Valleys' bus battles
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• National Welsh has survived an independent's claim that its local authority subsidies give it an unfair commercial advantage over its competitors.
Shamrock Private Hire Services, owned by Clayton Jones, objected to a National Welsh application to increase the frequency of a service between Pontypridd and Old Ynsybwl and to extend it into Pontypridd Town Centre.
But in a written decision, South Wales Traffic Commissioner Ronald Jackson said that much of the evidence from Shamrock was not relevant to the matter in hand.
Both operators had registered local services on the route which they are going to provide commercially from October 26.
National Welsh's variation brings the post-October service unto operation now.
Jones argued that National Welsh had an unfair commercial advantage because it receives subsidies and concessionary fare payments from MidGlamorgan County Council.
Meanwhile parallel objections by National Welsh and Shamrock have led Jackson to turn down Cynon Valley Borough Council's plans to increase the frequency of two services and to introduce a new one to Pontypridd.
Geoffrey Jones, for National Welsh, said that Cynon Valley's applications were designed to "knock" National Welsh and Shamrock right up to deregulation then Cynon Borough would "bale out". It wanted to take the revenue of the other operators between now and October, he said.
Assistant traffic manager Ralph Stanley said the applications were a competitive response to action taken by National Welsh. It was an effort to recoup revenue lost as a result of National Welsh running on one route.
Refusing the application, Jackson said he could not be satisfied that granting it would not interfere with the smooth transition to deregulation.