Reading Buses is a bus operator serving the towns of
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
,
Bracknell
Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...
,
Newbury,
Slough
Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...
,
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
,
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...
,
Wokingham
Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell.
History
Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may ...
and the surrounding areas in the counties of
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
,
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, and
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, England, as well as parts of
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
*Greater (song), "Greate ...
. The operating company is officially known as Reading Transport Limited, and is owned by
Reading Borough Council
Reading Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonia ...
.
History
Horse tram era
![Oxford Road, Reading, 1893](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Oxford_Road%2C_Reading%2C_1893.jpg)
The origins of Reading Transport can be traced back to the 19th century, when the privately owned Reading Tramways Company (part of the
Imperial Tramways Company
The Imperial Tramways Company Ltd (1878 to 1930) was created to bring under common management a number of street tramways. Originally based in London, its headquarters moved to Bristol in 1892 and from then on it shared its senior management with ...
) was formed. The company was authorised to construct and operate a
horse tram
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar.
Summary
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
route on an east–west alignment from
Oxford Road through
Broad Street in the town centre to
Cemetery Junction. This route formed the core of what became known as the ''main line'' of the tram and trolleybus network.
Construction started in January 1879, with the entire line open by May. A fleet of six single-decked cars were initially used, with 31 horses, providing a 20-minute frequency. The cars operated from a depot on the south side of the Oxford Road, immediately to the east of
Reading West railway station
Reading West railway station serves West Reading, Berkshire, about west from the town's main retail and commercial areas. The station is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway. It is down the line the zero point at . His ...
. By the 1890s the whole fleet had been replaced by double-decked cars operating at a 10-minute frequency. The company made several proposals to add routes and electrify the system, but none of these were implemented, and in 1899 the borough corporation decided to purchase the system.
The purchase deal was completed on 31 October 1901, and Reading Corporation Tramways came into being. The corporation set out about first extending, and then electrifying the system. The extensions were completed by December 1902, and the last horse cars ran in July of the following year.
Electric tram era
![Reading Corporation Tramways, 22 July 1903](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Reading_Corporation_Tramways%2C_22_July_1903.jpg)
The new
electric tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
s started operating in July 1903. Extensions were constructed to the Wokingham Road and London Road (both from Cemetery Junction), and new routes added to
Whitley, Caversham Road, Erleigh Road and Bath Road. The trams operated from a new depot in Mill Lane, a site that was to remain Reading Transport's main depot until it was demolished to make way for
The Oracle shopping mall in 1998.
The electric tram services were originally operated by 30 four-wheeled double decked cars supplied by
Dick, Kerr & Co
Dick, Kerr and Company was a locomotive and tramcar manufacturer based in Kilmarnock, Scotland and Preston, Lancashire, Preston, England.
Early history
W.B. Dick and Company was founded in 1854 in Glasgow by William Bruce Dick. The company wer ...
. In 1904, six
bogie
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
cars and a water car (used for keeping down the dust on the streets) were added to the fleet, from the same manufacturer. No further trams were acquired, and a planned extension from the Caversham Road terminus across
Caversham Bridge
Caversham Bridge is a bridge across the River Thames between Caversham and the town centre of Reading. The bridge is situated on the reach above Caversham Lock, carrying the A4155 road across the river and also providing pedestrian access to t ...
to
Caversham itself was abandoned because of the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The war also led to a significant maintenance backlog.
In 1919, Reading Corporation started operating its first motor buses. These ran from
Caversham Heights
Caversham Heights is a residential area within Caversham in the English Royal County of Berkshire (until 1911, in Oxfordshire). Today Caversham is a northern suburb of the larger town of Reading. The name Caversham Heights traditionally refers t ...
to
Tilehurst
Tilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It lies to the west of the centre of Reading, and extends from the River Thames in the north to the A4 road in the south. The suburb is partly within the boundarie ...
