A county council has been criticised after spending £2.7m on a bus hub with no buses.

The Vale of Glamorgan Council in South Wales spent the money on the public transport interchange with funding from the Cardiff Capital Region and the Welsh government.

Plaid Cymru’s group leader on the council, Dr Ian Johnson, told Sky News the situation was “surreal”.

“Unfortunately…the Vale of Glamorgan has found that none of the local bus companies are willing to offer a service which calls at the new bus station, the public transport interchange,” he said.

While he recognised the “need” for an interchange, Dr Johnson said the council had been left in the “fairly silly situation of spending almost £3m on a bus station with no buses”.

“The site can’t be used for anything else, we’ve spent £3m on making it a bus station,” Dr Johnson added.

“What we need are buses that are going to use that site. Hopefully, the council can find a way out of this situation because it’s rather embarrassing for everybody at the moment.”

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Local bus operator Adventure Travel was initially due to have services stopping at Barry interchange but later cancelled those plans, according to Dr Johnson.

Cardiff Bus also did not include a service calling at the stop in its recently-published autumn timetable.

The Welsh Conservatives’ shadow transport minister in the Senedd, Natasha Asghar, said she was not surprised “at the ridiculousness of this situation”.

“Money is being thrown at projects with little oversight and a definitive lack of long-term planning,” she added.

A spokesperson for the Vale of Glamorgan Council said the Barry Dock interchange provided bus stops, a taxi rank and bike shelters alongside the train station, with electric car charging points also due to be connected soon.

The spokesperson added that the project had been completed at a “very difficult time for the bus industry”.

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“Reductions in government funding, reduced post-pandemic passenger numbers, and a shortage of drivers have all contributed to reductions in bus services,” the spokesperson said.

“In the short term, the new interchange will be used for Transport for Wales rail replacement services while upgrades to the local train network are undertaken.

“The council is also in discussions with local bus providers to see if the new interchange can be incorporated into any existing routes.”

The council says it expects the interchange “to come into regular use” as new residential developments in the area are completed.

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