ftrmetro Swansea was a bus rapid transit route in Swansea,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The route was served by FTR articulated buses in an attempt to relieve traffic congestion and provide alternative transport to cars, before they were withdrawn in 2015 in favour of smaller-capacity buses.

Overview

The

Welsh Assembly Government Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

provided £2.2m in funding to help launch the scheme, and the local bus operator

First Cymru First Cymru is an operator of bus services in South West Wales. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup with its headquarters in Swansea. History In 1987, South Wales Transport was sold during the privatisation of the National Bus Company in a man ...

paid for the fleet at a cost of £300,000 per vehicle. The buses, built by Northern Ireland-based

Wrightbus Wrightbus is a Northern Ireland based bus manufacturer and a pioneer of the low-floor bus. The company was established in 1946 by Robert Wright and was later run by his son William Wright, until it was acquired in 2019 by British businessman ...

, each have 37 seats. Stops are placed approximately every 500m and passengers pay for tickets on-board from a conductor rather than from the driver. The bus runs along a route from

Morriston Hospital Morriston Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Treforys) is a 750-bed hospital located in Cwmrhydyceirw near Morriston in Swansea, Wales. It is managed by Swansea Bay University Health Board. Alongside its role as a district general hospital, Morriston is a ...

Singleton Hospital Singleton Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Singleton) is a general hospital in Sketty Lane, Swansea, Wales. It is managed by Swansea Bay University Health Board. History The first stage of the hospital, which included outpatients' facilities, was completed ...

, via

Morriston Morriston (; cy, Treforys ) is a community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston ward. It is the largest community in Swansea county. Morriston is sometimes referred to as a distinct town (e.g. the local fo ...

, Swansea railway station, Kingsway, Swansea bus station,

Civic Centre A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

and

Swansea University Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

. The off-peak journey time between Morriston Hospital and

is timetabled to take 50 minutes. Alterations were made to a number of roads to provide a dedicated bus lane. Orchard Street and The Kingsway were converted to a one-way streets for cars with a separate two-way bus lane. West Way has been altered to accommodate a two-way bus lane and new access roads have been developed near the

. Further road developments include a bus lane along parts of Oystermouth Road and a bus bypass road past the Hafod area. Phase 1 of the road development scheme, for Orchard Street and Kingsway, is complete. The service between Morriston Hospital and Singleton started on bus route 4, using a single ftr vehicle, on 1 June 2009 with official launch of service in September 2009. Critics of the scheme attacked the disruption caused by roadworks to accommodate the vehicles and the impact of changes to the road network. On 24 June 2015, First Cymru announced that it was to remove all FTR articulated buses from service on 28 August 2015, replacing them with standard single deck buses. Later in 2015, the dedicated two-way FTR bus lane on the Kingsway was removed and replaced by a standard one-way system, in response to high-profile accidents. Subsequently, three 'bendy buses' were brought back into use, transferring students from the main Swansea University campus on Oystermouth Road to the new Bay Campus.

References

External links

First Group – ftrmetro Swansea (official site of operator)

City and County of Swansea – Swansea metro project

Video of Ftr Metro buses in Swansea in August, 2015
{{Authority control Guided busways and BRT systems in the United Kingdom Transport in Swansea 2009 establishments in Wales

Overview

See also

References

External links