The Welsh government have announced a massive overhaul of Welsh buses, with a franchise system to be brought into place to protect lesser used routes as well as make it simpler for people, but the plans don’t come cheap, with hundreds of millions to be spent over the next few decades.
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00:00Buses across Wales could be getting a new look in a few years' time as the Welsh Government
00:07announced plans to bring routes across the country back under public control. It will
00:11mean a uniform Welsh bus service across the country with things like tickets, timetables
00:16and prices the same across all parts of Wales. Similar services have been in place for some
00:21time like the Ean bus ticket which is valid across virtually all of North Wales and the
00:25Traws Cymru service which offers longer distance routes between places like Cardiff, Swansea
00:30and Aberystwyth. The plans will be a London style system where instead of local companies
00:36like Cardiff Bus or Stagecoach running their own timetables, companies will bid to be a
00:41part of an overall timetable under an all-encompassing Welsh bus company. The aim is to make it
00:48simpler and cheaper for people to travel throughout Wales but also safeguard some less popular
00:53bus routes for people in rural areas or more isolated towns and villages that can be a
00:58lifeline for so many people. Transport Secretary Ken Skates has said it is a historic day for
01:04public transport in Wales as proposals for bus reform begin their journey through the
01:08Senate. This is about putting people first by providing one network, one timetable and
01:14one ticket across Wales. Documents related to the plans were released earlier this week
01:19and says it will cost over £600 million over the course of 30 years but it will require
01:24additional funding if the plans are to be fully realised. The plans are some of the
01:29biggest buses across Wales I've ever seen and it will be a good few years until we see
01:34it fully rolled out but with a need for improvements for buses all across the country it could
01:38be just what it needs. J.P. Watkins reporting for Local TV.