The Heart of Wales welcomes the secret X48

Tuesday 11th February 2025

There was an understandable backlash in December 2024 when Transport for Wales reduced the timetable on the iconic Heart of Wales line between Swansea and Shrewsbury via Llandrindod Wells. Passengers had got used to having an improved five return journeys a day as well as evening journeys at each end of the line during the summer, only to find a reduction back to just four journeys and the withdrawal of the evening journeys.

One advantage of having a Transport for Wales ‘guiding mind’ overseeing both trains and buses across the Welsh nation is it can plug gaps in a rail timetable with a replacement bus service at much cheaper costs than reinstating trains, as well as being able to do so at very short notice compared to how long it takes to organise a train timetable.

And that’s exactly what happened in December when TfW in partnership with Powys County Council contracted Celtic Travel to run a new bus route numbered X48 between Llandrindod Wells and Craven Arms covering the northern end of the Heart of Wales line.

As you can see, four return journeys a day on Mondays to Saturdays are provided on the X48, including two evening journeys continuing beyond Llandrindod to Builth Wells and an early morning and late evening northbound journey between Builth Wells and Llandrindod Wells with one afternoon journey starting even further south at Llanwrtyd Wells.

It’s a sparse timetable with four and six hour gaps between journeys but then so is the rail timetable and, aside from an early morning northbound direct clash, it’s obviously been designed for one timetable to complement the other as far as possible with, for example, Mondays to Saturdays northbound departures from Llandrindod Wells towards Craven Arms at 05:55 (train), 06:01 (bus), 07:32 (train), 10:01 (bus), 11:40 (train), 14:01 (bus), 15:33 (train), 18:01 (bus), 20:24 (train).

Southbound departures from Craven Arms towards Llandrindod are at 04:48 (train), 0535 (train), 07:45 (bus), 10:30 (train), 11.45 (bus), 1423 (train), 17:20 (bus), 19:04 (train) 21:25 (bus).

The bus on route X48 follows the railway line for much of the way with stations at Broome, Hopton Heath, Bucknell, Knighton, Dolau and Pen-y-Pont served along the route and just three stations by-passed. All the 10 stations are by request other than Knighton.

The main downside to this innovative integration is buses only reach as far north as Craven Arms whereas the much larger traffic objective for passengers on the Heart of Wales line is Shrewsbury, 22 miles further north, but that would involve far more resource.

I’m guessing the assumption is passengers can connect at Craven Arms with trains on the Welsh Marches line which runs between Newport/Hereford and via Craven Arms to Shrewsbury and Wrexham/Crewe.

Looking at that timetable, convenient 7, 10 and 15 minute connections are indeed available between route X48 buses arriving and northbound trains from Craven Arms to Shrewsbury and similarly in the southbound direction between arriving trains and bus departures to Llandrindod Wells.

However the Welsh Marches line is not blessed with a reputation for reliable timekeeping as well as suffering from a multitude of rolling stock including even the occasional Class 153 leading to horrendous overcrowding conditions, despite TfW receiving many new trains and having locomotive hauled former LNER carriages.

As well as seeing negative comments on social media of buses not waiting for late running trains, I can write with bitter personal experience as I suffered an abortive attempt to reach Craven Arms to try out the X48 on Saturday before last. Having left home ridiculously early that morning and reaching Shrewsbury, the next TfW southbound train was running late and missed the seven minute connection with the X48 at 11:45 by about five minutes. The bus didn’t wait. To add insult to injury my planned return journey from Craven Arms via Crewe was cancelled, necessitating a longer and delayed trip home via Newport.

I had better luck on Wednesday of last week when making a second attempt, this time going via Newport to allow for a longer connection time, reaching Craven Arms on time at 11:27…

…and finding the bus for the 11:45 departure alongside the station exit.

There’s no information about inter availability of rail/bus tickets on TfW’s website but I read some helpful advice on The Heart of Wales Line Community Rail Partnership’s website which explains:

As most of the journey to Llandrindod Wells is in Wales I wondered if my English concessionary pass would be valid and on boarding the bus the ticket machine rejected it with the driver not seeming to know whether it was valid or not. As I thought it unlikely my return journey would be covered as that commenced in Wales (Craven Arms is in Shropshire, England) and knowing from the rail fares a return ticket is only slightly more expensive than a single, I asked the driver how much a return to Llandrindod Wells was.

He replied it’s £9 which I thought was a bit strange as prior research had told me the full whack rail return was £8.60 and with a Senior Railcard was only £5.70.

I asked him if he accepted rail tickets, which he confirmed, so as there was still time before departure went to buy a ticket from the ticket machine on the platform and used my Senior Railcard for the discounted £5.70 fare.

Returning to the bus two other passengers were boarding whose concessionary passes were also not accepted by the ticket machine but the driver let them on anyway. It was the first time they’d used the new route and were heading to Bucknell (still in Shropshire, just) for a walk. As well as not knowing whether their passes would be accepted, they’d not been sure whether the bus stopped only at stations.

