Cardiff Transport Interchange (or sometimes Cardiff Interchange or The Interchange) is a new bus and transport interchange, as well as offices and apartments, in the centre of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

, the capital city of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It has been under construction since 2020 and due for completion in Spring 2023. Once completed it will be run by the

Welsh Government , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...

's transport arm,

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...

Background

Cardiff Central bus station Cardiff Central bus station was the main bus transport interchange in the Cardiff city centre until it closed on 1 August 2015. With 34 stands, it was the largest bus station in Wales. It was located adjacent to Cardiff Central railway station ...

had originally been built, directly to the north of what is now

Cardiff Central railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Cardiff Central station (26526139271).jpg , caption = 1930s frontage of Cardiff Central station (northern entrance) , borough = Cardiff, City and County of Cardiff , country = Wales , coordin ...

, in 1954. The old terminus building was demolished in 2008 and, in 2010, options were put to the public for a multi-million pound bus station redevelopment or replacement. In 2014 a "Capital Square" masterplan for Central Square (the former bus station site) was revealed, led by developers Rightacres Property, including a new headquarters building for BBC Cymru Wales. The old bus station finally closed in August 2015. A replacement was expected to be completed by 2017, designed by

Foster and Partners Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide ...

, on the site of the nearby Marland House and Wood Street NCP multi-storey carpark. As well as a new bus station it also included offices, shops and a hotel. In 2016 the Marland House office block and the neighbouring NCP Wood Street multi-storey car park were demolished. It was planned to site the 'Central Transport Interchange' on this site, with walkways linking it to the railway station. Foster and Partners were dropped from the project in 2018, after the Welsh Government took over responsibility from Cardiff Council, though by this point the architecture firm had completely redesigned the proposals.

Development

The

bought the Marland House site from

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were establishe ...

for £12 million and carried out £3 million of preparatory work. In April 2018 the new design for the 'Metro Central Interchange' was revealed, designed by local architects Holder Mathias Architects based on concepts by Foster and Partners. The Interchange would include a 14-stand bus station with a covered concourse and 500 cycle spaces. Once completed, the Interchange would be run by the Welsh Government's not-for-profit subsidiary,

, intended to bring together an integrated transport system. In July 2019 it was announced that contracts had finally been signed between the Welsh Government, finance company

Legal & General Legal & General Group plc, commonly known as Legal & General, is a British multinational financial services and asset management company headquartered in London, England. Its products and services include investment management, lifetime mortg ...

, and the developers Rightacres, to begin work constructing the scheme. Construction was expected to begin at the end of the year, after a major drain had been relocated. Having previously built the adjacent

BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House (), previously known as the BBC Cymru Wales Headquarters building, is the headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales in Central Square, Cardiff. It operates many of its broadcasting services (radio and TV) from there ...

and 2 Central Square, in December 2019 construction company ISG secured the £89 million contract to build the new Cardiff Transport Interchange. The Interchange would be funded by

. As well as the covered 14-bay bus station, The Interchange was to include 318 rented apartments and about 90,000 sq ft of office accommodation. In October 2020

pledged £400 million of forward funding to build a new headquarters office building for its 2,000 staff, as part of the Interchange development.

References

External links

* {{coord missing, Glamorgan Transport in Cardiff Bus stations in Wales Redevelopment projects in Cardiff Transport infrastructure under construction

Background

Development

See also

References

External links