 Preserved Bristol VRT in Penzance in April 2012 | |
| Parent | National Bus Company |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1929 |
| Headquarters | Exeter |
| Service area | Cornwall Devon Dorset Gloucestershire Somerset |
| Service type | Bus operator |
| Hubs | Plymouth, North Cornwall, West Cornwall |
| Depots | Plymouth, Camborne, Penzance |
Western National was a bus company operating in South West England from 1929 until the 1990s.
Western National Omnibus Company [1] was founded in 1929 as a joint venture between the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the National Omnibus & Transport Company. The National company had originated in 1909 as the National Steam Car Company, started to run steam bus services in London. The London services ceased in 1919, when the company was renamed National Omnibus & Transport Company. The company expanded outside London, into Essex (1913), Bedfordshire (1919), Gloucestershire (1919), Somerset (1920), Dorset (1921), and Devon & Cornwall [ citation needed ] (1927).
The GWR had developed an extensive network of bus services in Devon and Cornwall. These services, and those of the National Omnibus in Devon and Cornwall, were transferred to Western National. A few months later, the new company bought the operations of the National company in south west Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, and also the GWR bus services around Trowbridge and Stroud. The result was an operating territory stretching from Cheltenham to Penzance, in five areas: Gloucestershire (based in Stroud), Wiltshire (based in Trowbridge), south and west Somerset (based in Taunton), south Devon (based in Plymouth) and Cornwall. Western National's operating territory was interspersed with those of three other major operators: Bristol in south Gloucestershire and north Somerset, Southern National in north Devon and north Cornwall and Devon General in south and east Devon.
In 1931, a controlling interest in the National Omnibus was acquired by the Tilling Group. From then on Western National was run as a Tilling company, although the GWR retained its shares until 1948. Western National and Southern National shared a common management, based in Exeter (although curiously neither company had a depot in Exeter).
At the end of 1934, Western National and Southern National bought Royal Blue Coach Services.
On 1 January 1948, the Great Western Railway was nationalised and, shortly after, the Tilling Group sold its bus interests to the government. Western National therefore became a state-owned company, under the control of the British Transport Commission.
The new regime resulted in some rationalisation of the company's area of operations. In 1950, the Gloucestershire area operations were transferred to Bristol Tramways.
On 1 January 1963, Western National was included in the transfer of the British Transport Commission's transport assets to the state-owned Transport Holding Company which, in turn, passed to the state-owned National Bus Company (NBC) on 1 January 1969.
The NBC embarked on more rationalisation of Western National's operations. In 1969, the operations of Southern National were merged with those of Western National, so that Western National acquired the operating areas of north Cornwall, north Devon and Dorset. In 1970 the Wiltshire area operations of Western National were transferred to Bristol Omnibus Company. Then, in 1971, the NBC transferred the operations of Devon General to Western National, although Devon General was retained as a brand. Western National pulled out of north Cornwall in 1971, leaving the area to local operators. Then, in 1974, the former Southern National operations in the Swanage area of east Dorset were transferred to Hants & Dorset.
In the lead up to deregulation, in January 1983 Western National was divided into four companies:
On 19 August 1986, Devon General became the first National Bus Company subsidiary to be privatised under the Transport Act 1985 being sold in a management buyout led by managing director Harry Blundred. [6] [7] [8] In 1996 it was sold to Stagecoach [9] and in 2003 rebranded Stagecoach Devon.
On 7 August 1987 Western National, was sold to Plympton Coachlines [10] with Badgerline having an initial 39% shareholding, which was increased to 66% in August 1988. [11] Western National was included in the June 1995 merger of Badgerline with GRT Group to form FirstBus. [12] [13]
North Devon and Southern National were jointly sold to their management on 29 March 1988. [14] [15] On 4 April 1999, both were sold to FirstGroup. [16] [17] First split Southern National into two, the Dorset operations became part of First Hampshire & Dorset, and the Somerset operations part of First Somerset & Avon. The North Devon operations were combined with those of First Western National to form First Devon & Cornwall.
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland. The company operates transport services in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Badgerline was a bus operator in and around Bristol from 1985 until 2003. Its headquarters were in Weston-super-Mare. Initially a part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, it was privatised in September 1986 and sold to Badgerline Holdings in a management buyout. It went on to purchase a number of bus companies in England and Wales. In November 1993, Badgerline Group was listed on the stock exchange and, on 16 June 1995, it merged with the GRT Group to form FirstBus.
The National Bus Company (NBC) was a nationalised bus company that operated in England and Wales between 1969 and 1988. NBC did not run buses itself, but was the owner of a number of regional subsidiary bus operating companies.
Stagecoach South West is a bus operator providing services in Devon and East Cornwall along with coach services to Bristol. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach.
Scottish Motor Traction (SMT) was founded in Edinburgh in 1905 by William Johnston Thomson. It operated buses in much of central Scotland. Aside from its traditional bus operations, it operated an air taxi service with a De Havilland Fox Moth between 18 July and 31 October 1932 and for many years owned Dryburgh Abbey Hotel. Following legislation, which allowed railway companies to invest in bus operators, the London & North Eastern Railway and London, Midland & Scottish Railway took a major stake in SMT in 1929. In 1930, following the takeover of another operator, SMT started its Edinburgh to London express coach service. SMT also acquired control of Walter Alexander & Sons bus services and coachbuilding operations, the Alexander family joining the SMT board.
Eastern National was a bus company operating in south east England from 1929 to the 1990s.
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.
First West of England is a bus operator providing services in Bristol, Bath, Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
First Midland Red is a bus company operating services in Herefordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
Southern National was a bus company operating in South West England from 1929 until 1969, and again from 1983 until 1999.
Open top buses are used in the United Kingdom for sightseeing and seasonal summer services.
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.
Western Greyhound was a bus operator based in Summercourt, near Newquay, which operated services in Cornwall and Devon from January 1998 until March 2015.
Badger Vectis was an English bus company based in Poole. A post-deregulation joint venture between Weston-super-Mare based bus company Badgerline and Isle of Wight bus company Southern Vectis, it was set up in September 1987 to compete with incumbent operator Wilts & Dorset. The buses all used the Badgerline brand. After a noted bus war between the two large companies, Badger Vectis folded in March 1988.
First South Yorkshire & Midlands is an operating unit of FirstGroup operating in the English Midlands and South Yorkshire. The unit was formed in 2008 with the merger of the management and administration of First Potteries, First Worcester and First Leicester. On 1 June 2020, First Midlands merged with First South Yorkshire.
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'.
South Wales Transport was a bus company that operated services in South Wales centred on Swansea and West Wales.
The Buses of Somerset is the trading name used by bus operator First South West for services operated in Somerset from depots in the towns of Taunton and Bridgwater since 2014. The services were formerly managed as part of First Somerset & Avon.
Taunton bus station was situated on Tower Street, Taunton, Somerset, England. It was opened by the Western National Omnibus Company in 1953 and closed in 2020, by which time it was operated by The Buses of Somerset. In 2015 the Transport Trust awarded the station a Red Wheel plaque for its historic value.
Media related to Western National Omnibus Company at Wikimedia Commons
