The
Great Western Railway road motor services operated from 1903 to 1933, both as a feeder to their train services, and as a cheaper alternative to building new railways in rural areas. They were the first successful
bus services operated by a
British railway company.
History
Faced with an estimate of £85,000 to build a
light railway to serve the area south of
Helston in
Cornwall, the
Great Western Railway decided to test the market with bus services on the route. They managed to acquire two vehicles that had been used temporarily on a
Lynton and Barnstaple Railway service. The service proved so popular and profitable that further routes were soon established at
Penzance and
Slough.
By the end of 1904, 36 buses were in operation, 10 more than were in service in London. When the Great Western Railway (Road Transport) Act was passed in 1928 the Great Western had the largest railway bus fleet. This
Act regularised the railway's operation of road services and also paved the way for them to be transferred out of the railway's control to bus companies, although the railway was to be a shareholder in these companies and there would still be an effort to coordinate to road and rail services.
Vehicles
The first vehicles were 16 hp Milnes-Daimler single-deck buses. They were soon supplemented by 20 hp, and later, 30 hp vehicles from the same company. Smaller numbers of vehicles were also supplied by Dennis, Durkopp,
Straker-Squire, and Wolseley, as well as a few Clarkson 20 hp
steam buses. Later buses were obtained from
AEC, Chevrolet, Daimler, Guy, Leyland,
Maudslay,
Thornycroft, and a few from Burford, Clement-Talbot,
Crossley, Ford, Gilford, Graham Dodge, Guy, International, Lancia, Morris, Overland BMT, and Vauxhall.
Buses for busier routes were double-deck, while some had luggage compartments for carrying mail bags. For tourist excursions, vehicles – known as "Jersey Cars" – were open, with seats arranged in tiers so that passengers sitting at the back could see over the heads of those in front. More familiar coach types were introduced later and were used on excursions and long-distance "Land Cruises".
Services in Devon and Cornwall
Routes in
Devon and
Cornwall were transferred to the new
Western National Omnibus Company on 1 January 1929, which was half-owned by the Great Western Railway and half by the
National Omnibus and Transport Company. These services are now part of
First Devon and Cornwall. In 1929 the railway also took 30% of the shares in the
Devon General Omnibus and Touring Company, while the
Southern Railway took 20%. At the same time, Western National routes around
Bovey Tracey and
Moretonhampstead were transferred to Devon General; this is now
Stagecoach Devon.
Helston and Penzance
The first service ran from
Helston to
The Lizard, connecting with trains at
Helston railway station. The service commenced on 17 August 1903, a trial run having been made two days earlier. The service was operated by the railway until the formation of Western National. Other services were operated to
Mullion,
Ruan Minor, and
Porthleven. A
Falmouth to
Penzance service via Helston was run from 11 July 1921.
A service from
Penzance to
Marazion had been introduced on 31 October 1903 and ran until 6 August 1916, running beyond
Penzance to
Newlyn for the first few months. Another service was introduced on 16 May 1904 to
St Just which was often extended to
Pendeen and
Lands End. In 1922 services were introduced from Penzance through
St Buryan to Lands End and various villages in the area. Two years later a short-lived service ran to
St Ives.
In 1925 new services were added from Helston to
Redruth,
Gweek,
St Keverne,
Manaccan.
Bus services today at Penzance continue to use a bus station adjacent to
Penzance railway station.
Plymouth and the South Hams
A service from
Plymouth to
Modbury was introduced later in 1904, with several local services from Modbury to
Aveton Gifford,
Yealmpton,
Bigbury-on-Sea, and
Ivybridge. They also ran through
Kingsbridge to
Salcombe and
Dartmouth. Further routes from Kingsbridge ran to
Totnes,
Newton Abbot,
Thurlestone and
Hope Cove.
A Plymouth to
Roborough route ran from 12 September 1904 until 6 August 1916. Buses were kept underneath the
viaduct upon which
Plymouth Millbay railway station was built.
Torquay and Paignton
A service was introduced along the sea front, linking
Paignton with
Torquay on 11 July 1904. Another route was established from Paignton to
Totnes on 20 April 1905, as well a short-lived one to
Brixham, and seasonal tours.
The bus station at Paignton is still opposite
Paignton railway station.
Redruth
Services from
Redruth started on 29 July 1907 with a route to
Falmouth. A network was established over the coming years that reached to
Portreath,
Illogan,
St Day,
Carharrack,
St Keverne, and Helston.
