It seemed like an eternity since my last trip out but hey, that’s January for you. It was only about 7 weeks since my trip around Nottinghamshire – an area I’d not sampled for a long time. However, January afforded me the chance to visit somewhere much more familiar with a trip around the South Wales Valleys though, like Nottinghamshire, it was dominated by former coal mining areas and has Stagecoach as the predominant bus operator. I was using the day to also pursue my photographic hobby. I dropped my camera early doors and having taken loads of photos in various spots, discovered that the impact had dislodged the memory card. Therefore, I can only share images from the latter part of the day but I hope you enjoy the journey…
The day began with a car journey. I chose the free car park adjacent to the bus station in Nelson, just off the A470, as a suitably safe place. The valleys are home to a selection of pitiful bus stations and Nelson is essentially two bus shelters. I had a choice in which bus to take me to Pontypridd, and Harris Coaches won the race and my money for a Network Rider – the all operator ticket in the Eastern Valleys. The Harris fleet has been dominated by Optare Solos are various origins but they have been buying e200s in recent times. Of more interest, they have purchased four short e200mmcs. One duly arrived so I had the pride of the fleet in a 72 plate example and a very friendly driver. The 7 takes a circuitous route to towards Pontypridd, serving the smaller town of Treharris. It also has a turning circle proclaiming itself as a bus station, with the mmc looping around the town and through some narrow streets with 20 mph limits much in evidence. We arrived in Pontypridd with the Transport for Wales offices prominent – the large logo looking a bit Eastern Bloc if I’m honest. I left the adequate Ponty bus station on one of the Scania based e300s that Stagecoach use in the valleys (with a bit more grunt that the ADL version) on a 120 to Tonypandy though the high backed seats are a bit basic. This follows the rail line, affording good views of the electrification and other work being undertaken as part of the SW Metro scheme; suffice to say that I doubt the 120/130 will retain its 15 min headway when the enhanced train service appears.
We arrived into Tonypandy on time. This is a busy location with 6 stands but, aside from the shelters being replaced, the bus station is still as dispiriting as ever with minimal facilities. Money can be found for rail infrastructure with some fairly big spending on lifts at the relatively small Dinas Rhondda station but not for buses. I wandered back along the road to the centre of Tonypandy and had a long overdue breakfast. Now full of food, I retraced my steps, finding a Mercedes minibus still in beachball colours acting as a crew ferry between Porth depot and Tonypandy. Stagecoach Wales have four of these ex Ashford machines, with two on crew work and two usually allocated to the 121 which was was my next route. Now I know this is heresy but there is a place for small vehicles such as Sprinters and the 121 is one such route though it felt like DRT with just myself enjoying the exploration of the upper Rhondda. I was going to head further to Treherbert but elected to bail out early in Treorchy. I really liked Treorchy – unlike many other towns in the area, it seemed quite busy and vibrant. I took lots of photos (or thought I had) though one on my phone illustrated the surprising energy of Treorchy! I’ll just have to return (not to the Flamingo) but it was a surprisingly nice town.
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My next bus was the 130, and it was a step back in time. The 120/130 trunk route gained new e200mmc in 2017 to Gold spec. It was a surprise as the services aren’t exactly the Gold middle class target customer base, and less of a surprise when the vehicles were moved to Blackwood 18 months later. However, those services have had headway reductions since Covid and so this vehicle had been redeployed and had returned to the same routes from which it had been banished. However, it still had it’s branding for the 26 Blackwood to Cardiff, internally and externally, despite having been at Porth depot for nearly a year. Not very good. However, the bus itself was comfortable and I was feeling good. I seen that the 172 and 130 pass near Ystrad Rhondda hospital but I’d miss the 172 by four mins if it was on time. It wasn’t and so I’d be able to head to Aberdare with the 172 being a good ten mins late (as I thought it might be).
I’ve mentioned it before but the 172 is one of the best bus routes in the UK. Having not done it for decades, I’ve been on it four times in six years, and on a clear dry day, it’s gives you stunning views and it was another Scania/e300, being a sister bus to the one I’d had earlier. We first had the punishing climb to Penrhys and we were soon in crawler gear though getting views across the southern Rhondda Mawr – the Rhondda splits into two valleys at Porth and the 172 links both via Penrhys. After reaching the summit, it’s a drop down into the Rhondda Fach and through some very depressed places like Tylorstown and Ferndale. Then you hit Maerdy and after passing the former colliery site (it closed in 1990), you have another harsh climb up Maerdy mountain before traversing an open area of moorland before approaching Aberdare. The views span across to the Brecon Beacons as well as the Cynon Valley, and the decent is a wonderful experience as the e300 negotiated armco protected switchbacks as it you drop down 1 in 5 slopes in places.
