First Cymru makes promise to mend bus service from Llanelli to Llangennech

Llanelli’s Senedd Member, Lee Waters, and Llangennech’s County Councillor, Gary Jones, has secured a promise from First Cymru that they will make sure bus services between Llanelli and Llangennech are more reliable in the future.

The pledge was made when the local MS and County Councillor met with Managing Director Jane Reakes-Davies and Commercial Manager, Owen Williams, of First Cymru last week. Lee Waters explained:

“I have received a number of complaints from my constituents about recent bus disturbances, and in particular, buses either not turning up on time, or, in some cases, not turning up at all. I completely understand the challenges faced by First Cymru as they come out of the pandemic, but equally it is not acceptable for people to be standing for long periods of time at a bus stop without knowing whether or not the bus will turn up.”

Jane Reakes-Davies and Owen Williams told the MS and Councillor that recent staffing issues from a driver shortage and Covid-related self-isolation issues had led to the unpredictability. However, the company are actively recruiting new drivers and had some success in outer depots, such as Ammanford where the Llangennech/Llanelli service will now run from to improve its reliability. It is hoped that First Cymru will be in a better position by the New Year.

Cllr. Gary Jones said:

“I’d like to thank Jane and Owen for taking the meeting with us and listening to our concerns. I am pleased that they have promised to improve communication so that people will have a better understanding if a particular bus is not going to turn up. I am also pleased that they have agreed to work with me on producing leaflets to hand out to travellers stating how they can report when buses do not show up.”

Lee Waters said:

“It was good to hear Jane say that the company’s priority is to restore passengers’ confidence in using buses and her promise to look into this issue and work with us will go some way to helping. Bus services need to run as normally as possible and where there are unavoidable disturbances and services cancelled, we need to make sure that people in the community are aware of it and not stuck waiting at bus stops during the colder months.”