, running over the tram lines and beyond the tram termini. Because of the state of the track, the Bath Road tram route was abandoned in 1930, followed by the Erleigh Road route in 1932. Eventually it was decided that the tramways should be abandoned and replaced by
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
es, operating over extended routes. The last tram ran on the Caversham Road to Whitley route in July 1936, and the last car on the ''main line'' ran in May 1939.
Trolleybus era
![Reading Trolleybus in Liverpool Road](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Reading_Trolleybus_in_Liverpool_Road.jpg)
The first trolleybus wiring erected was a training loop on Erleigh Road, which opened in early 1936. This loop was never used in public service, and was subsequently dismantled. Public service commenced on 18 July 1936,
[ on a route replacing the tram route from Caversham Road to Whitley Street. In May 1939, the remaining tram routes from Oxford Road to Wokingham Road and London Road were converted to trolleybus operation, with a short extension from Wokingham Road to the Three Tuns, and a much longer extension from the Oxford Road through the centre of ]Tilehurst
Tilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It lies to the west of the centre of Reading, and extends from the River Thames in the north to the A4 road in the south. The suburb is partly within the boundarie ...
to the Bear Inn. The extended ''main line'', from the Three Tuns to the Bear, still exists today as bus route 17, the town's busiest and most frequent route, and the first to be designated a premier route.
During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
a trolleybus branch was constructed from the Oxford Road to Kentwood Hill, enabling trolleybuses to replace motor buses with a consequential saving in precious oil-based fuel. In 1949 the Whitley Street line was extended to Whitley Wood
Whitley Wood is a suburb to the south of Reading in the English county of Berkshire.
Geography
Whitley Wood is bounded to the north by an ill-defined boundary with the suburb of Whitley, to the east by a ridge of high ground carrying the roa ...
and Northumberland Avenue, and a short branch was built to Reading General station. Subsequent short extensions took the system to its full extent, with the Kentwood route running to Armour Hill and the Northumberland Avenue line running to the junction with Whitley Wood Road.
By 1965, most UK trolleybus systems had closed, and the manufacturers of the overhead equipment gave notice that they would cease production. At the same time the trolleybuses were criticised in the local press because they cost more to operate than motor buses and were inflexible, even though the trolleybuses were profitable (Reading's motor buses made a loss), faster and less polluting. Reading Corporation decided to abandon the trolleybus system, and the routes were phased out between January 1967 and November 1968.
The UK's first contra-flow bus lane was instigated along Kings Road, when that road was made one-way in the early 1960s. The trolleybuses continued to operate two-way, as it was considered uneconomic to erect wiring on the new inbound route, London Road. The concept of the contra-flow bus lane was proved successful, and adopted in other places for motor buses.
Expansion and competition
The Transport Act 1980
The Transport Act 1980 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It introduced deregulation of coach services in the United Kingdom and allow authorities to deregulate bus services on a trial basis. It was introduced by the Conservative go ...
deregulated long distance bus services. Reading Transport took advantage of this new freedom to start a service from Reading through London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to Southend
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
. The service was numbered X1 and was run jointly with Southend Transport. In 1982 the X1 was shortened to run from Reading to Aldgate
Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate.
The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...
in East London, under the Goldline brand, and joint operation ceased.
As a result of the legislation that accompanied the deregulation of local bus services in 1986, the operations of Reading Transport were transferred to Reading Transport Limited, an "arms length" company whose shares were held by Reading Borough Council. Bus deregulation also meant that the local council no longer had any power to regulate the routes and fares of Reading Transport, nor could they prevent other operators from starting competitive services within the borough.
In 1991 Reading Transport was rebranded Reading Buses. In 1992 Reading Transport acquired the Reading and Newbury operations of BeeLine, one of the privatised successors to the state-owned Alder Valley
Alder Valley was a bus operator in South East England.
National Bus Company era
Alder Valley was formed when National Bus Company (NBC) subsidiaries Aldershot & District Traction (A&D) and Thames Valley Traction (TV) merged on 1 January ...
