Cardiff Central Bus Station (Cardiff)

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Cardiff Central bus station is the main bus transport interchange in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. With 34 stands, it is the largest bus station in the city and in Wales. It is located adjacent to Cardiff Central railway station forming a major bus-rail-cycle-taxi interchange.

The station used to handle the vast majority of bus and coach services that run in and through the city. Notable exceptions to this are the Megabus service (which calls at Kingsway and Cardiff University), Stagecoach route 122 (which calls at Greyfriars Road) and EST route 89 (which uses Customhouse Street).However most city services now circle the city centre without calling at the station.

The site of Cardiff's bus station had previously been an area of housing and shops known as Temperance Town. However, demolition of Temperance Town commenced in 1937 after the Great Western Railway persuaded the Cardiff Corporation to improve the view from their new railway station.The Central bus station was opened in 1954.

Demolition and reconstruction of the bus station began in 2008 with the terminus building being demolished. The station is being redeveloped from 2008. Demolition of the old terminal buildings (between stand A and Wood Street stands) started on 11 January 2008, when services that usually stop at the terminal buildings began to no longer serve these stops and instead pick up at Castle Street and Westgate Street. On 6 May 2008, Stand A at the bus station closed for demolition of the terminal buildings.

A multi-million-pound modernisation of Cardiff central bus station was announced in December 2010. Cardiff Council has devised three options, following consultation. In December 2011 the Council announced that the existing bus station would close in early 2013 and the new bus station would be built on the site of the neighbouring Wood Street NCP Car Park (see map plan above). The new bus station would open in Summer 2014, and provide 19 bays and have direct access to Westgate Street and St. Mary Street via Saunders Road.

A further announcement was made in January 2012, that negotiations were underway to sell off the existing bus station land to two major companies, who would build a 12-storey headquarters on the site. Part of the proceeds from the sale would be put towards redesign and redevelopment of Central Square, which would be renamed 'Capital Square'.