Islwyn Borough Transport was a Welsh bus operator providing services around

Blackwood, Caerphilly Blackwood ( or ) is a town, community (Wales), community and an Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward on the Sirhowy River in the South Wales Valleys administered as part of Caerphilly County Borough. It is located ...

, and surrounding towns in the former Borough of

Islwyn The Borough of Islwyn was one of five local government districts of Gwent from 1974 to 1996. History The borough was formed in 1974 as a local government district of Gwent. It covered the whole area of three former districts and part of a fou ...

between 1974 and 2010.

History

Islwyn Borough Transport was formed on the creation of the Borough of

in April 1974. The area had previously been part of West Monmouthshire. From 1926, it had been served by the West Monmouthshire Omnibus Board, which, as MynyddIslwyn Urban District Council, was a joint operation with Bedwellty Urban District Council. It was expanded by taking over some of the services and vehicles of three local operators. A depot in

Blackwood Blackwood may refer to: Botany * African blackwood (''Dalbergia melanoxylon''), a timber tree of Africa * African blackwood ('' Erythrophleum africanum''), (''Peltophorum africanum'') also Rhodesian blackwood, trees from Africa * Australian blac ...

High Street was used from 1926 to 1984, when a new depot in

Pontllanfraith Pontllanfraith () is a large village and Community (Wales), community located in the Sirhowy Valley in Caerphilly County Borough, Wales, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire. It is ...

was opened. A second change in local government saw Islwyn become part of

Caerphilly County Borough Caerphilly County Borough () is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It is governed by Caerphilly County Borough Council. Its main and largest town is Caerphilly. Other towns in the county borough are, Risca, Ystrad Mynach, Newbrid ...

in April 1996, and control of the company passed to

Caerphilly County Borough Council Caerphilly County Borough Council () is the governing body for Caerphilly County Borough, one of the principal areas of Wales. The last full council elections took place 5 May 2022. Political control The first election to the new council was h ...

. In November 2009, it was announced that the Borough Council had agreed to sell the company to

Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses and express coaches in the United Kingdom. Stagecoach was originally founded in 1976 as ''Gloagtrotter'', a recreational vehicle and minibus hire business. Dur ...

.Tiny bus company plans to sell up to national carrier
''

WalesOnline Media Wales Ltd. is a publishing company based in Cardiff, Wales. As of 2009 it was owned by Reach plc (formerly known as the Trinity Mirror Group). It was previously known as the Western Mail & Echo Ltd. History The ''Western Mail'' was fou ...

'' 5 November 2009 The move attracted some criticism within the region, as no other potential buyers had been consulted: local bus operator Clayton Jones stated that he would have made a bid had the proposal been openly discussed. It was also noted that the council had lost around £15 million after the collapse of an Icelandic bank during the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. The council described claims that the two events were linked as a "wild accusation", noting that Stagecoach intended to retain all Islwyn staff members. The deal was concluded in early January 2010, with Islwyn's operations integrated with those of Stagecoach in South Wales.Islwyn Borough Transport sold to Stagecoach
''Caerphilly Observer'' 13 January 2010 At the time of the sale, it was the smallest of the remaining

municipal bus companies A municipal bus company is an operator of bus services owned by the local government authority. This article lists all current municipal bus companies in the United Kingdom. Most municipal bus companies disappeared between 1968 and 1974 before (o ...

Operations

Bus routes

Prior to its sale in 2010, Islwyn operated 18 local bus routes centred on

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; , ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley and separated from the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina by Caerphilly Mountain. It is north of Cardiff an ...

and Blackwood, taking in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and

Bargoed Bargoed () is a town and community (Wales), community in the Rhymney Valley, Wales, one of the South Wales Valleys. It lies on the Rhymney River in the county borough of Caerphilly (county borough), Caerphilly. It straddles the Historic counties o ...

. School contracts were also operated, but no services were run on Sundays. Its routes are now operated by Stagecoach in South Wales.

Coaches

The company operated coaches from 1988. Independent operator Paul Diaper Tours was taken over in 1991, and the coaching division rebranded to Kingfisher Travel. The operations were sold to Diamond Holidays in 2009.

References

External links

Welsh-Transport-Heritage
- a look back in time at the history of Islwyn Borough Transport and its predecessors
The Welsh Heartlands Transport Festival
- A website celebrating the history of Caerphilly UDC and Bedwas & Machan UDC motor bus departments which both started in the year 1917 {{Defunct British Bus Companies Former bus operators in Wales Transport in Newport, Wales 1974 establishments in Wales 2010 disestablishments in Wales