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Post by wirewiper on Nov 15, 2020 11:18:28 GMT
The 'Greenwave' network (50+ / 60+ routes that serve the junction 11 park and ride, and the various business parks in south Reading) is being 'reimagined' from 9 November and sounds like it will be much simplified. www.reading-buses.co.uk/exciting-changes-greenwaveFollowing on from this, the following fleet changes will be made: Scania saloons 401-404 will be branded for Mereoak Park & Ride 600 instead of Greenwave. Scania saloons 405-409 will remain in greenwave livery for now for route 50 (Central Reading-Green Park), but will eventually be replaced by double deck vehicles. 405-407 will then be rebranded for Winnersh Triangle Park & Ride 500. Scania saloons 410/411 will be repainted in two-tone red "orbits" livery for ruby 10 (Central Reading-Kennet Island).
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Post by wirewiper on Nov 27, 2020 10:45:26 GMT
Greenwave route 50 will be converted to double-deck using four of the route 17 gas-powered Scania/Enviro400 City - these will include 706 which is about to lose its allover advert livery. Route 17 currently requires 11 vehicles off-peak and 13 at peak times so redeploying four buses to the 50 represents a better use of resources. Incidentally, for anyone that is interested the www.buszone.com website now has a forum on Google Groups: groups.google.com/g/buszone
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DJ
Cleaner
Ow bin ya?
Posts: 1
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Post by DJ on Dec 9, 2020 23:06:54 GMT
One of the MetroDeckers that was originally intended for Reading, YJ70 EWC, has entered service with Johnsons of Henley in Arden today, on their X20 route.
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Post by wirewiper on Dec 14, 2020 17:09:36 GMT
Reading Buses: Christmas and New Year 2020/2021
- Christmas Eve, Thursday 24th December: Monday-Friday timetable but with last departures on most routes from Central Reading around 20.00. After 20.00 route 17 will have a special half-hourly service with last departures from Central Reading just after 23.00 and routes 5, 6, 21 and 26 will operate hourly with last departures from Central Reading around 23.00. The 22.20 route 6a journey from Tesco Distribution Depot into Central Reading will also operate. Additional route 6a journeys will operate from the Tesco Distribution Depot into Central Reading at 18.10 and 18.13.
- Christmas Day, Friday 25th December: no services
- Boxing Day, Saturday 26th December: Special timetables commencing around 09.00 and finishing around 18.00, based on Sunday frequencies. Routes which do not operate on a Sunday will not operate on Boxing Day.
- Sunday 27th December: Sunday timetables (24-hour routes 5, 6, 17, 21 & 26 commence around 04.00)
- Holiday Monday 28th December: Sunday timetables
- Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th December: Saturday timetables
- New Year's Eve, Thursday 31st December: Saturday timetables including full evening service and 24-hour routes. Additional route 6a journey from Tesco Distribution Depot into Central Reading at 18.10. After midnight route 13 will have additional late-night departures from Central Reading at 00.30, 01.30 and 02.30 and routes 17 and 21 will operate every 30 minutes until around 03.00.
- New Year's Day, Friday 1st January: Sunday timetables. Additional route 6a buses from Central Reading (Station Road) to Tesco Distribution Depot at 09.18 and 09.25, and from Tesco Distribution Depot into Central Reading at 13.50.
Normal services operate from Saturday 2nd January.
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Post by wirewiper on Dec 17, 2020 9:41:50 GMT
The Henley Town Services contract has been quietly dropped. It ceased on 9th April due to the pandemic, and has since reappeared but as a reduced three-day-a-week service with another operator (TK Travel).
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Post by wirewiper on Jan 1, 2021 12:48:50 GMT
With a staggered return for schools in January, from 4th January Reading Buses will operate its school routes 81-93* as normal, but most of its 900-series "closed" journeys will instead operate as normal service buses. Arrangements for 11th January onwards will be announced next week. www.reading-buses.co.uk/school-bus-changes* there are permanent changes to the afternoon journeys on routes 92/93 due to changed times at Bohunt School.
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Post by wirewiper on Jan 7, 2021 18:46:08 GMT
Reading Buses has announced temporary changes to its timetables from Monday 11th January.
As most school students are not travelling, schools routes 81-93 will be suspended until further notice. On other routes journeys which run on schooldays will not run, but journeys which run during school holidays will operate instead. Reading Buses says that experience of the first lockdown showed that there should be sufficient capacity on regular services for the few students who still need to travel.
Route 17 will operate to the Summer holiday timetable with a slightly reduced daytime frequency of every 8 minutes.
Route 21 will continue to operate to its normal timetable, but the extra 21a journeys between Central Reading and the University remain suspended for now.
Green Line 703 will operate a Saturdays timetable on Mondays to Fridays, but Green Line 702 will operate the normal Monday-Friday service.
