The Rhondda Tramways Company was established in 1906 as a subsidiary of the National Electric Construction Company. The NECC was acquired, with all its subsidiary businesses, by British Electric Traction Company (BET) in 1928. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the BET was a major operator of tramways in the UK, and later became one of the biggest operators of motor buses in the UK.

History

The

Rhondda Tramways Company Rhondda Tramways Company operated a tramway service in Rhondda, Wales, between 1904 and 1934. History The Pontypridd and Rhondda Valley Tramway Company had built a horse-drawn tramway between Pontypridd and Porth, which had been authorised ...

was given the franchise under act of parliament to run trams within the boundaries of the Rhondda Urban District Council. The council itself was prohibited from running its own bus service. In the early 1930s the trams were replaced by diesel buses.Rhondda Cynon Taf - Library Service Heritage Trail - Treherbert
By 1956 Rhondda Transport operated over 200 buses, and shortly afterwards it became the largest bus operator in Wales. In 1971 the company was taken over by

Western Welsh Western Welsh was a Welsh bus operating company, based in Cardiff covering South Wales and the northern parts of the West Country. Formed in 1920, it was nationalised when the BET Group sold their bus interests to the Transport Holding Company i ...

. Western Welsh was merged with Red & White to form

National Welsh National Welsh Omnibus Services was a bus company which operated in south-east Wales and in the Forest of Dean area of Gloucestershire from 1978 to 1992. It used the trading name ''National Welsh'' and its Welsh equivalent ''Cymru Cenedlaethol' ...

, a component company of the newly created and nationalised National Bus Company (NBC).WalesOnline - News - South Wales Valleys - Plenty of changes on Valley buses
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Subsequent developments

NBC was privatised under prime minister Margaret Thatcher's privatisation campaigns in 1986. National Welsh was sold to its management and began a vigorous expansionist drive, taking over smaller local and municipal bus companies in the South Wales valleys. It collapsed in 1992, and the former Rhondda Transport operations were taken over by Rhondda Buses. This company was taken over by the

Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom. History Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early ...

in 1997, and the erstwhile RTC now operates as

Stagecoach Wales Stagecoach in South WalesCompanies House extract company no 255550 ...

References

{{Defunct British Bus Companies Former bus operators in Wales 1906 establishments in Wales Transport companies established in 1902 British companies established in 1906 Railway companies established in 1906