Monmouthshire County Council has announced a replacement for the 74/X74 services in the Severnside area after bus company Stagecoach recently stated that it would withdraw its provision after 20th July.
The new services – to be operated by Newport Bus – will incur no extra costs to the authority and will provide journeys between Newport and Chepstow via Caldicot from 6:24am to 11:30 pm with varying frequencies of 30 minutes at peak times and hourly during quieter periods. It will also include links to Nash College
The no.74 service will no longer run via Underwood, cutting ten minutes off the Newport to Chepstow journey, though Newport Bus will run a no. 21 service between Newport and Underwood running via Spytty Retail Park at regular frequencies. It can be accessed by the users of the no.74 service if they wish to travel to Underwood, either by changing at Langstone or Queensway in Newport.
Newport Bus will hold local surgeries in the coming months to gauge what users of the 74/X74 services require and it will consider improvements. The company has stated that fares will be lower on this route than the current level and that a daily or weekly ticket will be available to allow passengers to travel anywhere Newport Bus currently runs services.
An extra early evening journey has been added to the no.73 service. In addition, timing changes have been made to some journeys within Chepstow to provide links to the new services. Monmouthshire and Newport City Councils will also examine the no.62 service to provide better integration in the Caldicot area and provide further links between Caerwent, Caldicot and Severn Tunnel Junction which meet better the needs of Monmouthshire’s residents.
New timetables for these services come into effect on 21st July 2014.