. These acquisitions led to Reading Transport operating buses in Newbury, and in the rural areas around Reading and Newbury, for the first time. Additionally, BeeLine had operated a Reading to London service under the LondonLink name, and that was merged into the Goldline service and the resulting service renamed London Line. The Goldline name was retained for use by Reading Transport's non-scheduled service business. The London Line service ceased in 2000.
Reading Buses faced competition on Reading urban routes from 1994, when Reading Mainline, an independent company, started operations with AEC Routemaster
The AEC Routemaster is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport Executive, London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles. The ...
s acquired from London Regional Transport
London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operatio ...
. Labour shortages created problems for the competitor, and Reading Buses acquired Reading Mainline in 1998. Reading Transport continued to operate the Routemasters under the Reading Mainline brand until they were finally withdrawn in July 2000.
In December 2017, Reading Buses started to serve London again when it took over Green Line Coaches
Green Line is a commuter coach brand in the Home counties of England. The trademark is owned by Arriva, with services operated by Arriva Shires & Essex and Reading Buses.
Green Line had its origin in the network of coach services established ...
route 702 from Bracknell to the Green Line Coach Station
Green Line Coach Station is a coach station in London, England, situated in Bulleid Way, Victoria.
The station offers regional coach services to various destinations to the north and west of London by Green Line Coaches and others, and tour b ...
at Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
via Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
and Slough
Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...
from First Berkshire & The Thames Valley
First Beeline Buses, trading as First Berkshire & The Thames Valley, is a bus operator providing services in and around Slough. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
History
In January 1986 Alder Valley North Limited, later renamed, The Berks B ...
. In January 2018 Reading Buses took over 2 routes (2/5), and won Slough Borough Council
Slough Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Slough, in Berkshire, England. Slough is a unitary authority, having the powers of a county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonial county, with no admini ...
tenders for an evening service (4) and a Sunday service (6) from First Berkshire & The Thames Valley.
In September 2018, Reading Buses purchased Newbury & District from Weavaway.[Newbury & District](_blank)
Reading Buses acquires Newbury & District operation The companies have worked together in the past, most noticeably on the Jet Black 1 service which operates between Reading and Newbury. In March 2019, Courtney Buses
Thames Valley Buses, known until 2021 as Courtney Buses is a bus company based in Bracknell, England. Founded in 1973, the company operates a network of commercial and contracted local bus services and school buses in Berkshire, north Hampshire ...
was purchased with 57 buses.[Reading Buses agree terms to purchase Courtney Buses](_blank)
''Bracknell News'' 6 March 2019[Reading Buses buys out Courtney Buses](_blank)
''Wokingham Paper'' 6 March 2019 In November 2019, routes 2 (which had already been withdrawn as a result of too much competition from Courtney in May 2018, but added back into the company after the purchase in March 2019) and 5 in Slough
Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...
and Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
were transferred to the Courtney Buses division, with 2 other routes, which Courtney had taken over from First Berkshire & The Thames Valley (10/15) also grouped in a similar manner. However, First won the tenders for the evening service 4 and Sunday service 6 back.
Route branding
Since 2004, Reading Buses and Reading Borough Council have made a significant investment in upgrading the quality of Reading's main urban bus routes. In autumn of that year, Reading Buses introduced its first branded ''Premier Route'' in the form of the number 17, running between the Three Tuns on Wokingham Road and the Bear Inn at Tilehurst via the town centre and Oxford Road, and the linear descendant of the old ''main line''. This was intended as the first in a series of such routes, each providing a weekday daytime frequency of between 3 and 8 buses per hour. Each premier route, or group of routes, would be allocated a distinctive colour, to be used on the buses on that route, and also on maps and other publicity.[
Since then the premier route concept has been rolled out on most of Reading's urban routes. In April 2009, a similar concept was introduced to some of Reading Buses' longer distance rural routes. These were rebranded as ''Vitality Routes'', using specially branded green and silver or red and silver buses.] In 2014, these too were changed to a colour brand, becoming 'Lime Routes'. Most longer distance and interurban services now have animal related branding, with the lion to Bracknell and the leopard to Wokingham. The lime brand is still retained on the service to Mortimer.
