Swindon’s £33 million new bus station

Tuesday 2nd September 2025

This week sees a raft of bus services improvements with new Bus Service Improvement Plan funded routes in many areas as well as major changes to the TrawsCymru network and other services in Powys. I hope to sample many of these changed routes over the next few weeks but first up was a visit yesterday to see the long awaited new bus station in Swindon which opened on Sunday.

As I highlighted in a blog in January, extensive work to convert the old Fleming Way bus stops used mainly by town bus routes into a bus only no-through road, which would also replace the nearby tired old bus station used by out-of-town routes, began in September 2022.

It’s seen Fleming Way receive a major transformation from what was a raised concrete dominated through road using an overbridge to a very pleasant ground level cul-de-sac.

It’s also goodbye to the tired old nearby bus station which has long been past its sell by date, let alone use by date.

The all singing all new Fleming Way arrangement includes 27 bus stops with 23 shelters as well as an impressive central reservation between the two lanes for buses which, together with seating and attractive border planters along the sides of the road containing over 173 trees and 23,000 plants made up from 100 mixed hedgerow bee-friendly species.

It looks splendid and really helps make the area an attractive place to catch a bus particularly as the plants are already colourful and the trees already have a level of maturity.

Aside from four departure stops sharing the same shelter (lettered J)…

… each departure point has its own dedicated shelter and even better these are to a very attractive design…

… from a company I haven’t heard of before called Externiture.

They’re smart looking with what seem like sliding door handles at the entrance and exit…

… but I assume are just to help those with accessibility needs.

Inside there’s a corner seat as well as seats with, amazingly enough, wireless charging pads which must be a first for bus shelters in the UK.

There are also bench type longitudinal seats which are fairly comfortable to sit on too.

Each shelter has two electronic signs inside showing the next three departures…

…and outside there’s a large panel on many of the shelters which alternates between showing the next 19 departures (which actually only covers the next 10-11 minutes such are the frequencies and number of routes)…

… and a commercial advert.

I appreciate it can be a good revenue source but it’s always frustrating when you’re just scanning down the departure listing and not quite reached the one you want and the display switches to an advert.

Back inside the shelter there’s a frame for the bus company to install it’s own printed departure list (or timetables) for buses from that stop and it was noticeable how Swindon Bus Company has installed its list and used the space alongside for a generic poster promoting bus use…

… whereas Stagecoach hasn’t…

… making for a rather untidy appearance.

It’s good to see where a stop is served by both companies, the space is shared.

On the outside of each shelter there’s a town centre street map…

… as well as a diagram showing the layout of the bus stops along Fleming Way with each one labelled wit its location letter.

However, there’s no key alongside telling you which services stop at each one. For that information you have to find a poster on display inside the shelters which does clearly show a route listing in number order and which lettered stop each one uses.

It’s a pity a frame hasn’t been provided on the outside for this helpful poster as passengers unfamiliar with the allocation might not think to look inside.

Again it’s interesting to note this poster has been put up inside bus shelters used by the Swindon Bus Company but even though it’s got Stagecoach routes on it that company so far hasn’t displayed it inside the shelters it uses.

As you can see from the photos, colour coded route numbers are also clearly shown on the outside of each shelter which carries through into the timetable book and map.

I highlighted the excellent comprehensive all-operator timetable book in a recent blog and it’s good to see an updated edition has been produced dated 31st August which contains a map and layout of the new bus station.

While exploring the new facilities I bumped into Nikki and Ami from Go South Coast (of which Swindon Bus Company is part) and they explained that not only have they produced this timetable book on behalf of Swindon Borough Council but they are also distributing a single sheet leaflet giving details of the bus station departure stands for Swindon Bus Company routes.

Another much welcome addition to the new facilities is a toilet block installed about two thirds of the way along Fleming Way. I was wondering if toilets would be included and if so how it would be done on what is basically a road, and this solution seems like a good one.

The bus station has a turning circle at its western end…

… where there are two bus shelters (N1 and N2) devoted to “National Services” aka express coach services…

… and I noticed the real time departure listing on display showed half a screen of local routes and the other half shows rail departures.

I guess it was thought to be a good idea as National Rail could be a “National Service” and it ticks the ‘integration box’ but in practice if a passenger is at this bus stop they’re there for the coach departures (which aren’t shown) rather than rail.

Nice thought though.

There are two layover spaces opposite these departure stands…

… and I noticed two more by Stand J where there’s a road exit from Fleming Way.

But otherwise I assume there are enough stands to not warrant the need for many layover spaces.

I should also add there are four light controlled pedestrian crossing points…

… along the length of Fleming Way.

I did notice there’s not much room for buses to pass each other if one hasn’t parked close up to the kerb.

Furthermore the very first stop A as buses enter is designated an alighting point only which I assume is for out of town routes but I haven’t understood why they wouldn’t just drop off at their departure stand. Again it looked as though this may cause a bottleneck with buses unable to enter Fleming Way if two buses are unloading.

If you do get dropped off at stand A and want to make a change to another bus route, say from stop M or a “National Service” from stop N, for example, it’s a 450 yard walk the full length of the bus interchange. It took me nearly four and a half minutes at a moderate pace to get from one end to the other.

There again, it would have taken about the same time to walk from the old bus station to the old Fleming Way to interchange between routes so it’s not much difference. If you want all bus routes located together one has to accept connections could involve a significant walk.

There’s an offside segregated cycle lane running alongside Fleming Way either side of the central reservation…

… and traffic (albeit not much) crosses Fleming Way towards the western end (east of the turning circle), controlled by traffic lights.

There’s no travel office or facility of that kind which sadly is only to be expected these days. In the old Fleming Way arrangements there was a travel shop for Swindon’s local buses and another one run by Stagecoach in the old bus station.

In conclusion it is good to see all the town’s bus departures co-located in one place and it’s obvious much effort has gone into making the practicalities work with excellent shelters and information provision as well as a very attractive environment making for a relaxed ambiance. The fact this great new facility is conveniently positioned in the town centre is also a bonus.

Well done to all concerned in bringing this project to fruition. Swindon is definitely leading the way here.

Before closing I’ve just realised I’ve been referring to the new arrangements as a ‘bus station’ but I see it’s also called variously a ‘bus interchange’, a ‘transport hub’ and even a ‘bus boulevard’ in various media outlets. So take your pick.

Roger French

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