Adventure Travel (stylised as Adventuretravel; formerly NAT Group and New Adventure Travel) is a bus and coach company in

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. It is a subsidiary of

ComfortDelGro ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited, commonly known as ComfortDelGro, is a multi-national transport group based in Singapore. It is listed on the Singapore Exchange and operates more than 54,000 vehicles across 13 countries. It was formed on 29 ...

History

Established in 2008 with four buses, Adventure Travel has now grown to have over 100 buses and coaches in its fleet from May 2020 - with most buses being second-hand from London. Adventure Travel purchased Humphrey's Coaches of

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

in 2011, and has since purchased the businesses of VR Travel of

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

in October 2013 and Select Local Bus of

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

in 2015. In February 2018 the business was purchased by

. Adam Keen of Damory Coaches was appointed managing director of New Adventure Travel. It was confirmed in late 2019 that the business is being progressively rebranded to Adventure Travel, with the coaching side of the business being rebranded to Adventure Coachlines. In May 2020, Adventure Travel permanently ceased all operational work in mainland Europe due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and is now focusing on its

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

bus and coach services.

Routes

Adventure Travel have won various routes in their operation, these include: * Adventure Travel initially started bus routes in

Cardiff city centre Cardiff city centre () is the city centre and central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bound by the River Taff to the west, the Civic Centre to the north and railway lines and two railway stations – Cardiff Cen ...

in 2013, operating tendered local services to

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff () is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Administrative divisions of Wales, principal areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

- however, when

Crossgates Coaches Crossgates CoachesCompanies House extract company no 472634
...

(trading as Veolia Transport Cymru) ceased operation in the

area, Adventure Travel quickly registered these lost routes - them being the 102, 103, 105, 106 and 108 * In August 2014, Adventure Travel were successful in its bid to operate the Gower Explorer buses, taking over from the former operator

First Cymru First Cymru is an operator of bus services in South West Wales. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. With its headquarters previously in Swansea, it is now part of the First Wales and West region which also covers Bristol, Bath, Somerset, Bath and ...

on 26 October 2014. * Adventure Travel also took over the T9 TrawsCymru route from

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 ...

Cardiff Airport Cardiff Airport () is an airport in Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan. It is the only airport offering commercial passenger services and cargo services in Wales. The airport is owned by the Welsh Government, operating it at arm's length as a commercia ...

from First Cymru. The T9 was run by Adventure Travel using

Optare Tempo The Optare Tempo is an integral low-floor bus, low-floor, heavy duty, full-size Rigid bus, rigid single-deck bus manufactured by Optare and was launched in late 2004. It is marketed and sold as the replacement for the Optare Excel. It is design ...

and was due to be replaced with

Optare MetroCity The Switch Metrocity (formerly known as the Optare MetroCity) is an integral midibus manufactured by Switch Mobility since 2013. Originally aimed at the London market, the Metrocity is based on the Optare Versa which was introduced in 2009. In ...

, but the route T9 was cancelled before the Metrocity could see service. * Adventure Travel run the TrawsCymru T6 between

Swansea bus station Swansea City bus station is a bus station serving Swansea, Wales. It lies immediately to the west of the Quadrant Shopping Centre. The station has 20 stands for local bus services with three more serving national coach services. Coach services ...

and

Brecon Brecon (; ; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the county town of Breck ...

using branded

s. * In April 2018, Adventure Travel took on the running of the TrawsCymru T1C between

and

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

using a branded

Mercedes-Benz Tourismo The Mercedes-Benz Tourismo (formerly designated as the Mercedes-Benz O 350) is an integral coach manufactured by Mercedes-Benz since 1994. It was initially introduced as the successor of low-cost variant presented in year 1992 ( O340) to the ...

. * Adventure Travel run the remaining

Rail linc rail linc () is a brand name applied to routes formerly operating under the now-defunct South East Wales Transport Alliance- but now operating under Adventure Travel. History In a number of cases, the services were set up sometime after rail ...

route - th
905
between Rhoose Cardiff International Airport railway station and

. * In August 2019, Adventure Travel was named the operator for five key bus routes in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

. * On 10 June 2020, Adventure Travel announced it was to start operating the Severn Express. The route was branded as the X7 'TrawsHafren' and operated between

Chepstow Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

via

Cribbs Causeway Cribbs Causeway is both a road in South Gloucestershire, England, running north of the city of Bristol, and the adjacent area which is notable for its Out-of-town shopping centres in the United Kingdom, out-of-town shopping and leisure facilitie ...

