Created 17-Aug-19
Modified 8-Mar-24
Rhondda bought nine Volvo B6 buses in 1994 but reverted afterwards to purchasing Dennis Darts. The Volvos came in two batches with the higher-numbered examples first and also, for some reason, the later batch had with one exception lower chassis numbers than the first. The numbers were not continuous due to the DVLA restricting the issue of certain numbers perceived as desirable and Rhondda Buses liked to have matching registration and fleet numbers.
The first batch of three arrived in April 1994 and were 9.9 metre long Volvo B6-50 chassis with TD63E turbocharged engines and Plaxton Pointer bodies. They were numbered 79/81/82 (L79/81/82 CWO) and were delivered in the original Rhondda Buses livery of maroon and cream. They initially operated from Porth depot but were transferred to Caerphilly around the end of 1996 and received the later livery along with Caerphilly Busways fleet names. They were renumbered 719/721/722 after the takeover by Stagecoach but only 719 and 722 received numbers in the National Scheme (30729/30732).
The second batch comprised six 9.0 metre long Volvo B6-41 chassis which this time had Plaxton Pointer B35F bodies and only had the naturally-aspirated version of the TD63E engine. They entered service in August 1994 and were 71/73-76/78 (M71/73-76/78 HHB). The first five of these arrived in the Cyril Evans-inspired livery and operated from Bedwas with Caerphilly Busways fleet names but 78 initially operated from Porth in the maroon and cream livery. They moved around quite a bit in Stagecoach ownership and had quite a lot of different numbers. They were renumbered 711/713-716/718 originally but, for example, 718 became 692 with Stagecoach Cheltenham and Gloucester. 714 and 716 moved to Stagecoach Ribble at Chorley and were renumbered 323/324 there before becoming 30724/30726 in the national scheme, ending up in Cumbria. The batch became 30721/30723-30726/30728 but operating in different parts of the Stagecoach empire.
Those transferred to Cumbria in particular seem to have been quite long-lived, but 78 proved the longest-lived, operating latterly for Island Rover on the Isles of Scilly and still running when it was over twenty years old.
For the last year of Rhondda Buses operation all the B6s were based at Bedwas and they were the only full-sized single-deckers at that depot.
© David Beilby
