Rhondda Transport Company

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The Rhondda Tramways Company was established in 1906 as a subsidiary of the British Electric Traction Company (BET). 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.

The Rhondda Tramways Company 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 1968 the Rhondda Transport Company merged with Western Welsh Omnibus Co and Red & White to form National Welsh, a component company of the newly created and nationalised National Bus Company (NBC) which was re-privatised under Tory leader Margaret Thatcher's privatisation campaigns in the l980s.

On de-nationalisation the National Welsh company began a vigorous expansionist drive, taking over smaller local and municipal bus companies in the South Wales valleys. Unfortunately it failed in the early/mid 1990s and was acquired for a very small sum and recreated as Rhondda Bus which itself was bought out by the massive transport undertaking Stagecoach, under which the erstwhile RTC now operates as Stagecoach Wales.

In its heyday the RTC operated AEC Reliants and Regals exclusively. It operating base, headquarters and depot were based in Aber-Rhondda Road, Porth. The very much reduced depot remains on the same site.