. The route began on 15 June 2020, taking over from

Stagecoach West Stagecoach West is a bus operator providing services in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, North Somerset and Herefordshire, in the West of England, and Monmouthshire in the South-East of Wales. The company is a subsidia ...

and ran for a six-month trial period until 31 December 2020. It was run with

Mercedes-Benz Citaro The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is a single-decker, rigid or articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz/ EvoBus. Introduced in 1997, the Citaro is available in a range of configurations, and is in widespread use throughout Europe and parts of Asia, ...

. As of 4 January 2021, the route is numbered T7 and is operated by Newport Bus. *On 29 June 2020, the G1 route covering Coryton,

Gwaelod-y-Garth ; ) is a village in the Community (Wales), community of Pentyrch, Cardiff in Wales. Location Gwaelod-y-garth is located in River Taff, Taff Valley at the foot of Garth Hill, north of central Cardiff and south of Pontypridd. The castle of Ca ...

Llandaff North Llandaff North () is a district, community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Description It is located in the north of Cardiff and can be considered a two-part ward, each cont ...

Tongwynlais Tongwynlais () is a village and community in the north of Cardiff, Wales, north of the M4 motorway in the Taff Valley. It is notable as the location of the hillside landmark, Castell Coch. The population as of the 2011 census was 1,871. Topon ...

, and Whitchurch was transferred to Fflecsi, a

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

demand responsive transport Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...

service, where Adventure Travel operates the service in Cardiff, in partnership with

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; ; ) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consisting of itself and its subsidiaries: Trans ...

, and the local council. This has since been reinstated to a normal public service. As of 1 April 2024, this service no longer ran. *On 1 April 2024, the emergency subsidy scheme by the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

was replaced by a series of local authority tenders, for all public bus routes other than those that can operate commercially. Adventure Travel suffered major losses in the re-tendering process and lost a total of 34 bus services across

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff () and Ely valleys, ...

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 ...

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Merthyr Tydfil County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. In , it had an estimated population of , making it the smallest local authority in Wales by population. It is located in ...

and

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

Controversy

In May 2015 the company faced criticism for two adverts on the back of its route X1 buses which showed a scantily clad woman and man holding a placard saying "Ride me all day for £3". Adventure Travel said that the advertising campaign had been a "tongue-in-cheek" effort to target the younger generation and no offence had been intended, but that due to the volume of complaints, it would remove the adverts immediately. In March 2019, Adventure Travel was fined £17,550 for buses not running to registered timetables. The company also had 4 buses taken off the road due to them having defects.

claimed this was due to staff shortages, and the company have since implemented new software with better monitors to make sure routes run the schedule. 2019 saw residents of Thornhill, Cardiff rebel against Adventure Travel's X8 service. The route has since been amended.

Fleet

Barry bus leaving Southerndown - geograph

As of April 2024, Adventure Travel operated around 100 vehicles out of depots in

and

.ComfortDelGro buys New Adventure Travel for £13.4 million
''Route One'' 7 February 2018 The bus service fleet mainly consists of second-hand vehicles, either from London operators or their sister company,

Metroline Metroline is a bus operator operating primarily in Greater London and partially in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro and operates bus services for London Buses under contract to Transport for Lon ...

. The group also previously operated older vehicles like

Alexander ALX400 The Alexander ALX400 (later known as the TransBus ALX400 and the Alexander Dennis ALX400) is a 2-axle double-decker bus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders (later by TransBus International/ Alexander Dennis). It was one of the ALX-s ...

and

Plaxton President The Plaxton President is a Low-floor bus, low floor double-decker bus coachwork, body built by Plaxton at the former Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company, Northern Counties factory in Wigan, England. It was first unveiled in 1997 on t ...

, but due to the fleet standardisation program they have all been retired. Adventure Travel currently, as of April 2024, operate the following vehicles in their bus service fleet: *

Alexander Dennis Enviro200 The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro200) is a midibus that was manufactured by TransBus International and later Alexander Dennis between 2003 and 2018. The original TransBus Enviro200 design was innovative but ...

