There was no shortage of hyperbole to accompany last Sunday’s opening of Exeter’s glamorous new bus station.
Certainly having four walls and some doors gives it the edge on the open-sided structure it replaced, but it’s not clear what makes its design “state of the art”, particularly as it doesn’t meet the BREEAM Excellent environmental construction standards required by the city’s core planning policies since 2013.
This didn’t deter city council leader Phil Bialyk, a former bus driver, as was his predecessor Pete Edwards, from extolling the new station’s virtues, which include departure screens and, to the relief of many, public toilets.
Prince Charles visited the new station earlier in the week, which prompted a minor media flurry, although none of the coverage we saw pointed out his abiding interest in the Citypoint redevelopment site.
Stagecoach South West will operate the new facility but several of its services, those of other companies, and National Express and Megabus coaches will continue to use street stops in the area to pick up and drop off passengers.
