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bility for Sm Operation
SOUTH and West Wales are contrasting areas. To the south there are the bustling cities of Cardiff and Newport, amid the heavy industries of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, whilst to the west lie the rural areas of Carmarthonshire, Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire. Public transport within this widely scattered zone is, provided by the Western Welsh Omnibus Co., Ltd., whose
headquarters are at .Cardiff. , .
Routes stretch from Newport, Mon, in the south-east to St. David's (on the Pembrokeshire coast) in the south-west. and as far as Aberystwyth in the north-west and Hay4inWye in the north-east: This is a very large area indeed, and for efficient control Western Welsh have adopted a system which, although not unique. is unusual in large passenger undertakings.
The nerve centre is at the new central bus station at Cardiff, and here are based -Mr. T. G.. Davies, general manager, Mr. F. H. Pengelly, traffic manager, and his department, and the claims manager. Although they are responsible for the overall direction of operations, they have delegated a fair measure of authority to the five area managers at Pontypool, Barry, Bridgend. Ncath and Haverfordwest.
The traffic, manager himself controls the Cardiff area, whilst the area manager at Pontypool, who is in local charge of the company's services throughout Brecknock and Monmouthshire, has an assistant area manager at Crosskeys, Mon. The registered office of the company' is at Cowbridge Road, Ely, Cardiff. where Mr. C. Alexander. secretary, operates. The offices of Mr. F. A. Mason. chief engineer. and Mr. G. S. Henman, architect, are also at Ely, as are the company's central maintenance works.
Each of the area managers is given powers of local decision, subject to guidance from Cardiff, and they prepare their own duty schedules, rosters and the like. Fluctuations in traffic demand are also met at local level.
The five areas provide a total (.16
of 330 stage-carriage services. These range from one-das a--week facilities in the rural areas to services with a regular frequency of 10 minutes on some inter-urban routes. The stage-carriage services can be classified into three groups: town services, inter-urban and rural.
Western Welsh provide town services in Pontypool,
Cwmbran, Barry, Penarth, Bridgend, Carmarthen, Haverfordwest. Milford Haven and Fishguard. Frequencies
range, according to demand, between 20-30 minutes with additional services at peak periods for workers. These town routes account for a small percentage of the total stage-carriage services operated, most being of the interurban type.
In fact, it may be said that inter-urban services are a notable characteristic of Western Welsh operation. Many of them are relatively long. For example, the 512 and 513 routes from Cardiff to Blackwood and Ebbw Vale are 23 and 30 miles respectively.
Although the 401 service between Carmarthen and Llanelly is only 20 miles long, the route Crosses Bankffosfelen and Crwbin Hills, both over a mile long with gradients of 1 in 10 or I in 11, with steeper portions as much as 1 in 7. The longest inter-urban route (74 miles) is the 301 service between Cardiff and Carmarthen. It has an hourly frequency as far as Ammanford with alternative timings extended on to Carmarthen.
Rural routes are to be found throughout the system, particularly, in the counties of Brecknock, Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire. Most of them are run at a loss, but one-man operation has recently been introduced on several in an attempt to continue their existence.
In the industrial centres where Western Welsh provide services, it is only natural to find some joint services, and c 1 7
inefact, six of them are pooled with three other operators. Red and White jointly work with Western Welsh between Newport and Tredegar. Cardiff Corporation work two services between Cardiff and Lower Penarth, and Rhondda Transport between Cardiff and Maerdy and on two routes between Pontypridd and Porthcawl. In addition to these joint services, co-ordinated timetables, combining other operators' timings over common sections of route, are in force on many other routes.
Express services and tours also rank highly. Western Welsh operate one of the longest express services in the country which does not leave the company's stage-service area—the Cardiff-Aberystwyth service. Excursions are operated from the main centres served by the stage-carriage routes, but it is in the extended-tours field that Western Welsh have made the greatest advance in the past few years.