Current operations
Reading Buses
Reading Transport operates public service buses under the Reading Buses brand throughout the town of Reading, and along a number of corridors out to other local towns. All routes have a colour scheme, a concept first introduced in 2004 with the introduction of 'Premier Routes', where each route or group of routes allocated a distinctive colour. These colours are used on the buses used on that route, and also on maps and other publicity. Urban town area routes provide a weekday daytime frequency of between 2 and 8 buses per hour, depending on the route.
Five of the urban routes now operate 24 hours a day, reflecting the level of demand for local buses around the clock:
* Emerald 5 and 6 to Whitley Wood
Whitley Wood is a suburb to the south of Reading in the English county of Berkshire.
Geography
Whitley Wood is bounded to the north by an ill-defined boundary with the suburb of Whitley, to the east by a ridge of high ground carrying the roa ...
* Purple 17 between Tilehurst
Tilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It lies to the west of the centre of Reading, and extends from the River Thames in the north to the A4 road in the south. The suburb is partly within the boundarie ...
and Wokingham Road Three Tuns (a pub/restaurant)
* Claret 21 to Lower Earley
Lower Earley is the southern portion of Earley civil parish and a large suburb of Reading, within the English county of Berkshire. It forms part of (along with neighbouring Earley, Winnersh, Woodley and Shinfield) a large suburban conurbat ...
* Yellow 26 to Calcot IKEA (when IKEA is shut bus terminate at Calcot Sainsbury)
Out of town routes operate at lower frequency, with between one and four buses an hour. These operate out as far as Newbury, Wokingham, Bracknell and Riseley:
*JetBlack 1 to Newbury
*Lime 2/2a to Burghfield Common, Mortimer and Tadley (AWE
Awe is an emotion comparable to wonder but less joyous. On Robert Plutchik's wheel of emotions awe is modeled as a combination of surprise and fear.
One dictionary definition is "an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., ...
)
*Leopard 3 to Arborfield and Wokingham
*Lion 4/X4 to Wokingham and Bracknell
*Pink 25 to Peppard Common
*Mereoak Park and Ride 600 to Mereoak Park and Ride, Riseley and Shinfield.
The Thames Valley P&R service 400 was indefinitely suspended in July 2022 due to low usage and a lack of funding.
Newbury & District
In September 2018, Reading Buses purchased Newbury & District from Weavaway.
The operated services include:
* 1a/1c circulars between Newbury Wharf and Thatcham Broadway
* 1d Thatcham Broadway
* 2/2a/2c to Wash Common, Tesco Superstore and Pigeons Farm
* 3/3a/3c/3x to Hungerford
* 4/4a/4b/4c to Speen and Lambourn
* 6/6a to East and West Ilsley
* 8 to Tesco Superstore
* 9/9b/9c to Newbury Racecourse, Tesco Superstore and Pigeons Farm
* 103/103a/b/c to the Greenham Business Park and Tesco Superstore
* V1 shuttle service between Newbury Rail Station and the Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
Campus.
All services (except 3c, which continues to Thatcham Broadway) serve the Newbury Wharf Bus Station.
The 1a/c/d, 103/103a/b/c and V1 services are operated solely by Reading Buses. All other routes are operated on behalf of West Berkshire Council.
Thames Valley Buses
Thames Valley Buses, known until 2021 as Courtney Buses is a bus company based in Bracknell, England. Founded in 1973, the company operates a network of commercial and contracted local bus services and school buses in Berkshire, north Hampshire ...
In December 2017, it was announced that Reading Buses was to take on three services withdrawn by First Berkshire & The Thames Valley
First Beeline Buses, trading as First Berkshire & The Thames Valley, is a bus operator providing services in and around Slough. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
History
In January 1986 Alder Valley North Limited, later renamed, The Berks B ...
in the Slough area. A fourth route was later added. The ''Thames Valley Buses'' name, historically associated with Thames Valley Traction
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 "Re ...
, was used for the new services. Operation began on 20 January 2018.
