Powys bus company wins Welsh Gov contract from Stagecoach
Llanidloes-based bus operator Celtic Travel has been awarded a contract to deliver the TrawsCymru T4 service between Merthyr and Newtown from September.
The popular route has been operating for 14 years and is well used by commuters, students, residents, and tourists accessing Bannau Brycheiniog, the Royal Welsh Show, and many of the towns and villages along the route.
Celtic Travel has been delivering transport services across Powys and the surrounding areas since 2006 and the news was welcomed by Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales Ken Skates.
'It's good to see Celtic Travel join the Traws network and deliver the T4 from September this year,' said Mr Skates.
'This is an important route linking towns and villages in mid Wales.'
Phyl Davies, Director of Celtic Travel, said the company's local knowledge would be an asset for running the service.
'We're excited to be taking on this new contract and will be working with our colleagues at Williams of Brecon to ensure we deliver an improved level of service and reliability for T4 customers using our many years of experience delivering coach and bus services to the people of Powys,' said Mr Davies.
'It's great to be part of the TrawsCymru network, and with our knowledge of the local road network and an appreciation of the geography of this area, we feel we can bring a great deal to this service.'
Help support trusted local news
Sign up for a digital subscription now: www.countytimes.co.uk/subscribe
As a digital subscriber you will get
Unlimited access to the County Times website
Advert-light access
Reader rewards
Full access to our app
The TrawsCymru T4 will continue to be operated by Stagecoach until the end of August, then from September Stagecoach will launch a new X4 service between Merthyr and Cardiff with buses operating up to every sixty minutes, Monday to Saturday.
The new X4 service will serve Treforest Industrial Estate, offering improved connections to places of work, education, and leisure.
'We're looking forward to working with Celtic Travel to provide this service. We will be developing the timetable and improving services where we can, including the introduction of new vehicles in March next year,' added Lee Robinson, Executive Director for Regional Transport and Integration at TfW.
'This is a fantastic example of how small and medium-sized operators can work in partnership to bid for tenders and take on new contracts.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Western Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Western Telegraph
Garden centre can keep key building after planning battle
In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Moylegrove-based Penrallt Garden Centre Ltd, through agent Preseli Planning Ltd sought permission for a certificate of lawful development for a workshop building on site, constructed and substantially complete in February 2021. An application for a certificate of lawfulness allows an applicant to keep a development if they can provide proof of occupancy or use over a prolonged period. A supporting statement said: 'It is understood that no formal enforcement action has been taken by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority in relation to the structure and that an enforcement notice has not been served. No attempt has been made to conceal the development at any time. 'It is contended that the building was constructed and substantially complete in February 2021. Evidence [of] aerial photos of the site are available in 2020, 2021 and 2023, where the building does not appear to be shown in 2020, but is present in the 2021 and 2023 layer.' Local community council Nevern raised no objection to the proposal, saying: 'The shed is required for efficient running of the garden centre. The garden centre provides employment for 20-plus people, [an] important business in Moylegrove, this shed should be granted certificate if lawfulness. 'The shed has been constructed in a place where is not affecting views of the PCNP, and it is clearly associated with the garden centre.' An officer report recommending approval said: 'The local planning authority is satisfied that the evidence accompanying the application is sufficient to establish that the existing use is lawful. a recommendation to issue a lawful development certificate is hereby made. 'The applicant has submitted a range of supporting information, including aerial images of the site (from 2020, 2021 and 2023) where the building can be observed, as well as a sequence of photos of the building partially constructed and completed from January and February 2021.' It said those images were 'additionally corroborated through the review of the site using Google Earth Images which shows the presence of the building as of July 19, 2021 on historic imagery'. 'As the building would amount to operational development, the applicant would need to demonstrate that the building had been substantially completed more than four years before the submission of the certificate application. In this case, the applicant has demonstrated that the building has been there for four years.' A certificate of lawful development was granted by park planners.
