by BET in the Black Country were gradually replaced by Midland Red buses. In 1930, the Great Western Railway and the London Midland & Scottish Railway together acquired 50% of the company. The few GWR bus services in the area were transferred to Midland Red. Coach services Midland Red started express coach services in 1921 with routes to Weston-super-Mare and Llandudno. Coach services expanded, and in 1934 Midland Red became a founder member of the Associated Motorways consortium. Coach services were heavily reduced during World War II, but expanded again after the war. When the M1 motorway opened in 1959, Midland Red started non-stop express services between Birmingham and London, and later between Coventry and London. For the service, the company developed Britain's first high-speed motor-coach. A fleet of ten, capable of speeds of up to , were built at the company's workshops at Edgbaston. The opening of the M5 motorway enabled the operation of express services between Birmingham and Worcester. Nationalisation When the railways were nationalised forming in 1947 under the Transport Act 1947, Midland Red became 50% state-owned. In 1968, BET sold its UK bus interests to the government, and on 1 January 1969 the company became the largest subsidiary of the National Bus Company (NBC). The livery was later changed from a deep red to the NBC corporate poppy red. In 1973 the garages (with the exception of Digbeth Coach Station, Bearwood and Cradley Heath) and routes within the West Midlands county were transferred to the control of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, leaving Midland Red with country and local routes mainly in Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire and express services. Rebranding From 1977 onwards, after extensive passenger research the company was rebranded into local area names under the Viable Network Project, something that was soon renamed as the Market Analysis Project and widely adopted throughout NBC and elsewhere in the bus industry. Each new network spawned a localised brand, as follows: Breakup On 6 September 1981, Midland Red was split into six new companies: Midland Red East, renamed Midland Fox in January 1984: Leicestershire, south Derbyshire and east Staffordshire (the Lancer and Leicester operations) Midland Red North: Shropshire, south Staffordshire, and northern West Midlands (the Chaserider, Hotspur, Mercian and Tellus operations) Midland Red South: Warwickshire and north Oxfordshire (the Avonbus, Hunter, Leamington & Warwick, Ridercross and Rugby operations) Midland Red West