After over a decade with buses dotted around the city centre, Cardiff finally has a bus station with the opening of the new Cardiff Bus Interchange. With 14 bays, up to 60 departures an hour and plenty of features, Transport for Wales are hoping they’ve provided the city with exactly what it asked for.
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00:00You know, the feedback from the customers is it's very long overdue, so we're glad we've
00:06got to a point now where we can open, we've agreed with Cardiff Bus what services will
00:10be here and we're looking forward to obviously having the customers in and utilising the
00:15space that we've created.
00:17This bus station is packed full of features, from the different waiting areas like these
00:21benches with charging facilities and, get this, cup holders, to the integrated bus and
00:26timetables you can see just behind me.
00:28It feels like a modern bus station that Cardiff has been asking for, for such a long time.
00:33We've got standing areas, benches, we've got USB ports within the benches and plug sockets
00:41as well.
00:42We have disabled toilets and, yeah, so there's going to be commercial units as well.
00:49So hopefully it'll be amazing for everyone.
00:53One of the staff here today told me that the station is capable of serving up to 60 departures
00:57every hour.
00:58So there's a big hope that this will finally be the central station, bringing the buses
01:02to one central place that has been so long needed in Cardiff.
01:07I mean, you know, obviously we'll have buses going all over Cardiff, but like I said, being
01:11central, you know, we're here for an information point as well.
01:15So, you know, if people are new to Cardiff, our staff has got all the up-to-date kind
01:21of iPads with them, so they can access any kind of tourist information for them as well.
01:26So it's not just the bus, we're here to help anyone with any query.
01:30And it's even got these really clever screens, so you can see all of the local information
01:35around, a map of the centre of Cardiff, and even a much wider map.
01:44Feels a bit unimportant, but you can see every single train in the whole of the United Kingdom.
01:52Obviously not only information about the bus services, but the trains as well.
01:55Local amenities, you know, you can obviously access different maps on there as well.
02:00So again, we're kind of like pushing forward with technology, because we know this is the
02:05way forward.
02:07Jay told me that one of the main aspects of the new interchange is its accessibility functions,
02:12and provides help for anyone who could need it coming into the station.
02:15People who have a disability, as Jay says, will benefit from a number of different features
02:19specifically targeted at helping everyone who comes in.
02:23I'm a big believer of every person's got a right to dignity, and I think part of that
02:28dignity includes being free to kind of travel as easily as an able person.
02:35So yeah.
02:36As soon as you enter the bus interchange, we've got tactile flooring, so that would
02:40help our visually impaired customers.
02:44So with the tactile flooring, they'll be able to feel it with their stick, and also underfoot.
02:49It leads them right throughout the bays, including the disabled toilets, the changing
02:54facilities, but also the bays to get their buses.