsquest)

In an impassioned Facebook post, Cllr Burnett argued the car park and drop-off space are well-used, while saying she would not apologise for the interchange being ready before buses could use them.

Mayor of Barry Ian Johnson described the interchange as “beautiful”, but asked: “where’s the buses?”

While Welsh Conservative shadow transport minister Natasha Asghar has weighed in on the situation, describing it as “ridiculous”.

The leader of the Vale council refused to apologise for the interchange being ready before the buses (Image: Newsquest)

In response, Cllr Burnett wrote: “With all the media hype over the Barry Dock station transport interchange I thought it might be helpful to add a bit of clarification.

“The plans to have a transport interchange at the docks station go back many years, delivered by the Capital Region as part of the South Wales Metro.

“So far there is a car park and drop off space, both of which are well used. The funding has also meant that the horrendous Subway Road eyesore could be sorted.

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“In relation to buses we are not quite there yet.

“As Barry residents will be aware, many buses currently call at either King Square or Morrisons which are a few hundred yards away.

“The challenge is to work with bus operators to devise timetables that allow them to use the interchange.

“To travel the extra distance, drop off and pick up passengers would add a few minutes in each direction with knock-on impact to the timetable and any connections.

“Most are aware of the massive challenges to services since the pandemic as passenger numbers have not returned to previous numbers.

“Simply keeping routes running is a huge challenge at present.

“It’s brilliant if everything is delivered at the same time but in reality that very rarely happens. In a perfect world it would be great if buses were able to use the facility from day one, but I’m not apologising for the interchange being ready before the buses are.”

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