The new Park and Ride in the east of Cardiff is proving to be extremely popular, with the numbers of people using it rising each week.

Since its launch on October 19, the weekly number of cars using the Park and Ride has more than doubled, with the latest count showing 1548 drivers taking advantage of the service from November 16 to 22.

Both commuters and shoppers are finding the Cardiff East Park and Ride invaluable and the approaching festive season, coupled with the recent opening of St David’s, has boosted figures significantly with more than 6000 vehicles using the service.

Councillor Delme Bowen, Executive member for Traffic and Transportation, said: “People are realising just how easy the new Park and Ride makes it to get in and out of the city centre and I am getting nothing but positive feedback about it.

“It’s great to see people actively seeking alternative travel solutions to get into Cardiff to help reduce congestion problems and carbon emissions. The Cardiff East Park and Ride looks to be a resounding success.”

Based just off the A48 (Eastern Avenue) the Cardiff East Park and Ride can be accessed from the Pentwyn Interchange. It has 340 car parking spaces, including 19 disabled spaces, with buses running every 15 minutes direct to Dumfries Place at the end of Queen Street (next to Sainsburys) via a dedicated bus lane.

The bus journey gives people a quick and environmentally friendly way of travelling into Cardiff city centre, with the amount of spaces to be eventually extended to 1100.

The cost of the Park and Ride for all-day parking is £2.50 per car with buses running from 7am to 8.30pm Monday to Friday (Thursdays 7am to 10.30pm), Saturdays 9am to 7pm and Sundays 9am to 5.30pm. The buses are low-floor, wheelchair accessible and able to take prams.

There is a Park and Ride bus every fifteen From Monday to Friday the service operates from 7am until 8.30pm and 10.30pm on Thursdays. On Saturdays buses run from 9am to 7pm and on Sundays from 9am until 5.30pm.

The new Park and Ride is part of Cardiff Council’s Sustainable Travel City initiative, which is partly funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, and links in with the ‘Free B’ shuttle bus, which helps in getting people between key points in the city centre, with a bus every 10 minutes.

Cardiff East Park and Ride also links up with existing Park and Ride facilities which are available to the west of the city at the new Cardiff City stadium in Leckwith.

Opening times are 7.30am to 7.30pm Monday to Saturday, except on match days.

At the weekend the regular Cardiff South and Cardiff North Park and Ride services are in operation. On Saturday these run from both County Hall and Crown Way from 9am to 6pm and on Sunday from 10am to 5.30pm (Cardiff North Park and Ride,is open on Sundays until January 3 for the Christmas period).

Jenny Randerson AM

Welsh Lib Dem Shadow Transport Minister, Jenny Randerson AM has today called for plans to be brought forward to electrify the Valley Lines network immediately following the electrification of the Great Western line.

The calls come after officials from the UK Department of Transport told the Assembly’s Enterprise and Learning Committee that “there is logic” that the Cardiff Area Network could be electrified once main line work reaches Cardiff.

Jenny Randerson AM said: “It is clear that if we miss the opportunity to electrify the Valley Lines as part of the process of electrifying the main line, then this could be gone for decades.

“Experts say that once the electrification ‘factory’ is shut down, it is hugely expensive and time consuming to re-start it. Therefore, if we are ever going to see the Valley Lines turned into a speedy, economically beneficial, metro service, then this could be our last chance for quite some time.”

Ms Randerson’s intervention comes after senior officials in the UK Department of Transport told an Assembly Committee that it would be possible for WAG to renegotiate the contract.

Jenny Randerson said: “It is very clear that the Arriva Trains Wales service is not as good as people would expect. The company are making every effort to improve services and the trains, but they are quite right to argue that they can only provide what they are paid for.

“When this franchise was designed, the requirements were cut right back to the bone, but the Department of Transport made it quite clear in committee that renegotiation was quite possible. The Labour-Plaid Government should start this process right away.

“We don’t want to have to wait another eight years for modern carriages and more services.”

On both Saturdays it has been in use over 300 cars have used the site and on average, 245 made use of it every day during its second week of service, from Monday October 26.

The figures, which run until 5:30pm on Sunday November 1, show a steadily increasing popularity and are expected to rise further as we approach the festive season.

The new Park and Ride is part of Cardiff Council’s Sustainable Travel City initiative, which is partly funded by the Welsh Assembly Government. It provides a frequent, convenient service that travels directly to Dumfries Place, adjacent to Sainsbury’s.

There are 340 spaces in total, including 19 disabled spaces. The current amount of spaces is to be extended to 1100 in phases two and three. In addition, there will shortly be free parking to allow local residents to link to adjacent walkways and public space.

There is a Park and Ride bus every fifteen minutes for maximum efficiency, ensuring a quick and reliable journey for commuters and visitors alike. From Monday to Friday the service operates from 7:00am until 8:30pm and 10:30pm on Thursdays. On Saturdays buses run from 9:00am to 7:00pm and on Sundays from 9:00am until 5:30pm.

The service links in with the ‘Free B’ shuttle bus, which launched on October 12. This free service assists in transferring people between key points in the city centre, with a bus every 10 minutes.

Executive Member for Transport Councillor Delme Bowen said: “I am delighted to see the large numbers of people using the new park and ride service since its opening. With Christmas fast approaching I hope as many people as possible take advantage of its benefits.

“At £2.50 the service is competitively priced and as we enter phases two and three of development we will also be encouraging more car-sharing from the site. With this in mind I am confident Cardiff’s first purpose built park and ride will continue to be a huge success”.