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The e300 tackles the climb of Maerdy mountain
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The views of Aberdare, the Cynon Valley and the Brecon Beacons
Now the 172 had historically linked Aberdare and Tonypandy though it had operated to Porthcawl for many years. The section between Bridgend and Porthcawl has now been relinquished but it has now been extended to Merthyr. This was a new experience for me on two levels; I’ve done Aberdare to Merthyr but always via Hirwaun (not this route) and I’d not been to Merthyr since it gained a new bus station at the expense of the awful, dirty, dangerous old one. I stayed on the Scania which was now quite full as we left late and headed to Merthyr. The service Aberdare and past the site of the old bus depots (now Tesco). We passed through Llwydcoed where a couple were having a glass of wine outside in the cold! Then another punishing climb before we hit the roadworks associated with the upgrade of the Heads of the Valleys road. Then we passed via the big retail park and annoyingly, got caught up in a queue of traffic. I suspect this is fairly regular and it would be beneficial for some bus priority but buses are definitely not the priority.
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Heads of the Valleys Road being rebuilt at Merthyr
We arrived into Merthyr bus station. A very big improvement on the old site, and pleasingly, there’s plenty of room for vehicles to layover. Arguably, it’s a bit much but let’s not complain. The bus station has two retail units for cafés but looks like both have now folded sadly. I never take time to wander around Merthyr but I thought I’d have a wander about and enjoy some of the faded grandeur. Unlike Treorchy, Merthyr is a town that is suffering from retail blight – having a huge out of town retail park has done it no favours.
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Interesting mural at Merthyr
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Bus station at Merthyr - huge yard compared to most modern ones
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Bus station with TrawsCymru B8RLE
My next journey involved the T14 express to Pontypridd, and is perhaps one of the more depressing declines of a service in recent years. It used to be a flagship service running from Cardiff to Merthyr every 15 minutes. Half continued onward to Brynmawr (with one every hour heading to Hereford via Abergavenny), one every hour extended north to Brecon as a T4 and one terminated in Merthyr. That has now been downgraded with only a half hourly Cardiff to Merthyr route as part of TrawsCymru T4/T14 and it seems every other one heads to Brecon and either Hereford or Newtown. The Brynmawr and Aber section was tacked onto the slow Merthyr to Pontypridd service 78 but only hourly. The T4/T14 is operated by Stagecoach for TfW as part of TrawsCymru, and so we had one of the MCV bodied B8RLEs that arrived in 2019. Decent enough machines and quite comfortable though the Covid era notices inside showed a lack of focus and, dare I say, the whole TC ethos is something that the enthusiast will enthuse about… network identity, connectivity, etc. My challenge is if that so important if core headways are now 50% of what they were, long established links lost, and that marketing is so limp and functional. Still, we belted down the A470 for a speedy trip to Pontypridd. Having spent time there earlier, I simply hoped onto my final bus and it was as standard as you get… a Stagecoach e200 on the 78 to Abergavenny and a very friendly driver to take me back to Nelson.
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Tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999 2020 - still Covid-ish on TrawsCymru
So observations of the day, aside from my T4/X4 mini-rant. There’s so much emphasis on the rail network. One wonders about the cost of installing bridges and lifts at lesser used stations, yet somewhere like Tonypandy bus station is a busy interchange and receives little love or attention. I could say similar about Aberdare and Pontypridd (though these are better), and at least Merthyr is a welcome replacement. It's disappointing to see how bus services seem to have declined since Covid, and I can only think that this will be exacerbated by SW Metro though I’m actually positive in that happening. However, there’s so little bus priority in the area. Buses are so important and yet stuff like publicity is so poor, which is important when services move to wider headways.
My travels were almost universally Stagecoach, though with one Harris bus and seeing plenty of Adventure Travel fleet in Pontypridd. The two main operators seem to have taken an extended holiday on new fleet. Stagecoach’s fleet has very little old rubbish in it, to be fair. However, it seems to have a lot of fleet from the 2011-2017 period. Aside from the TC B8RLEs, there’s been nothing in recent years and even the latest orders are confined to a handful of Solos destined for Cwmbran to oust the oldest examples so if not new, it probably needs some reasonable aged cascades. I will commend Stagecoach for the base quality of the operation – everything turned up nearly on time (except the 172) and vehicle repaints have been prioritised, even if it’s the awful 2020 livery.
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Pontypridd bus station
Most importantly, I was charmed by the people and the area. Drivers were friendly and drove sympathetically, whilst it was fun to explore some bits of the valleys that were new to me. As ever, I’d recommend the 172 from Tonypandy to Aberdare; stunning in either direction. Perhaps folks might not appreciate the rows of ribbon terraced houses, but the views across the valleys are epic. Within the valleys, it’s good to travel up on the 120/130 and see the different communities, and the Network Rider is a great ticket. Hope you found this interesting.