Created 24-May-19
Modified 8-Mar-24
These twenty Regent Vs made a huge impression in the area when they first arrived. They were the first thirty-foot long two-axle buses in the area in any quantity (Western Welsh 680 was a very early example) and the forward doors were a novelty, seen on some pre-war Rhondda and Western Welsh double-deckers but not in quantity and not for several years. They were also rather austere, being the first new double-deckers in the unrelieved red livery although initially they had black wings.
425-444 (VTX 425-444) entered service in early 1958 and were fitted with Weymann bodywork in the Orion style but a new design due to the length and forward entrance. Similar vehicles with MCW bodies were to join several other BET fleets but were little seen elsewhere with the notable exception of Bradford, and Rhondda went on to buy another twenty similar vehicles. This bus featured the 9.6 litre engine and marked a return to air brakes as AEC didn't offer these larger Regents with vacuum brakes which Rhondda had adopted since they ceased buying pre-selector Regent IIIs.
These buses enabled a wholesale clear-out of earlier stock, with the last of the pre-war and wartime double-deckers being withdrawn on their arrival, as well as the 1946 and 1947 AEC Regent IIIs.
Not everybody welcomed these new buses and the Trade Unions representing the crews argued that they were too long for the many corners on the Rhondda Fach and Rhondda Fawr local services. As a consequence their main use was on the Cardiff to Treorchy/Ystrad Rhondda services and the Cardiff to Pontypridd workings. Their extra capacity came in useful on these services and also on the summer workings on the 160 and 161 services to Porthcawl. As can be seen in the gallery, though, there were occasions when they ran on other services, including those on which they were alleged to be unsuitable.
The whole batch survived to be absorbed by Western Welsh in 1971 but some were withdrawn that same year and the remainder in 1972. Every one of the batch went on to further use, unsurprisingly since they would be early examples of this style of bus to come onto the secondhand market. Two had more unusual disposals in that they saw just a couple of years further service before having the engines removed and being sold to China Motor Bus Company in Hong Kong where the bodies were used on Guy Arab chassis.
© David Beilby