New Coaches Ensure Success
In the fleet of 56 modern coaches, 24 are of the new Ambassador,. Capital or Cambrian classes, the A.E.C. Reliance chassis having Harrington or Weymann 34and 39-seat bodies. It is these vehicles which have given the extended-tours business its greatest fillip. All Western Welsh extended tours are operated by these coaches, and during the summer there may be as many as 12 departures weekly.
This year there are 19 tours from which the public can choose, and the trips vary in duration from three to 14 days. Most of the well-known touring areas are included in the company's programme, and with the introduction on a tour to Loch Maree and John o' Groat's (one of four new tours this season) Western Welsh can claim to cover the whole of Britain. Extended tours can be paid for by instalments.
The popularity of these tours is reflected in the numbers carried. In 1957, 4,000 people booked for extended tours. In 1958, there was an increase of 40 per cent, over that total, and the 1959 figure shows another upward surge in demand.
Painstaking organization behind the scenes has also contributed much to success. Close attention is paid to every detail. Only first-class hotels are used for overnight stops, and careful planning ensures that too much time is not spent travelling—a day in Edinburgh is an absolute " must on the Scottish tour.
Adjustable Seats
The 24 coaches used on these tours offer a high standard of comfort. The seats are in foam rubber, covered with moquette in a pleasing daffodil pattern designed by the company. Each seat is fully adjustable and foot rests are also variable to two separate positions. For summer touring, fresh-air ventilation is amply provided.
Western Welsh operate 675 buses and coaches, 139 of which are double-deckers. With a fleet of this size the different types continually fluctuate, but the latest figures show the composition of the fleet as follows: Leyland, 474; A.E.C., 165; Maudslay, one; Crossley, 33; Daimler. two.
Bodies on these vehicles are of the following makes: M.C.W., 355; E.C.W., 47; Park Royal, 78; Willowbrook, 81; Burlingham, two; Windover, 12; Brush, 12; Leyland, 47; Duple, six; Plaxton, five; Strachans. eight; Harrington, 22. This is indeed a mixed fleet, and the acquisition of many independent operators in the past few years accounts for it.
When buying new vehicles, the company have a fairly rigid policy of standardization. Double-deckers are always A.E.C., or Leyland, with 20 Bridgemasters and 12 Atlanteans as the latest acquisitions. Atlanteans have just (-18.
gone into service and are working alongside Bridgemasters on the Cardiff-Pontypridd service, whilst there are .19 further Atlanteans on order.
One of the A.E.C. Regent Mark V models is of special note in that it was the first public service vehicle fitted with A.E.C. Automonocontrol It was exhibited at the 1956 Commercial Motor Show and was noteworthy in that the roof was made of plastics and was detachable for seaside work during the summer months. When first placed in service during March, 1957, the bus worked over the 27-mile-long Cardiff-Ferndale service with its steep gradients through the Rhondda Valley. Before adopting the Leyland Tiger Cub chassis for their single-decker replacement programme some years ago, the company carried out exhaustive tests. They already had in service some 65 Royal Tigers and Olympics and 20 A.E.C. Regal Mark IV types. Ten Tiger Cubs were placed at four depots and their fuel consumPtion was compared with that of JO of the heavier underfloor-engined deckers at the same fair depots.
Change of Oil
In the first month, over the same routes, the Tiger Cubs returned 13.68 m.p.g., whilst the others gave 11.77 m.p.g. In the second month, as the engines became run-in, the figure rose to 14.12 m.p.g. compared with the heavier vehicles' figure of 11.70 m.p.g. Within a few months, after changing the oil at the 5,000-mile mark from the maker's recommended lubricant of S.A.E. 20W, to a lower viscosity oil blended to the company's own specification, the Tiger Cubs were showing a fuel saving of 3.04 m.p.g.
