We describe the ride on the first bus from Barry interchange

Phase one of the Barry Transport Interchange, adjacent to Barry Docks Station, was completed in summer 2023 and, in November 2023, the council finally announced that Adventure Travel service B3 would start running at the interchange from January 8, so Ted decided to take the bus on its first day of operation.

‘I would be the only one catching the bus’ – Ted Peskett on the first bus running at Barry's transport interchange

On arrival at Barry Transport Interchange, the first thing I noticed was how quiet the transport hub was.

It was the first time I’d seen it since construction started on phase one a year ago and I was the only person there, apart from one man standing next to one of the new bus shelters who later turned out to be a council worker seemingly overseeing the operation of the hub.

I would be the only one at the hub at that time catching the bus.

The electronic notice board in my bus shelter didn’t seem to be working, but I was fairly certain the next bus arriving would be mine with the B3 being the only service operating at the hub.

The bus turned up on time (11.13am). I paid £1.70 for my round-trip ticket and we set off for Barry town centre with one woman as my fellow passenger at the time.

A bus now operates from Barry's transport interchange and our reporter went on the first one! (Image: Newsquest)

Making our way up Gladstone Road and then down Tynewydd Road near Barry Library, we picked up three extra passengers and continued to the housing estates to the north of the town centre.

One thing I did notice was that despite the small number of passengers being taken around Barry during that particular time, it was clearly a vital service to those who were using it.

Julie Budd, 59, was taking the bus from Barry town centre that day and said she uses the service regularly.

She said she takes the bus to go shopping and would otherwise be walking miles from her home if it wasn’t there.

“Sometimes they are not on time,” said Julie, but she added that the bus is “very important” to her and called recent changes to bus services across the area due to cuts “horrible”.

Adventure Travel was the first bus operator to run from the site (Image: Supplied)

Questions have risen about the site, with it opening without any bus operators (Image: Newsquest)

We eventually made our way along St Bride’s Way and into Cadoxton. We went past the King William IV pub at about 11.37am and it was clear that the bus was continuing to run on time.

There were never more than five passengers on the 23 seater bus at any one time and in total it picked up 11 passengers including me.

We passed through Holton Road, where it was sad to see the number of premises that remain empty in the town, including the former Burton store and Wilkos.

The bus then turned back on to Gladstone Road and then on to Ffordd Y Mileniwm where it halted at its second to last stop next to Morrisons.

The site cost over £2.5m to build (Image: Newsquest)

Vale Council leader Lis Burnett has previously defended getting the site completed ahead of bus operators being put in place (Image: Newsquest)

Read more

• Adventure Travel first to serve Barry's bus interchange
• Key questions ignored in Council debate of the Barry Dock bus station
• Barry's bus interchange to be used by rail replacement buses

• Vale leader Lis Burnett defends Barry's bus interchange

I was the last one on the bus when we arrived back at Barry Transport Interchange at 11.53am.

There was a 10 minute wait for the train back to Cardiff Central and despite the cold, my day out to Barry was trouble free.

The bus I caught was quiet and so was the transport hub, but everything ran on time (for once).