NAT Group


New Adventure Travel is a bus and coach company in South Wales. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro.

History

Established in 2008 with four buses, New 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.
New Adventure Travel purchased Humphrey's Coaches of Pontypridd in 2011, and has since purchased the businesses of VR Travel of Merthyr Tydfil in October 2013 and Select Local Bus of Neath in 2015.
- however this route is up for review by Caerphilly County Borough Council. Route 902 Rail linc spotted in Maerdy - an example of a Rail Linc feeder bus.
In February 2018 the business was purchased by ComfortDelGro. 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 AdventureTravel - with the coaching side of the business being rebranded to AdventureCoachlines.
In May 2020, NAT Group permanently ceased all operational work in mainland Europe due to COVID-19 pandemic, and is now focusing on its United Kingdom bus and coach services.

Routes

NAT Group have won various routes in their operation, these include:
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". NAT Group 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, NAT Group 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. ComfortDelGro 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 NAT Group's X8 service. The route has since been amended.

Fleet

As of July 2020, NAT Group operated around 120 vehicles out of depots in Cardiff, Pontypridd and Swansea. The bus service fleet mainly consists of second-hand vehicles, either from London operators or their sister company, Metroline. The group also previously operated older vehicles like Alexander ALX400 and Plaxton President, but due to the fleet standardisation program they have all been retired.
NAT Group currently, as of May 2020, operate the following vehicles in their bus service fleet:
NAT Group's headquarters are at Coaster Place in Cardiff. However, the company also operate depots at Taff's Well and Swansea.
The group have also previously operated depots at the following locations:

Newport Depot

NAT Group previously ran a number of commercial services to compete with Newport Bus after NAT Group won their school services, enabling them to run bus routes off the back of them.
Route numberStartTerminusFate of route
45AbergavennyLlynwu EstateContract lost to Phil Anslow Coaches
60Newport bus stationMonmouthSunday only. Contract lost to Stagecoach South Wales
69ChepstowMonmouthSunday only. Contract lost to Stagecoach South Wales
74Newport bus stationChepstowSunday only. Contract lost to Stagecoach South Wales
83AbergavennyMonmouthSunday only. Contract lost to Stagecoach South Wales
N1Ringland, NewportDuffrynMerged with N4 to create new route X5
N2Newport bus stationBrynglasCancelled
N3Newport bus stationAllt-yr-ynCancelled
N4Bettws, NewportSpytty Retail ParkMerged with N1 to create new route X5
N4XNewport bus stationSpytty Retail ParkCancelled
N5Newport bus stationSt Julians, NewportCancelled upon loss of school contracts
N6Newport bus stationSt Julians, NewportCancelled upon loss of school contracts
R2Newport Retail ParkRiscaCancelled, now operated by Stagecoach South Wales
R3Newport bus stationFoxglovesCancelled
X5CardiffRingland, NewportCancelled
FIVESt MellonsRingland, NewportCancelled
Tesco Free BusNewport bus stationNewport TescoCancelled

Subsequently, NAT Group withdrew from Newport and closed its Newport depot. The only NAT Group routes that remain in Newport are the R1 between Newport bus station and Risca, and the Sainsbury's Free Bus - both these routes are run by the groups Cardiff depot. NAT Group announced that they will also be running the popular 'Severn Express' service from 15 June 2020, but under a new name and a new route number - the X7. This route is run with allocated single deckers. The X7 only runs from Chepstow and Bristol via Cribbs Causeway - making this the third route that NAT Group operate in the Newport Area.

Skewen

Following the purchase of Select Local Bus of Neath, NAT Group ran a number of ex-select routes and vehicles from this depot. They operated:
Route numberStartTerminusFate of route
30Neath bus stationBirchgroveCancelled
41Neath bus stationLongfordCancelled
59Neath bus stationSwansea bus stationCancelled
156Swansea bus stationNeath bus stationCancelled
X6Neath Victoria GardensSwansea bus stationCancelled

NAT Group has now largely withdrawn from Neath and only provides limited services.

Abercrave

NAT Group purchased the Abercrave depot when Crossgates Coaches ceased trading. The Abercrave depot operated:
Route numberStartTerminusFate of the route
62Coelbren, PowysYstradgynlaisTransferred to the groups Swansea depot after Abercrave closed
63BreconSwansea bus stationMerged with X63 & X64 to create TrawsCymru T6
64AmmanfordYstradgynlaisTransferred to the groups Swansea depot after Abercrave closed
X63/X64YstradgynlaisSwansea bus stationBoth merged with 63 to create TrawsCymru T6