Scottish Sun
5 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
How Morecambe FC faces possible EXTINCTION amid financial mess as fans despair with just 11 days left to find new owner
Fans blame the club's demise on Essex-based owner Jason Whittingham for not fulfilling his promise to sell the crisis-hit club BRING BACK THE SUNSHINE How Morecambe FC faces possible EXTINCTION amid financial mess as fans despair with just 11 days left to find new owner STARING at the giant Morecambe FC flag bearing the legend Bring Me Sunshine, tears fill club worker Colette Davies' eyes. 'There's no sunshine right now,' weeps the mum of three. 'It's more like dark, black clouds.' Advertisement 8 Morecambe have missed the final deadline and are on the brink of being kicked out the National League 8 Bring Me Sunshine — the signature tune of the town's most famous son, Eric Morecambe isn't likely to echo around the stadium any time soon Credit: Alamy 8 Colette, whose job is 'housekeeper' for the players, says she and other fans are experiencing 'absolute heartbreak' Belted out by fans on match day, Bring Me Sunshine — the signature tune of the town's most famous son, Eric Morecambe — is unlikely to echo around the Shrimps' stadium any time soon. Mired in a financial mess, the club has been suspended by the National League for its first three games this season. If the Lancs club is not sold by August 20, they may be kicked out of the league altogether. Possible extinction of this 105-year-old institution would be a devastating blow for a seaside resort that has seen its tourism industry decimated by cheap package holidays abroad. Advertisement Standing next to the club's well-manicured pitch, Colette, whose job is 'housekeeper' for the players, says she and other fans are experiencing 'absolute heartbreak'. For Colette and many who pack the Halo home stand on match days, the Shrimps are a family affair. Her dad Les Dewhirst has been the club's kit man for the last 30 years and her three children are all Morecambe mad. Les told me he is too upset to be interviewed, saying: 'It's hurting so much and my head won't settle.' Advertisement Ghostly sadness As seagulls wheel overhead, Colette adds: 'There's been lots of tears and anger. When I have to go home and tell my boys that I don't know what's going on at the club, there's absolute heartbreak. They're 14 and 15. This club is their life.' Like other staff at the club, Colette has not been paid since May. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she tells me that new school uniforms for her children are 'on hold'. Tyson Fury opens up on relationship with Joseph Parker and claims he's now his 'part-time manager and financial advisor' 'It's the school holidays, so there's been no fun activities really for my kids because we just can't afford it,' she adds. The giant Bring Me Sunshine flag — complete with a silhouette of a skipping Eric Morecambe, a shrimp and the red rose of Lancashire — stands limp in the sunshine at the back of the Halo stand. Advertisement Despite being born in the resort. the comic genius was famously a Luton Town fan and club director. As with a closed-down pub, a ghostly sadness haunts a shuttered football ground where laughter and emotion once reverberated. Planned weddings, wakes and school proms booked at the 6,241- capacity Mazuma Stadium this summer have all been cancelled. One corner of the stadium is occupied by local hero Tyson Fury's gym. Many in the town are hoping the former heavyweight boxing world champ will step in as a white knight to save the club. Advertisement As yet, there has been no word on a possible takeover from the big man. Colette shows me the empty changing rooms where everything is neat and tidy for when the players should be preparing to face Brackley Town next Saturday. Like today's away fixture at Boston United, it has been postponed. Playing in England's third tier as recently as 2021, only a world war has stopped the Shrimps fulfilling their fixtures until now. Fans blame the demise on Essex-based owner Jason Whittingham for not fulfilling his promise to sell the crisis-hit club. Advertisement On Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said he was 'very concerned' about the plight of Morecambe FC and urged everyone involved with the club 'to do the right thing'. 8 .Season ticket holder Helen Coates, 56, buying a replica shirt for her grandson Coby, 5 8 Railway worker Russ Horrocks, 38, and son Noah, 11 8 Official kit supplier Terrace's director Carl Sewell says cash from the merchandise will not reach owner Whittingham's pockets Advertisement Supporters have this week been queuing at a pop-up shop on the promenade to buy this season's shirts, even though their team may never get to wear them. There was a forlorn sense of despondency along the usually jaunty seafront as hundreds waited for hours to make their purchase. Railway worker Russ Horrocks, 38, snapped up the away shirt for son Noah, 11, saying: 'Morecambe's a great atmosphere on match days. 'There's 4,000 on a good day, but the noise makes it sound like more. It's as much about meeting your mates as the result.' Advertisement Retired Alan McGinley, 62, whose brother John played for the club, revealed: 'The club is everything for this town now the tourism has been hit. My brother used to get a pork pie for playing and £1 if he scored.' A banner reading, 'Bring back the sunshine' was strapped to railings at the store run by official kit supplier Terrace. Its director, Carl Sewell, says cash from the merchandise will not reach owner Whittingham's pockets, adding: 'We sold around 1,500 shirts in just four hours.' Of the club's slip towards possible exclusion from the league, he said: 'It's horrendous. It will suck the blood out of the town and hit local businesses.' Season ticket holder Helen Coates, 56, buying a replica shirt for her grandson Coby, five, added: 'I don't know what I'm going to do with my Saturdays now. Advertisement 'I took my sons to watch Morecambe, I now take my grandsons. It was only £3 for little ones. It makes me want to weep.' With stunning views of the Lake District fells, Morecambe became a seaside destination for Yorkshire factory workers when a connecting rail line was built around 1850. The club is everything for this town now the tourism has been hit. My brother used to get a pork pie for playing and £1 if he scored. Alan McGinley The resort boomed in the 20th Century — with Scottish holidaymakers also being drawn to it — before no- frills flights to the Med dented its popularity. It had been home to the country's largest Pontins holiday camp, but the last Bluecoats left in 1994. Advertisement Morecambe's once iconic pair of piers are long gone, as is its famous Bubbles swimming pool and the Frontierland fairground. Hope is offered by an £80million scheme to construct a northern version of the Eden Project botanical garden on the seafront. Shrimps season ticket holder David Lambert, 63, points down the promenade and tells me: 'This town used to be packed out at this time of year. 