These queries are symptomatic of a lack of information about route X48. No timetables or any information were on display at either Craven Arms or Llandrindod Wells so goodness knows how TfW thinks passengers are going to be enticed and reassured to travel.

There is a poster displayed at Llandrindod Wells station about replacement buses, but that’s to do with engineering works and not the X48.

Thankfully the Community Rail Partnership is there to help. I understand the service is currently contracted until August. It’ll need a big publicity boost and the distribution of helpful information about times, tickets and route to encourage passengers on board.

Celtic Travel is doing its bit by allocating a modern Volvo eVoRa bus to the service with much more comforttable seats than a Class 153…

… and the views out of the window along the route are every bit as scenic as anything you’ll see from the train.

Indeed, it’s nice to get a new perspective on the scenery than one is used to from the railway through the same countryside.

Celtic Travel also has the timetable on its website and I noticed someone in Knighton has taken the initiative to display a timetable at the bus stop in the village where the bus pauses for a couple of minutes.

It’s about a five minute walk from the station where I’m prepared to bet there’s nothing official on display.

And, the departure point from Craven Arms is, frankly, embarrassing.

That’s in Shropshire, of course, which has no financial interest in the service…

… compared to Powys County Council who has its name and logo on the side and front of the bus.

But the same lack of any information also applies at the Llandrindod Wells end of the route…

… where the bus station, alongside the railway station, was devoid of any reference to the X48.

TfW has plans for franchising the bus network over the next few years with talk of more integration with the rail service – it’s going to have to up its game if this X48/Heart of Wales example is a precursor.

It goes without saying no other passengers travelled on the route and, once the two other passengers had departed at Bucknell, I had the bus to myself for an enjoyable 48 minute ride through splendid scenery to Llandrindod Wells.

Roger French

Many thanks to blog reader Brian for alerting me to the X48.

Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS

23 thoughts on “The Heart of Wales welcomes the secret X48”

  1. If a bus runs over the border between England and Wales, then both English and Welsh concessionary passes are accepted for journeys travelling over the border in both directions.

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    2. Have you got a source for this @Anonymous? As far as I can see, English bus passes are only valid across the border if there is a specific agreement between local authorities, and is likely to be limited to residents of those authorities. For example a Herefordshire bus pass can be used for journeys into Wales as long as they start or end in Herefordshire. Shropshire does not appear to have such an agreement.

      Welsh concessionary passes, on the other hand, appear to be valid on all cross-border services into England, as long as the journey begins or ends in Wales.

      Robert

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    3. I think this is the case in reality too but the situation is very unclear and even the drivers don’t seem to know what the actual rules are. I boarded an Arriva 1 opposite Chester station and took it to Wrexham a while back. I have a Hertfordshire disabled bus pass, it didn’t work on the reader, the driver briefly looked at it and waved me on. He didn’t ask where I was going. From my interpretation, Wales seems a bit rubbish at communication and providing useful bus information. I’ve used a 1bws day ticket once before which is supposed to be available at a discount if you have an English or Scottish bus pass, the driver in Pwllheli didn’t know how to apply the discount! Bus maps, outside of Arriva North Wales don’t seem to really exist either.

      It’s all such a shame, there is truly fantastic scenery throughout all of Cymru and the bus network and what exists of the railways really need to be married. This X48 the way Roger tells us sounds like a huge uplift in public transport provision in Powys, but it’s no good if no one knows it even exists. The weird situation with the tickets could easily kill this route. Places like the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands prove it can be done with rural places, the potential for tourism in Wales is massive if they can get the public transport right. They urgently need to sort out the bus and train information and make them work together. Trawscymru shows they are capable. All the English border counties need to work with them too. Also, personally I think it’s time we had nationwide mutal acceptance of all bus passes in England, Wales and Scotland. Would avoid these weird and tiresome boundary issues that affect buses way too much.

      Aaron

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Well done Roger for getting there and back in a day, and persisting!

    Some typos:

    Builth Wells, not Bullth Wells

    Below the Bws Powys Bus photo you wrote “bur” rather than “but”.

    Good points as always. Getting information provision right is such a no-brainer and it’s shocking how much is wasted by the unprofessional lack of attention to this aspect. One person in a van could put all that right in a day.

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    1. Such a shame a really useful service will die through lack of customers due significantly by lack of suitable publicity.

      Tony

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  3. Having worked in both the bus and rail industries throughout, the one thing that always disappointed me was the total lack of understanding each had about the other. Those dedicated to rail dismiss the bus as some inferior form of travel only undertaken when there is absolutely no alternative. Bus staff (and some passengers) cannot understand the total inflexibility of how railways are operated when compared to buses and coaches. But with TfW over-seeing and arranging this operation, everything should have been in place from Day One. But sadly, and not for the first time for this organisation, it clearly was not.

    Heaven help us when they get their hands on the lot!

