Cardiff Bus offering free travel to Armed Forces personnel and veterans on Remembrance Sunday

Cardiff Bus is offering free travel to those who have served in the armed forces to commemorate Remembrance Sunday.

Passengers who are travelling on Remembrance Sunday to special services and are dressed in military uniform or can provide proof of serving in the forces, will be given free travel from 8am until 2pm on all its services (except for journeys starting and ending at East Park & Ride and County Hall Park & Ride.)
Those with an All Wales Concessionary Travel Card will still need to validate this on the bus ticket machine.

The bus operator is running the free travel offer to honour and pay tribute to the sacrifices made by local servicemen and women, including one of its retired bus drivers who spent 20 years in the Royal Air Force and is now a District Parade Marshal for the commemorations.

Ken Terry, aged 72, from Caerphilly, latterly became a bus driver for Cardiff Bus after serving in the Royal Air Force for over two decades.

Ken joined the Force at the age of 15, where he completed military training and drills as well as trade training, which led him to become a ground communications fitter, responsible for navigation and communication.

He was also involved in the confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia in the 1960s where he provided regiments with new equipment.

After leaving the Royal Air Force at the age of 35, Ken became a bus driver and latterly worked for Cardiff Bus until he retired. He is now a District Parade Marshall and is responsible for ceremonial matters including forming the parades.

Ken said: “Many people are surprised when I say I joined the Force at the age of 15 but, in those days, further education and university wasn’t really an option. Joining the Force was a great job and it made my family extremely proud. The training I received was very intense and it definitely taught me discipline.

“I think it’s very important to commemorate those who fought for us to have a better life and I’m glad I now have the role of District Parade Marshal so that I can ensure all of our veterans are celebrated.

“It’s a lovely idea from Cardiff Bus to allow servicemen and women to travel for free on Sunday as I’m sure their buses will be extremely busy with people attending the Remembrance Sunday commemorations. I always enjoyed working for the company and now my son is a Cardiff Bus driver, so it’s definitely in the family!”

Gareth Stevens, business development manager at Cardiff Bus, said: “Ken was always an extremely hard working and valued employee at Cardiff Bus and we’d like to thank him for his years of service at Cardiff Bus. We know that many of our customers and staff have service personnel amongst their friends and family, who will be travelling to various Remembrance events this Sunday and we are proud to be able to support them in this way. We also wanted to show a small token of our gratitude for their years of service and play a part in remembering those who have been lost in action.”