Subject: Stagecoach Red & White 257 (L839 MWT)
Chassis: Optare Metrorider MR01
Body: Optare B31F
Location: Bargoed, Cardiff Road
Date: c. Apr-1998

The original "Bus that meets the train" was a service from Ystrad Mynach to Blackwood, worked by Parfitt's in the days when they were owned by Rhondda Buses. It was worked by a Mercedes-Benz L307D 16 (E316 HLO), which was the only vehicle suitable for turning round in the narrow car park. The service still runs but uses a turning circle near the bottom of the Station Approach.

This was a second attempt at bus/rail co-ordination but this time added the railway connection on to an existing service, a more efficient approach. The 4 ran from Bargoed via Fochriw to Rhymney, where it connected with the train before going over the mountain to Tredegar following the route once worked by Hill's.

257 had been in the Rhondda Buses fleet but moved to the Parfitt's operation at the end of 1995. It received this special livery not long before the photograph was taken.

From an original slide in the David Beilby collection, photographer unknown