This meant a saving of about £15 per month per vehicle, and as a result of these tests some 269 Tiger Cubs with Weymann and Park Royal bodies have been introduced on stage-carriage services. Other Tiger Cubs in the fleet are some 25 "semi-coaches" with Weymann or Park Royal 41-scat bodies. The A.E.C. Reliance chassis with the 7.75litre engine is favoured for the coach fleet. The company also have on order 24 Albion Nimbus buses for rural routes, and these are to have Harrington 30-seat bodies.
The maintenance of the fleet is centralized in the main workshops at Cowbridge Road, Cardiff. Normal servicing is carried out at the area garages, with overhauls being undertaken at Cardiff. The Cowbridge Road works, in addition, undertake the normal dockings of Cardiff area vehicles.
Overhaul of all buses and coaches is based on predetermined mileage intervals, usually when the engine is due for a change or at the expiry of the current Certificate of Fitness. These mileage intervals are continually being reviewed with the intention of extending them, now that many of the mechanical components employed in both the A.E.C. and Leyland chassis are giving a longer life before renewal.
Plastics Widely Used
Extensive use is being made of plastics, and the Ely works have their own plastics section where roof domes. corner panels. light fittings and even time-table boards are made. The latest type of equipment is installed, and the bodybuilding shops can undertake the complete rebuilding of any vehicle. Several Leyland and A.E.C. buses were recently converted in the workshops for one-nnan operation. , In addition to the seven area depots, Western Welsh vehicles are based at a further 10 points. Covered accommodation is expensive to provide, and the company have been one of the biggest advocates of open-air parking for all-metal vehicles. They base their theory on the fact that under normal conditions a bus is on service from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m.—a total of 17 hours. This means that for a mere seven hours covered accommodation is provided for a bus for no real purpose at all.
Garages are expensive to build, are almost empty for the greater part of the day, and no real damage is done to a .vehicle when left outside. The company's ideas on the subject are best illustrated in the new garage at Neath. The garage has accommodation for just over 100 vehicles, but only half are under cover. The covered section comprises pits and maintenance facilities for these vehicles plus the 55 buses based at Aberdare and Ammanford. The garage is equipped for the maintenance of 110 vehicles, and apart from major overhauls carried out at Cardiff, it is entirely self-contained.
Station Saves Mileage Western Welsh also make use of bus stations at Cardiff, Newport and Bridgend. There is also a small bus station at Varteg, near Pontypool, built on an estate some 1,080 ft. above sea level. It saves vehicles going a further half-mile to a turning point. The saving in mileage costs is greater than that involved in building and maintaining the bus station.
The bus stations at Cardiff and Newport have only recently been built. At Cardiff, the station is owned by the council, who let it out to Western Welsh. The bus station at Newport replaces five different street boarding points and is shared with Red and White. Here again the use of a bus station greatly improved the exchange of passengers from one service to another, and the general supervision of working.
Although not classified as a bus station, reference must be made to the terminus at Neath. Use is made of the forecourt of the main railway station and to all intents it serves as a bus station. It is a good instance of road and rail linking. Close co-operation between road and rail services is ensured.
Defined Policy
Operating over a wide area with such a diversity of traffic, the secret of Western Welsh's success is undoubtedly the delegation of everyday control to area managers. They are controlled by an able team at Cardiff who have provided some essential services in this part of South Wales. A defined vehicle-replacement policy has been practised for several years now, and the fleet is composed of modern units.
In their smart livery of red and cream, they have done much to prevent sagging passenger figures. But in addition to all these, Western Welsh have been consolidating and expanding their area of operation. Many independents have been taken over since the war.
Apart from Green's of Haverfordwest, bought in 1958, they have been small operators, some of them coach proprietors. Businesses taken over have included Streamways of Penarth, Ebsworth Bros., Ltd., Laugharne, and Cridlands of Cardiff (all in 1954), the 21 vehicles of Forse in 1956, and some licences of Prendergast Motors, Haverfordwest, in August, 1959.