Opening date revealed for new coach station

Plymouth’s new coach station will open on Thursday 8 September.

Contractor SWH Civils is making good progress on the construction project off Mayflower Street which will replace the old 1950s coach station at Bretonside.

SWH Civils has released the latest time lapse video from May and June to show how much progress has been made. http://bit.ly/1X8INU2

The key features, the giant canopies that provide cover for passengers getting on and off coaches, are now up on the eastern end of the site.

Through another contract SWH Build, also part of SWH Group, is converting the former Lloyds Bank building into a ticket office. Granite stones are being laid  in what will become an outside waiting area and creating the chequered board look that will feature across the coach station.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport, Housing and Planning, Councillor Patrick Nicholson said: "It’s good to see this new coach station taking shape and the opening date means the end of the build is in sight.

“For a long time people have felt that Bretonside did not give the welcome a modern city should give visitors. This new coach station will change that. We hope it will also mean more people spend money in and around this part of the city centre. Moving the coach services out of Bretonside will allow a £42 million investment get underway, which is great news for the city centre and great news for Plymouth.

National Express service delivery director Kevin Gale said: "National Express is getting in gear to move into the new coach station and it's fantastic to see it taking shape.

"This is a really exciting new development, not just for us as a business, but also for the city as a whole, and will provide our customers with a really modern and welcoming experience. We will continue to work closely with the council throughout the latter stages of the build and as we transition over to the new site."

Over the summer the Council will work with National Express to make sure that passengers know where the new coach station will be.

Signs will be going up in Bretonside and around the city centre. Other coach operators are being made aware of changes to give people plenty of notice about new arrangements.

The new coach station will be operated by National Express which will operate direct daily services to towns and cities across the UK.

New arrangements are being made for tour operators and visitor coaches to be dropped off and picked up at the bottom of Royal Parade and on the Barbican as part of the Council’s plans to improve coach services for the city.

An area around the pavements at Derry’s Cross is being altered to provide two dedicated locations for coaches to drop off day visitors. There will also be a shelter built.

Later in the year an area at the junction of Lambhay Hill and Commercial Road on the Barbican will be re-engineered to enable coaches to turn into it from Lambhay Hill to reduce the number of coaches driving along the narrow Southside Street.

The Council has been working with the trade representative body, the Confederation of Passenger Transport, to make sure both passengers and the coach companies are catered for.