Blackwood Interchange


Blackwood Interchange is a bus station located in the town centre of Blackwood, Caerphilly, South Wales. It is situated on Gordon Road adjacent to the High Street.

Background

The existing Blackwood Bus Station redeveloped by Caerphilly County Borough Council in 2007. The project cost an approximate £2.4 million.
During development, traders in the town centre voiced concerns that "customers will be put off walking through the market when contractors move in" however Councillors reassured concerned individuals with the prospect of a reduction in the business rate for affected businesses.
Architect Geraint Jones, unusually, was an internal developer from within Caerphilly Council's own department, at a time where most civic developments in the UK are designed by private practices.
The redevelopment of Blackwood Bus Station was judged by Caerphilly Council as successful, helping to end the anti social behaviour associated with the previous concrete structure station, and it has encouraged the subsequent development of the town in the form of new retail units on its periphery and the new Sirhowy Enterprise Way area.

Awards

The 2007 redevelopment won a number of awards nationally, including:
The bus station is a glass façade terminal building including café, waiting area, canteen, offices and welfare facilities.
The stand doors provide access to buses, which park next to the gate on arrival, and then reverse out on departure. It is fully covered from the weather.
The station offers a café, named The Plaza, and used to offer public toilet facilities within the station building. The toilet facilities closed in April 2019 due to the increasing financial difficulties faced by Caerphilly Council. Caerphilly Town Centre public toilets re-opened in July 2019 but the fate of facilities in Blackwood remain uncertain. A proposed development, Blackwood Artisan Markets, and the accompanying apartment project, have offered to provide alternative toilets.

Destinations

Blackwood lies as a stop on the Tredegar to Newport route, as well as offering a number of other destinations which begin in the town. These include Pontypridd, New Tredegar, Abertillery, Cardiff, and Ystrad Mynach with transfer for the railway station.
OperatorNumberService begins atStandService destinationJourney timeFrequency
Stagecoach in South Wales5Blackwood8Pantside33 minutesEvery 30 minutes
Caerphilly County Borough Council 5ABlackwood8Oakdale - circular22 minutes3 trips a day on Tuesdays & Fridays only
Harris Coaches6Blackwood1Wyllie13 minutesEvery 60 minutes
Harris Coaches7Blackwood5Pontypridd55 minutesEvery 50 to 60 minutes
Harris Coaches8Blackwood4Grove Park17 minutesEvery 60 minutes
Stagecoach in South Wales9Blackwood1Pontllanfraith3 minutesEvery 20 minutes
Harris Coaches11Blackwood5Gelligaer27 minutesEvery 60 minutes
Harris Coaches12Blackwood2New Tredegar32 minutesEvery 20 to 30 minutes
Harris Coaches & Stagecoach in South Wales 14Blackwood2Bargoed Interchange28 minutesEvery 20 to 30 minutes
Stagecoach in South Wales21Blackwood4Cwmbran54 minutesEvery 60 minutes
Stagecoach in South Wales27Blackwood3Bargoed Interchange28 minutesEvery 60 minutes
Stagecoach in South Wales52Blackwood8Abertillery41 minutesEvery 60 minutes
Stagecoach in South Wales56Newport3Tredegar30 minutesEvery 20 to 40 minutes
Stagecoach in South Wales26 GoldBlackwood5Cardiff66 minutesEvery 30 minutes
Stagecoach in South Wales151 GoldBlackwood6Newport Bus Station Market Square51 minutesEvery 10 minutes
NAT Group901Blackwood4Ystrad Mynach station16 minutesEvery 60 to 80 minutes
NAT Group900Blackwood4Blackwood Gate Retail Park5 minutesEvery 60 minutes
Stagecoach in South WalesA1Blackwood9ASDA Blackwood5 minutesEvery 20 minutes
Caerphilly County Borough Council 15Blackwood4Cefn Glas7 minutes1 trip a day on Tuesdays only
Glyn Evans & Son13Blackwood3Manmoel15 minutes1 trip a day on Tuesdays only

Rail transport

closed in 1965, however NAT bus 901 provides travel to nearby Ystrad Mynach railway station in 16 minutes, every hour.
Professor Mark Barry, who has consulted the Welsh Government on the South Wales Metro project, has written about the potential for Blackwood railway station to reopen as part of a tram-train system connecting other valleys towns from east to west.