Optare Solo SR The Switch Solo (formerly sold as the Optare Solo) is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Switch Mobility in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketin ...

MCV Evolution The MCV Evolution (stylised as ''eVolution''; internal designation: MCV C102) is a low floor and low entry single-decker bus body built by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles. It was unveiled in 2003 as the successor to the MCV Stirling. The M ...

Scania OmniLink The Scania OmniLink is a series of integrally constructed rear longitudinal-engined low-entry city buses available on the European market. It is a complete integral product built by Scania of Sweden. The OmniLink was launched in 1998 with an in ...

Scania OmniCity The Scania OmniCity is an integrally constructed Transverse engine, vertically-engined Low-floor bus, low floor city bus that was available from Scania AB, Scania on the European market between 1996 (across Europe)/1997 and 2012. The OmniCity ...

Alexander Dennis Enviro400 The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400 (from which the Enviro400 was developed). In 201 ...

Alexander Dennis Enviro300 The Alexander Dennis Enviro300 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro300) is a light-weight full-size single-decker bus that was built by Alexander Dennis and its predecessor TransBus International between 2001 and 2015. The design was the fi ...

Depots

Adventure Travel's headquarters are at Coaster Place in

. However, the company also operate a depot at

. The group have also previously operated depots at the following locations:

Pontypridd

Since the purchase of Humphrey's Coaches in

in 2011, AdventureTravel maintained a strong presence throughout the area establishing a network of local bus services to

Ynysybwl Ynysybwl ( ) is a village in Cwm Clydach in Wales. It is situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, roughly north-north-west of Cardiff, north of Pontypridd and south of Merthyr Tydfil, and forms part of the community (Wales), commun ...

Glyncoch Glyncoch is a village to the north of Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is also the name of an electoral ward. History The name Glyncoch is Welsh language for 'Red glen' (''glyn'' "glen, small valley" + ''coch'' "red"). How the name or ...

Nantgarw Nantgarw is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Cardiff. From an electoral and administrative perspective Nantgarw falls within the ward of Taff's Well, a village some south, but historically fell within the bounda ...

Treforest Treforest () is a village in the south-east of Pontypridd, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is situated in the Treforest electoral ward, along with the village of Glyntaff (or Glyn-Taf). It is part of the Pontypridd Town ...

Upper Boat Upper Boat () is a village on the southernmost outskirts of the town of Pontypridd, within the electoral ward of Hawthorn, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, and comprises part of the Treforest Industrial Estate. Historically part of Glamorgan, it fell wi ...

Trallwn Trallwn is a district, and as Trallwng, an electoral ward, within the town of Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, sited along the banks of the River Taff (Afon Taf) and falling within the historic parish of Eglwysilan. Trallwn comprises ...

as well as longer distance services to

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

and

Porthcawl Porthcawl () is a town and community in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales. It is located on the south coast, west of Cardiff and south-east of Swansea. Historically part of Glamorgan and situated on a low limestone headland on the South ...

. After 13 years of providing bus services in

, Adventure Travel closed the depot after a series of local authority tenders (in which the company experienced great losses) and is now used for storage for vehicles surplus to requirements.

Newport

Adventure Travel previously ran a number of commercial services to compete with

Newport Bus Newport Bus (the operating name of Newport Transport Limited) is the main provider of Bus transport in the United Kingdom, bus services in the city of Newport, Wales. A limited company whose shares are wholly owned by Newport City Council, it i ...

after Adventure Travel won their school services, enabling them to run bus routes off the back of them. Subsequently, Adventure Travel withdrew from Newport and closed its Newport depot.

Skewen

Following the purchase of Select Local Bus of

, Adventure Travel ran a number of ex-Select routes and vehicles from this depot. Adventure Travel has since withdrew from the

area and has closed its depot.

Abercrave

Adventure Travel purchased the Abercrave depot when

Crossgates Coaches Crossgates CoachesCompanies House extract company no 472634
...

ceased trading. The depot was used for storage but was sold and is now closed.

References

External links

Company website
* {{South Wales Metro Bus operators in Wales Bus transport in Cardiff Transport companies established in 2008 2008 establishments in Wales