The
corrugated iron railway bus garage still stands behind
Redruth railway station, although no longer used for its original purpose.
St Austell
The first services from
St Austell were that to
St Columb Road via
St Dennis on 3 August 1908 and to
Bugle and
Bodmin the following month. Other routes were added to
Charlestown,
Pentewan (3 August 1908),
Newquay (29 May 1910),
Truro (1911),
Trenarren (1 August 1911),
St Blazey,
Treviscoe (2 October 1911),
Par (1 October 1920),
Tywardreath and
Fowey, also
Portscatho (9 October 1923),
Mevagissey (17 December 1923),
Gorran Haven,
Roche (9 July 1928).
The bus station at St Austell is still situated outside
St Austell railway station in what used to be the railway goods yard.
Other services
A service ran from
Saltash railway station to
Callington from 1 June 1904 to test the market for a proposed
light railway, but continued as a bus service until 30 September 1911.
Moretonhampstead railway station was a focal point for tours on
Dartmoor, and a regular service to
Chagford ran from 9 April 1906 until 31 December 1928. Other routes in the area ran from
Bovey railway station to
Newton Abbot and tourist spots such as
Widecombe-in-the-Moor and
Haytor.
Services elsewhere in England
Slough
One of the railway's earliest routes was that from
Slough railway station to
Beaconsfield,
Buckinghamshire, opened on 1 March 1904. Routes to
Windsor followed on 18 July 1904 and to
Burnham Beeches on 1 May 1908, extended to
Taplow in 1927.
Cotswolds
Services from
Stroud railway station were introduced on 9 January 1905 to link with
steam rail motor services in the area. Routes linked
Stroud, Gloucestershire with
Cheltenham. The Stroud area services were transferred to Western National in 1929. There were also services from Cheltenham to
Bishops Cleeve and
Winchcombe, later transferred to
Bristol Tramways. In 1927 some new routes were started from
Pershore. In the following year a long cross-country route from Cheltenham to
Oxford was started to connect Cheltenham to the London trains at Oxford, more direct than the all-rail route to London. The service was transferred to Bristol Tramways in 1932.
Somerset
Some
steam buses were tried at
Highbridge railway station to work a
Burnham-on-Sea to
Cheddar service during 1905. The following year a number of services were tried that radiated from
Bridgwater, but all had been withdrawn by the end of 1911.
Services were run in
Weston-super-Mare along the sea front to the Old Pier and Sand Point, and up the hill to Worlebury. Commencing on 8 July 1928, they continued under GWR operation until 19 July 1931 when they were transferred, along with some routes in
Portishead, to
Bristol Tramways, which is now
First Somerset & Avon.
Other services
A route from
Wolverhampton to
Bridgnorth was operated for a short while from 7 November 1904 using steam buses, and was restarted the following year with motor buses.
Stourbridge was linked with
Bromsgrove, a town on the
Midland Railway, on 13 February 1905.
In the Weymouth area, services started in 1905 jointly with the
London and South Western Railway. These, the last services operated by the railway, were transferred to the
Southern National company on 1 January 1934.
Other routes could be found at
Banbury,
Frome,
Hungerford,
Maidenhead,
Marlborough,
Newbury,
Swindon, and
Wantage.
Routes were transferred to various local companies, with the railway taking a shareholding to allow it to exert an influence over the bus services, although routes were often transferred over a period of several months following the signing of the agreements on the dates given. Companies involved were the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company (
Midland Red - 1 January 1930),
City of Oxford Motor Services (28 February 1930),
Thames Valley Traction (1 January 1931), although some of those at Slough went to
London General Country Services on 10 April 1932. Routes around Swindon were transferred to
Bristol Tramways.
Services in Wales
Services started from
Wrexham on 11 October 1904. Routes radiated from many stations, including
Aberavon,
Abergavenny,
Aberystwyth,
Brecon,
Cardigan,
Carmarthen,
Corwen,
Neath,
Newcastle Emlyn,
New Quay,
Oswestry, and
St David's.
Services in south and west
Wales transferred to the new
Western Welsh Omnibus Company on 1 August 1929, which was half-owned by the railway. Services in the north became "Western Transport" from 3 November 1930, which was
amalgamated with the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway-backed
Crosville Motor Services on 1 May 1933. This is now
Arriva North West and Wales.
References
External links