Traveline Heroes Competition Winner!

A man from Cardiff Bay has been crowned the winner of Traveline Cymru’s Wales-wide competition to find public transport heroes.

David Holmes, 44, was awarded his prize, a brand new Apple iPad, after beating off competition from over 4,000 entries.

Launched in April 2013, the competition encouraged people to step forward as ‘Traveline Heroes’ by sharing how using the public transport information service has benefitted them.

David, who does not own a car, uses the Traveline Cymru website to plan his train and bus journeys. He will be giving his prize to his niece as a Christmas present to help her with her studies when she joins Bangor University next year.

On winning his prize, David said: “I’m delighted to have won an Apple iPad. It will make a great Christmas present for my niece as she can take it with her when she goes to University to study Law next year.

“After selling my car, the Traveline Cymru information service has been invaluable to help me plan my journeys. The fact that all the details are available on one website makes it easier as you don’t have to waste time looking on several websites for journey times. Traveline Cymru makes public transport simple.”

Almost 2 million pieces of travel information have been delivered to Welsh travellers this year, up 49% on last year. Information has been accessed through Traveline Cymru’s bilingual website, a bilingual call centre, a bilingual app and its social media channels.

Earlier this year, Traveline Cymru also expanded the range of information it provides to public transport users in Wales with the launch of a fare finder service.

This new service allows travellers to access rail and bus fares from a range of operators through Traveline Cymru’s dedicated bilingual call centre and website, and in coming weeks its iphone and android apps.

Graham Walter, General Manager for Traveline Cymru, said: “David is a worthy winner and we hope his niece will be thrilled with her Christmas present. Whilst David was our overall winner, over the last eight months, we have given smaller prizes to lots of people in Wales, who we felt deserved the Traveline Hero status.

“We’re delighted that we received over 4,000 entries for the campaign which demonstrates how important it is for people to be able to access up-to-date travel information, regardless of their mode of transport.”

Laura Thomas (Traveline Cymru), Graham Walter - General Manager (Traveline Cymru), David Holmes (Competition Winner) and Rachel Pewsey (Traveline Cymru)