'You couldn't walk along that prom for people. At least on Saturdays the football would give this place a buzz. Away fans would come and walk along the prom, go to the pubs and have fish and chips. That might all be gone now.' Advertisement 'Used to be packed out' Morecambe's once mighty fleet of shrimp fishing boats has also been in steep decline. Ray Edmondson still stocks his little fishmongers with shrimps caught from his boat, the Bernadette. The fisherman says there were 30 shrimp boats when he started out. Now there are just two. He blames 'too many rules and regulations'. Advertisement Ray, who has run his business for 47 years, adds: 'Away fans come in here to buy a few pots of shrimps and take them home with them.' Nearby, staff at Atkinson's Fish & Chips are worried they could lose a decent slice of trade if the football club goes under. The football helps many hospitality businesses through the lean winter months. Bernie Harkin, 52, who has grafted in the shop for 26 years, tells me: 'Fans love our chips with a bit of haddock. The football club is such an important part of the town. Advertisement 'We have our Christmas parties at the stadium.' 8 The club has been suspended by the National League for its first three games this season 8 One corner of the stadium is occupied by local hero Tyson Fury's gym Credit: Getty Barman Zac Rossall, 19, serving pints at the Eric Bartholomew — a Wetherspoon pub bearing Eric Morecambe's real name — says: 'It gets packed here on match day. Advertisement 'I'm not a football fan, but I'm a fan of what it brings to Morecambe. 'If the club closes, it will mean less footfall in the town.' So why is Morecambe in such a financial mess? In 2023, Jason Whittingham's Bond Group Investments announced it was selling the club to investment firm Panjab Warriors. The company loaned £6million to the Shrimps as the club descended into financial turmoil with unpaid bills, sackings and resignations. Advertisement Panjab Warriors are ready to take Morecambe off his hands, but Whittingham says he has an alternative buyer. 'Club is held hostage' Last month, Whittingham sacked the Shrimps' board of directors after they threatened to place the club into administration. Morecambe MP Lizzi Collinge has raised the issue in Parliament and said: 'Morecambe FC is being held hostage and it breaks my heart.' In June the Shrimps' players were only paid a third of their salaries. Many have now chosen to leave the club to pay their mortgages. Advertisement One player forced to quit, midfielder Tom White, 28, said: 'Morecambe Football Club is special. This institution needs to survive, and I'm praying.' A town that followed its football club to Wembley three times since 1974 now may lose its cornerstone. While a new Morecambe could rise from the ashes if the club is booted out of the league, it would then likely have to take its place at the bottom of the football pyramid. Bury FC, who were expelled from the Football League for financial difficulties in 2019, have invited Shrimps fans to watch their match free today 'in solidarity'. Advertisement Dozens are planning on making the journey. And they will be supporting another club that understands how football binds a community together.
Glasgow Times
5 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Nearly half of staff in Glasgow KPMG team 'made redundant'
A member of staff, who wished to remain anonymous, told us that they were invited into a "scripted" Teams call at the start of the week, where they were hit with the devastating news. The professional services network describes the Global Mobility team's work as "helping organisations manage their globally mobile workforce." There are fears within the team that the workload of the axed employees will be outsourced abroad in a bid to cut costs. Nearly half of staff in Glasgow KPMG team 'made redundant' (Image: Archive) READ MORE: Glasgow set for 400 jobs boost as service giant KPMG announces new city hub READ MORE: 'I could feel the heat' Huge explosion on Spider-Man film set as car flips over The anonymous staff member said: "KPMG had a five-minute scripted Teams call with unsuspecting Glasgow Global Mobility staff based in Glasgow St Vincent Street on Monday announcing 29 redundancies out of 64 staff due to UK tax return/compliance work being transferred to India. "The level of experience in the Glasgow office is irreplaceable, but due to cheaper costs, KPMG have decided to move work over to India, even with current ongoing issues with quality, IT and information security. "They have warned staff not to talk about redundancies for fear it gets into the media and they lose clients who they sell the service as UK-based to. "Next to no information is being given to staff who are just expected to keep working until late September to find out if they are one of the 29 to be made redundant. "KPMG have chosen to do this during a busy period, and making sure the termination date of 17th October means the 29 staff would miss out on their annual pay rise and bonuses. "They do not care about the staff's mental wellbeing or the fact that there is a woman on maternity leave facing this. "Other than the Teams call, staff are being kept in the dark." A spokesperson for KPMG said: "Following a review, we have made the difficult decision to consult on proposals to reduce a small number of roles in our Global Mobility Services business to align our resources with our future operating model. 'We are supporting those affected by the consultation through our employee assistance programme.'
