2011 – Issue 2 of 4

CK but later pulled out. On 18 th Feb. the TC’s gave 14 days notice of the revocation of
their PSV operators’ licence.
Two days later news was circulated that CK had been rescued. “Now it is up to the
people of Cardiff to really prove they want us by using our buses” said Keith Morris.
This brief respite was due to the bank agreeing to increase CK’s overdraft. Staff had
agreed to a 25% pay cut and daytime only services were resumed on 22/2/82.
On 23 rd Feb. Bill Thomas of Swanbrook Coaches entered the scene. He praised CK’s
operations and was ‘very interested’ in giving financial backing to them. The South
Wales Echo described Thomas as a self made millionaire; his Gloucester based firm
owned 70 buses and 5 depots (sic).
On 1 st March CK were said to have accepted the takeover bid from Swanbrook and
vowed to “run on all routes within a year”. Fresh applications would be made for the
Ely, Rumney and Trowbridge routes. The Newport route and express services to
London would follow.
A number of Swanbrook buses were hired by CK to operate services as its own fleet
was depleted due to maintenance arrears. Unfortunately some of the Swanbrook
vehicles were also to experience mechanical problems. It was said that the charges for
their hire was never paid.
The TC’s informed CK that the expiry date for their PSV licence had passed and that a
public inquiry would be held on 30 th March. An application for an operating licence for a
new company known as RJT6 Ltd. (CK Tours) was submitted, but CK’s operating licence
and that for RJT6 Ltd. was lost by ‘All Fools Day’. Meanwhile Swanbrook were
negotiating the purchase of CK’s Cardiff garage and said they would apply for an
operators licence in the South Wales Traffic Area.
It appears that Bill Thomas’s initial enthusiasm for Cardiff operations was not shared by
his sons, who were his partners in Swanbrook Coaches.
Once CK lost its operating licence any attraction it had for Swanbrook was lost and
Thomas decided not to proceed in Cardiff.
CK failed because it had not anticipated the reactions of CCT to its services and because
it was too dependent on revenue from routes which did not carry enough traffic to
generate this revenue. Loss of several school contracts also hastened the failure.
The 1980 Transport Act had been introduced by the Thatcher Government to promote
private enterprise in public transport and CK was the first operator to test this out in
south Wales. Keith Morris was not alone in thinking that CK might have survived had
the Conservatives not lost control of the County Council.
The dust had hardly settled when in the summer of 1984, National Welsh (then still with the
backing of NBC) planned to hold talks with Cardiff Corporation regarding the purchase of CCT.
However meetings did not take place as the Corporation decided not to pursue the possibility of
a sale. The impending 1985 Transport Act and ‘deregulation’ would have probably meant the
end if it.. Had it happened though – what a disaster it would have been.
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