Shamrock turns around ailing X55 route with 18% passenger growth

A Welsh bus route dropped by Stagecoach has seen 18% patronage growth in three months after an independent operator took over.

Stagecoach launched the two-hourly X55 Aberdare-Swansea route in 2002 to exploit the Welsh free travel for pensioners and disabled people. But in April it withdrew X55 and the long-standing hourly X75 Merthyr Tydfil-Swansea service, saying both routes needed more than twice as many passengers to become viable.

Shamrock Travel, Wales’ largest independent...