Thames Valley Traction
A preserved Thames Valley 1946 Bristol K bus at a bus rally at Oxford Bus Museum
|
|
| Parent |
BET (86%) Thomas Tilling (14%) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 10 July 1920 |
| Ceased operation | 1 January 1972 |
| Service area |
Berkshire Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire |
| Depots |
Reading, Maidenhead |
Thames Valley Traction Company Limited was a major bus company operating services to and from Reading, Bracknell, Maidenhead, Newbury, High Wycombe and Oxford and surrounding areas for 52 years in the 20th century. For many years it ran the "Reading A" and "Reading B" limited-stop services between London's Victoria Coach Station and Reading via two differing sets of intermediate stops.
In 1905 British Electric Traction (BET) founded a subsidiary, British Automotive Developments (BAD), to develop and operate motor buses. In 1912 BAD was renamed British Automobile Traction (BAT). In March 1915 BAT established a Reading Branch to operate buses in the area. By January 1920 it had been renamed the Thames Valley Branch, and in July 1920 it was constituted as a subsidiary company, Thames Valley Traction, with BAT holding 86% of the shares. The remaining 14% was initially held by Britain's other large bus operating group, Thomas Tilling, as in the 1920s there was close co-operation between the two groups.
In 1928 BAT was reconstituted as Tilling & British Automobile Traction Ltd. Thames Valley expanded significantly in the 1920s and 1930s by buying a number of smaller firms and their routes. Tillings sold out to the British Transport Commission in 1948, thus becoming a nationalised company. Thames Valley's expansion continued in the early 1950s, with other parts of the newly nationalised bus network (South Midland and Newbury and District from Red & White, and part of United Counties) being placed under Thames Valley management.
In 1968 Tillings' major competitor, BET, sold its bus interests to the Transport Holding Company (successor to the BTC) and the 1968 Transport Act formed the National Bus Company, which came into existence on 1 January 1969, amalgamating the interests of The Tilling Group with the recently acquired BET Group.
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