In November 2019, the Thames Valley and Courtney Buses brands began to be combined, which was a gradual process that was complete by April 2021, with Slough and Windsor being the first areas to change over to Thames Valley, adding two more routes. However, a retendering of contracts by Slough Borough Council
Slough Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Slough, in Berkshire, England. Slough is a unitary authority, having the powers of a county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonial county, with no admini ...
saw the two tendered routes won back by First. Since then, Maidenhead and Wokingham routes, along with the trading name, have changed over.
Green Line
In December 2017, Reading Buses announced they would be taking over the Green Line 702 from First Berkshire & The Thames Valley
First Beeline Buses, trading as First Berkshire & The Thames Valley, is a bus operator providing services in and around Slough. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
History
In January 1986 Alder Valley North Limited, later renamed, The Berks B ...
, since running the service they have introduced a new service to Heathrow using route number 703.
National Express
Reading Buses formally operated the National Express 925 between Woking and Heathrow, but this contract was suspended with the onset on the Coronavirus pandemic.
Newbury & District maintain two coaches used for various National Express routes, most notably the 507. One of these, 1416, is in Newbury's livery which is used on school contracts when not in use on the express routes.
Obsolete brands
Newbury Buses
Until August 2011, Reading Transport operated public service buses in the town of Newbury and the surrounding rural area under the "Newbury Buses" brand. Two routes were branded using the same ''Vitality Route'' brand that was used by Reading Buses, and provide weekday daytime frequencies of two buses per hour. Another longer distance route, to Basingstoke
Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...
, was jointly operated with Stagecoach in Hampshire
Stagecoach South is a bus operator providing services in South East England. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach. It operates services in Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex with some routes extending into Brighton and Wiltshire. It ope ...
and branded as ''The Link''.
When Reading withdrew from all commercial and tendered work in the Newbury area, the majority of work passed to Newbury & District. ''The Link'' is now operated by Stagecoach in Hampshire on a revised timetable to reflect the Stagecoach depot being in Basingstoke.
Jet Black 1 was subcontracted to Weavaway Travel in 2011, using several Alexander Dennis Enviro400s, which are owned by Weavaway but are in a route-branded version of Reading Buses livery and are on the Reading fleet system. Additional Enviro400s owned by Weavaway in an all-over black livery are also able to be used on the route.
Goldline Travel
Reading Buses used the Goldline Travel name for its non-public-service bus operations, including services operated under contract for various local employers. Goldline Travel was also responsible for the operation of Fastrack and Daytrack park and ride
A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...
services and Nighttrack night bus service
Night service, sometimes also known as owl service, refers to the public transport services operated during the night hours. These services are operated, mainly using buses but in certain cases using trams (or streetcars), not including inte ...
s, all of which are operated under contract to Reading Borough Council
Reading Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonia ...
.
Goldline Travel had a two-tone green colour scheme, although most services were operated by vehicles in colour schemes specified by the contracting organisation. Unlike services run by Reading Buses, Goldline gave change on their routes. This was mainly for the benefit of visitors who are more likely to use routes such as park-and-ride.
In May 2008, Goldline won the contract to operate route 142 from Checkendon, Woodcote and Purley to Reading; the route was previously operated by Thames Travel
Thames Travel is a bus operator serving the southern part of the English county of Oxfordshire. It is based in Didcot and is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.
In May 2011 the Go-Ahead Group bought Thames Travel.
Branded routes River Rapids ...
. However, when the route was next tendered, in May 2012, the contract reverted to Thames Travel.
In February 2009, the private hire services run by Goldline ceased, and the coaches were all sold.
Loddon Bridge Park & Ride
In 2015, Loddon Bridge Park & Ride route 500 ceased and the site was closed, having been superseded by Winnersh Triangle Park & Ride, following the completion of the new site by Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
and Wokingham Borough Council
Wokingham Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. It is a unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or perform ...
s.