    Terence Uden

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I agree with you and I think it’s sad, buses and trains (and other public transport) should totally compliment each other. Been to a number of places, where the bus very successfully fills in the gaps in the railway like the 840/3 Coastliner routes in Yorkshire and the Excel route in Norfolk and they make a huge difference to the public transport offering. Sadly, the silo mentality seems to reach enthusiasts too, I am a bus and train enthusiast and for some reason, this seems few and far between for many of the same reasons you stated. The potential is huge if they were made to work together in terms of tickets, timetables and routes, and we really need both if car usage is to be reduced like many councils now want. Historically, the old GWR when it was in the Big Four (and before that) managed to use buses as feeders to its railways where trains weren’t really viable. This was 100+ years ago, what is our excuse?

      Aaron

      Liked by 1 person

      2. I was referring to trains and buses working together far more seamlessly. But also the regions these routes pass through should be working together a lot more. Transport for Wales certainly has its work cut out but the English border counties need to play their part too.

        Aaron

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  4. Hello Roger, Good to read your latest blog on the X48.  To get from Hassocks to Craven Arms to do this is very much beyond the call of duty!  Being in Bucknell this week my wife and I tried out the X48 yesterday (Monday) travelling on the 10.48 to Craven Arms, the 11.45 to Llandrindod Wells and after a bacon roll and tea in the café adjacent to the station back to Bucknell on the 14.01.  I echo many of your findings.  The bus was smart and both drivers friendly.  Like yourself, the ticket machine did not accept our English National Bus Passes, even from Bucknell to Craven Arms, but there was no trouble with acceptance by both drivers who confirmed that cross border journeys were allowed. There was one other passenger from Bucknell to Craven Arms, but for the other journeys we were the only passengers.  I asked about waiting for late running trains and the lady driver who took us to Craven Arms and back to Llandrindod said they had received no instruction to wait.  I would therefore not like to risk a connection, especially to the last bus at 21.25. She also agreed that publicity had been virtually non existent and passengers very few.  I have put some copies of the timetable on our village bus stops, but more is needed as very few people in Bucknell are aware of the new service.  Whilst being an avid user of buses, I am also appalled at the waste of public money for a service with little or no passengers.  This must be the most underused bus service in the UK.  Brian Willson Orpington, Kent and Bucknell Shropshire

    Liked by 1 person

  5. This post just highlights the UK amateurish approach to public transport information and integration, they don’t have a clue. No one is looking at it from the passengers’ point of view.

    Get some Dutch or Swiss transport consultants in to sort it out!

    Peter Brown

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  6. Well that answers why there’s often a Celtic Travel Bus parked up in Craven Arms station car park. I’m through there weekly visiting dad and as you’ve noted the is a total lack of publicity at the Craven Arms end. I’d just assumed it was a driver taking a break after some sort of schools contract.

    If the Marches is misbehaving, don’t forget the Minsterley 435 – a tradditional rural route linking Ludlow with Shrewsbury via Craven Ams, it’s not just straight up the A49, there are some interest deviations on route. It’s also a route the operator are fighting day after day to keep running on time due to circumstances out of their control – mostly relating to the fragility of the A49 trunk road.

    Dave Slater
    (Shropshire Branch)

    Liked by 2 people

  7. The X48 is a very useful addition to Radnorshire bus services. I have used it to my cousin who lives at Penybont not Penypont as an alternative to Sargents 461/2.

    From where I live in Brum it’s a simple 192 / 292 / 435/ X48 to Penybont or 147/ 144/ 44 / 675/ 476/461/ 462.

    Its surprisingly easy to get from Brum into Mid Wales by bus with many routes a hangover from Midland Red West days.

    On point though other than the college runs most of the services only carry fresh air but Powys seems to keep subsidising them.

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  8. I incorporated the X48 into a day out yesterday after reading this blog. My day got off to a bad start because the times for my local service to Wrexham on Traveline are wrong and I missed the bus. I drove to Wrexham station paying £5 to park but the train was on time and connected with the bus at Craven Arms. I was the only passenger all the way to Llandrindod. My plan was to return to Wrexham using the TrawsCymru T4 and T12 via Newtown but the T4 failed to turn up. There was no indication of a problem on the real time screen and one of the two other passengers waiting managed to get through to Stagecoach on the phone and was told everything was running. I retraced my steps to Craven Arms on X48 and this time there was one other passenger who travelled from Llandrindod to Craven Arms having arrived on a bus from Builth Wells and caught the train to Shrewsbury.

    I would recommend the X48 to anyone who enjoys rural bus services but use it quickly because its unlikely to last long given the lack of passengers and publicity. Maybe it is the plan to avoid reinstating the withdrawn rail trips – a replacement bus was put on but nobody used it so no case to put back the trains.

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  9. According to bustimes.org, “Rail tickets, English & Welsh Concessionary passes valid on this service. No guaranteed connection between Train & Bus” and this also appears on traveline.cymru. Still slightly ambiguous regarding concession passes – does this mean that English and Welsh passes are valid throughout or just within England & Wales respectively?

    The other problem with the new train timetable is that now all journeys are scheduled to pass at Llandrindod. No doubt this helps operationally but it means the service is less useful for going on day walks because the time between trains is either too short or too long, the previous 0856 departure from Shrewsbury having been put back to 1002. The X48 does not help here.

    A. Henthorn Stott

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