The Great Western Railway road motor services operated from 1903 to 1933 by the Great Western Railway, 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.
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 (GWR) decided to test the market with bus services on the route. They learnt that the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway had been forced by local officialdom to cease using the two buses on their pioneering connection to Ilfracombe and so the GWR bought them to operate a Helston 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 GWR 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 co-ordinate to road and rail services.
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, Dürkopp, 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, 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".
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. Equivalent services are now operated First South West (in Cornwall) and Stagecoach Devon. 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 which has since become Stagecoach Devon.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Services from Stroud railway station were introduced on 9 January 1905 to link with steam rail motor services in the area. Routes linked Stroud 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.
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 West of England.
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 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 Buses Wales.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838 with the initial route completed between London and Bristol in 1841. It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who chose a broad gauge of 7 ft —later slightly widened to 7 ft 1⁄4 in —but, from 1854, a series of amalgamations saw it also operate 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in standard-gauge trains; the last broad-gauge services were operated in 1892.
The Riviera Line is the railway between the city of Exeter, towns Dawlish and Teignmouth, and the English Riviera resorts of Torbay in Devon, England. Its tracks are shared with the Exeter to Plymouth Line along the South Devon sea wall. It is part of the Network Rail Route 12.
Teignmouth railway station is on the Exeter to Plymouth line and serves the seaside town of Teignmouth in Devon, England. It is located 208 miles 70 chains (336 km) from London Paddington, via Box. It is operated by Great Western Railway and is the third-busiest station on the Riviera Line after Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot.
Newton Abbot railway station serves the market town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. It is 214 miles 5 chains (345 km) from London Paddington. The station today is managed by Great Western Railway, who provide train services along with CrossCountry.
Midland Red was a bus company that operated in The Midlands from 1905 until 1981. It was one of the largest English bus companies, operating over a large area between Gloucester in the south and Derbyshire in the north, and from Northampton to the Welsh border. The company also manufactured buses.
Paignton railway station serves the town and seaside resort of Paignton in Devon, England. It is 222 miles 12 chains (358 km) from London Paddington, via Box. It opened in 1859 and is now the terminus of Riviera Line services from Exeter and heritage services on the Dartmouth Steam Railway from Kingswear.
The West Cornwall Railway was a railway company in Cornwall, Great Britain, formed in 1846 to construct a railway between Penzance and Truro. It purchased the existing Hayle Railway, and improved its main line, and built new sections between Penzance and Hayle, and between Redruth and Truro, and opened throughout in 1852.
The Dartmouth and Torbay Railway was a broad gauge railway linking the South Devon Railway branch at Torquay with Kingswear in Devon, England. It was operated from the outset by the South Devon Railway.
The Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway was a railway company intended to link Cheltenham, Gloucester and Swindon, in England. It was authorised in 1836 but it found it very hard to raise money for the construction, and it opened only a part of its line, between Swindon and Cirencester, in 1841. It sold its business to the Great Western Railway, which quickly built the line through to Gloucester in 1845 and Cheltenham in 1847; part of that route was shared with other companies.
The Cornish Main Line is a railway line in Cornwall and Devon in the United Kingdom. It runs from Penzance to Plymouth, crossing from Cornwall into Devon over the famous Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash.
The evolution of transport in Cornwall has been shaped by the county's strong maritime, mining and industrial traditions and much of the transport infrastructure reflects this heritage.
The Bristol Omnibus Company was a dominant bus operator in Bristol, and was one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. It ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and neighbouring counties.
Western National was a bus company operating in South West England from 1929 until the 1990s.
Devon General was the principal bus operator in south Devon from 1919. The name was first used by the Devon General Omnibus and Touring Company which was created in 1919. In 1922 it was purchased by the National Electric Construction Company which merged with British Electric Traction in 1931. Nationalisation in 1969 resulted in 1971 with the company being merged into Western National. In 1983 a new Devon General Limited was created which became the first operating subsidiary of the National Bus Company to be privatised in 1986 when it became the first company of Transit Holdings. It was sold to the Stagecoach Group in 1996 and renamed Stagecoach Devon in 2003.
The Helston Railway is a heritage railway in Cornwall which aims to rebuild and preserve as much as possible of the former GWR Helston Railway between Nancegollen and Water-Ma-Trout on the outskirts of Helston. It is operated by the Helston Railway Preservation Company using members of the Helston Railway Preservation Society.
The earliest known infrastructure for transport in Somerset is a series of wooden trackways laid across the Somerset Levels, an area of low-lying marshy ground. To the west of this district lies the Bristol Channel, while the other boundaries of the county of Somerset are along chains of hills that were once exploited for their mineral deposits. These natural features have all influenced the evolution of the transport network. Roads and railways either followed the hills, or needed causeways to cross the Levels. Harbours were developed, rivers improved, and linked to sources of traffic by canals. Railways were constructed throughout the area, influenced by the needs of the city of Bristol, which lies just to the north of Somerset, and to link the ports of the far south-west with the rest of England.
Devon General first operated open top buses in Torbay in 1919 but reintroduced open top buses on tourist routes in 1955. New buses were introduced in 1961 which were known as 'Sea Dogs' because of the names they were given, but these were later replaced by those of 'Warships'.
Torquay Tramways operated electric street trams in Torquay, Devon, England, from 1907. They were initially powered by the unusual Dolter stud-contact electrification, but in 1911 was converted to more conventional overhead-line supply. The line was extended into neighbouring Paignton in 1911 but the whole network was closed in 1934.
Kernow is a bus company operating services in Cornwall, England. It is part of First South West, a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
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