Initially those in Plymouth and Cardiff were constructed and in operation as reported to the half yearly meeting of the company in 1873.
[4] The Cardiff Tramways Company started operations in July 1872 and developed a large network of horse tramways in Cardiff but these were taken over and electrified by the council in 1902 however the company continued its horse bus and later motor bus operations until these were also bought by the council in 1922.
[7] The Gosport tramway was extended to Fareham and electrified starting in 1906 and a new company The Gosport & Alverstoke Electric Lighting Company was formed to operate the power station at Hoeford, this supplied electricity to both the tramway and local domestic users.
Provincial Traction went on during the 1950s to purchase various motor trading companies including, in two bites, the Swain Group.
Owen Ltd., Hoffmans of Halifax Ltd., and Hoffmans of Sheffield Ltd., making Provincial Traction one of the largest Rolls-Royce dealers in Britain, and second, in March 1961: Harold Radford (coachbuilders) Ltd., Sheffield's Joseph Tomlinson & Sons Ltd., Edwards & Co (Bournemouth), Edwards & Co (Boscombe), and Thomas Greenwood's Sons Ltd.[12] The annual report for 1960 reported excellent results from these businesses which generated a profit of £135,000 with a further £47,000 profit from the remaining bus operation in Gosport and Fareham.
Provincial Traction itself was then liquidated but its sole remaining subsidiary, the Gosport and Fareham Omnibus Company, retained its separate identity within National Bus for the next 13 years.