16 calamitous decisions by Cardiff Council
Failing to rebuild a bus station
Cardiff city centre - back in the days when it had a bus station serving working people. Pic: Ian The Rev
March 2022
Despite all its promises, Cardiff Council has failed in its commitment to re-open the central bus station.
As a result, working people who rely on public transport have a far poorer service than before.
Whereas workers could arrive at Cardiff railway station and find a bus to all parts of the city with relative ease, they now have to find their own way with a puzzling array of bus stops smattered across the city centre.
The fault lies with Cardiff Council’s decision to allow powerful developers to control a valuable piece of public land and to decide their priorities ahead of the citizens of Cardiff. New offices have been prioritised over public transport. Whilst Cardiff’s old bus station wasn’t pretty it did function. Thanks to council’s preference for supporting the interests of construction companies ahead of residents, the city has been for many years without a bus station.
It is even more embarrassing when one considers visitors to the city who arrive by National Express - the Cardiff terminus is now in a park - which, if people arrive at night, is far from ideal, as it has few facilities and is not near public transport for onward journeys.
Cardiff Council likes to claim that the new Central Square development has attracted new jobs to the city, but in fact most of the employers there - lawyers, broadcasters and the civil service, have simply moved jobs and offices from other parts of the city.
Whereas once Cardiff had an integrated transport system to be proud of, it has now gone years without such a system, while property developers make themselves rich on large chunk of formerly public land.