Travelling home for Christmas? Public transport users alerted to last minute festive travel amendments

Festive travellers looking to use public transport over the Christmas and New Year period are advised to stay aware of last minute service changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Traveline Cymru is urging members of the public to check the latest public transport travel information via its dedicated Christmas and New Year Travel Information page. The Welsh Government’s public transport information service will be updating its page and social channels with service changes as it becomes available.

As timetables may be subject to late notice changes, customers are urged to check ahead of and on their day of travel for the latest information.

Traveline Cymru cannot guarantee its Journey Planner and Timetables page will be updated in time to reflect festive service changes.

Traveline Cymru is also encouraging the public not to forget to adhere to current Welsh Government COVID-19 guidelines when making plans to travel. This includes self-isolating if you are showing symptoms, limiting the number of times you leave your home and the distance you travel, adhering to social distancing guidelines and following advice on hygiene.

Some operators will be finishing services early on Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and on other days over the festive period. Specifically, bus services will not operate on Christmas Day, with a small number running a reduced service on Boxing Day. Rail services will not operate at all on Christmas or Boxing Day.

Jo Foxall, Managing Director of Traveline Cymru, said: “Whilst we encourage the public to think carefully about the journeys they make this Christmas in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we appreciate many people will still need to travel. It is therefore important to remember that public transport services will be subject to last minute changes during this time.”

“As per government guidelines, we urge the public to think carefully about where they go and who they meet to limit the chances of catching and spreading Coronavirus. We have a number of ways people can access travel and COVID-19 information–through dedicated pages on our bilingual website, our Freephone number and also our mobile services–so that we can keep Wales moving, in the safest way possible, over the Christmas and New Year break.”

Customers are able to plan their journeys by visiting the bilingual website or using the mobile app, text service or social media channels. Alternatively, customers are able to call the Traveline Cymru customer service line on Freephone number 0800 464 0000, which will be available every day over the festive period apart from Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Traveline Cymru, which is a part of umbrella organisation PTI Cymru, provides a ‘one-stopshop’ for travel information in Wales. The not-for-profit company is based on a partnership between the Welsh Government, public transport operators in Wales and Welsh local authorities. It provides route and timetable information for all bus, coach and rail services in the country via a bilingual website www.traveline.cymru, its Freephone telephone service – 0800 464 00 00 – and a suite of services for mobile phone users, including a bilingual app.