Our History

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South Wales Transport commenced operating on 2 May 1914 in Swansea. It operated bus services that connected with the Swansea Improvements and Tramway Company. It was owned by British Electric Traction. In 1937, buses replaced the trams.

In 1958, South Wales Transport bought the Swansea and Mumbles Railway which was an electric tram service between Swansea and Mumbles which closed in 1960.

On 1 January 1969, it became part of the National Bus Company. In May 1987, during the privatisation of the National Bus Company, South Wales Transport was sold to a management buyout.

In February 1990, along with Brewers Motor Services and United Welsh Coaches, South Wales Transport was sold to Badgerline. All initially retained their trading names but following Badgerline merging with GRT Group in April 1995 to form FirstBus, all Welsh operations were rebranded as First Cymru.

Nowadays the company operates around 200 bus services in the South Wales area, in and between Haverfordwest, Pembroke, Tenby, Carmarthen, Llanelli, Swansea, Pontardawe, Neath, Port Talbot, Maesteg, Bridgend and Cardiff.

Park and Ride

First Cymru operates park & ride services on behalf of local authorities, from Fabian Way and Landore in Swansea.

Cymru Clipper

In 2014, First Cymru started the Cymru Clipper express network which spans from Carmarthen to Cardiff. Services Our X services are encompassed into this network. Dedicated vehicles operate these services.

 

first bus South Wales the early days history leaflet First Cymru electric bus leaflet first bus history the war years information leaflet first bus post-war renewal history informative leaflet
first bus history town hill trails information leaflet first bus Into the 60's informative leaflet first bus nationalisation informative leaflet poppy red national bus identity informative leaflet
first bus An era of change bus evolution leaflet First Bus history South Wales minibus leaflet First Bus south wales keeping you informed leaflet