Kennections
Following a contract win from West Berkshire Council, Reading Buses introduced the ''Kennections'' brand in Newbury in September 2016. These routes were previously run by Newbury & District, the bus service trading name for Weavaway Travel, who in turn took them over from Reading Buses' now-defunct Newbury Buses brand. All drivers were TUPEd to Reading Buses.
In April 2020, Kennections was merged into Newbury & District, with the latter name being retained. The app was also changed to Newbury & District in September of that year.[https://www.reading-buses.co.uk/get-newbury-district-app ''Reading Buses'' 18 September 2020]
Courtney Buses
In March 2019, Reading Buses purchased Courtney Buses as part of their expansion across Berkshire.
Between November 2019 and April 2021, the Courtney Buses brand began to be phased out.
Fleet
As of June 2022, the fleet consists of 157 buses.
Fuels
Reading Buses has a history of experimenting with biofuel
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (E ...
s, including biodiesel
Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with ...
and alcohol fuel
Various alcohols are used as fuel for internal combustion engines. The first four aliphatic alcohols (methanol, ethanol, propanol, and butanol)
are of interest as fuels because they can be synthesized chemically or biologically, and they have ch ...
. By 2008, all but one of Reading's bus fleet was fuelled by a mix of 5% biodiesel and 95% conventional diesel.
In late 2007, Reading Buses placed an order with Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...
for 14 ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...
-fuelled double decker buses to replace the existing fleet of biodiesel-powered vehicles operating premier route 17. At the time the order was placed, this was the largest order for ethanol-fuelled buses in the UK. These buses started work on 26 May 2008.
In October 2009, it was discovered that instead of the bio-ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...
fuel having been sourced from sugar beet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...
grown in the English county of Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
(as had been advertised), it was actually made from wood pulp
Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibers from wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemical or plant-based additives, pulp is the major raw mate ...
imported from Sweden. On learning this, Reading Borough councillors launched an investigation into how they and the Reading Transport Board could have been deceived. All the ethanol-powered buses have since been converted to run on the same bio-diesel mix as the rest of the fleet.
Reading Buses had 31 hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
(diesel-battery-electric) buses, but now there are non in service. first incident was fire victim (203) after the fire the bus was scrapped, then (205) had a drivetrain replacement with a magtec hybrid system which is now branded on 26. All hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
bus had a full refurbishment and have also been converted to diesel coupled with a ZF gearbox and now serve routes Lion 4/X4 (211-217), Sky Blue 15/16 (218,224-231), Berry 23/24 (220-223), Yellow 26 (202,203-210)
In May 2013, 20 buses powered by compressed natural gas
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in cy ...
(CNG) were introduced. These are used on the Greenwave routes, Leopard 3/8/9, Tiger 7 and Bronze 11. A further 14 vehicles arrived in 2014, which work the Lime 2, Leopard 3/8/9 and Pink 22/25.
One member of this fleet, No 420, holds the land speed record for a regular service bus, having achieved 80.82 mph under test conditions in May 2015. It carries a special cow print livery reflecting the fact that the compressed natural gas is, at source, methane derived from cow dung
Cow dung, also known as cow pats, cow pies or cow manure, is the waste product ( faeces) of bovine animal species. These species include domestic cattle ("cows"), bison ("buffalo"), yak, and water buffalo. Cow dung is the undigested residu ...
. Buses used on the Royal Blue 33 route, are the first CNG-fuelled double-deckers these feature Enviro 400 MMC bodywork. Bus 700 was an ADL Demonstrator of this type which travelled the country, but has since settled with Reading Buses and is in their livery alongside 701-705. Bus 703 is named the " Richard Wilding OBE". In 2018 a further 17 (706-722) CNG-fuelled double deckers arrived for Purple 17, unlike the previous order for CNG Buses these are fitted with Enviro 400 City bodywork.
References
External links
Reading Buses web site
Greenline 702/703
Thames Valley
Kennections
{{authority control
Bus operators in Berkshire
Companies based in Reading, Berkshire
Companies owned by municipalities of England
Transport companies established in 1901
Transport in Berkshire
Transport in Reading, Berkshire
1901 establishments in England