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Post by wirewiper on Jan 14, 2021 12:01:14 GMT
Reading Buses has announced temporary changes to its timetables from Monday 11th January. As most school students are not travelling, schools routes 81-93 will be suspended until further notice. On other routes journeys which run on schooldays will not run, but journeys which run during school holidays will operate instead. Reading Buses says that experience of the first lockdown showed that there should be sufficient capacity on regular services for the few students who still need to travel. Route 17 will operate to the Summer holiday timetable with a slightly reduced daytime frequency of every 8 minutes. Route 21 will continue to operate to its normal timetable, but the extra 21a journeys between Central Reading and the University remain suspended for now. Green Line 703 will operate a Saturdays timetable on Mondays to Fridays, but Green Line 702 will operate the normal Monday-Friday service. There's a slight modification to this: from Monday 18th January school routes 82 and 84 (but not 83) will be reinstated to provide a limited service for Chiltern Edge School, the route of the 84 will be modified to cover part of route 83.
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Post by wirewiper on Jan 18, 2021 18:30:51 GMT
Reading Buses CEO, Robert Williams, notes that eighteen vehicles at Reading Depot have been temporarily laid up, these are older double deckers such as the "Claret Spritzer" Scania OmniDekkas and the two ex-Stagecoach Dennis Tridents; and also the Vodafone Scania/Irizars as these do not have cash vaults fitted. A small number of employees are currently on furlough, including staff who are clinically vulnerable.
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Post by rugbyref on Jan 18, 2021 19:17:33 GMT
My then employer enforced relocation to Reading in the mid 1980s, and I hated every minute of my 4 years there. The only time I ever smiled was when a Routemaster appeared (route 17?)
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Post by Catford94 on Jan 18, 2021 23:06:16 GMT
My then employer enforced relocation to Reading in the mid 1980s, and I hated every minute of my 4 years there. The only time I ever smiled was when a Routemaster appeared (route 17?)
Reading Mainline were (initially) an independent that ran 1994 - 2000, having been bought out by Reading Buses in 1998.
Their routes had route letters (I think this followed Reading tram practice - Reading's last trams ran around 1939) not numbers - there were one or two workings on Reading Buses numbered routes after 1998, but pretty much a rarity.
More about Mainline here.
Wasn't aware any Routemasters had run during the 80s - could have been a one-off or brief trial.
Or could it have been one of Reading's own Regent III's (photo www.sct61.org.uk/rg2)? While Reading were fairly early to push towards almost full OPO, a small number of Regents and one or two scheduled workings hung on in to the 80s, and there were occasions (I get the impression it may have been when certain people felt like it) that one of the Regents appeared in service until quite late on.
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Post by rugbyref on Jan 20, 2021 14:01:07 GMT
You are probably correct. I had to go back to Reading often after I escaped back to London, so it almost certainly was early 90s when I saw the RMs.
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Post by wirewiper on Jan 20, 2021 14:49:10 GMT
My then employer enforced relocation to Reading in the mid 1980s, and I hated every minute of my 4 years there. The only time I ever smiled was when a Routemaster appeared (route 17?)
Reading Mainline were (initially) an independent that ran 1994 - 2000, having been bought out by Reading Buses in 1998.
Their routes had route letters (I think this followed Reading tram practice - Reading's last trams ran around 1939) not numbers - there were one or two workings on Reading Buses numbered routes after 1998, but pretty much a rarity.
More about Mainline here.
Wasn't aware any Routemasters had run during the 80s - could have been a one-off or brief trial.
Or could it have been one of Reading's own Regent III's (photo www.sct61.org.uk/rg2)? While Reading were fairly early to push towards almost full OPO, a small number of Regents and one or two scheduled workings hung on in to the 80s, and there were occasions (I get the impression it may have been when certain people felt like it) that one of the Regents appeared in service until quite late on. An interesting summary of the Reading Mainline operation can be found here: www.countrybus.co.uk/independent/readingmainline.htmApparently a Routemaster did operate on route 17 son after the takeover to cover a gap in service, but this only happened once as the union objected. However they were prepared to allow a gap in service to be covered by an equivalent journey over a Reading Mainline route. Reading Transport had abolished conductor operation officially in 1977 (February?) when route 15 (Northumberland Avenue) was converted to OMO. At that time though it was customary for bus companies to retain a few conductors on payroll if they were not fit to retrain as drivers and did not want to take early retirement or voluntary redundancy - I remember on a couple of occasions seeing a conductor on a Woodley service in the late 1970s/early 1980s, although it was a front-entrance bus rather than a Regent/half-cab.
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Post by Catford94 on Jan 21, 2021 0:14:29 GMT
Reading Transport had abolished conductor operation officially in 1977 (February?) when route 15 (Northumberland Avenue) was converted to OMO. At that time though it was customary for bus companies to retain a few conductors on payroll if they were not fit to retrain as drivers and did not want to take early retirement or voluntary redundancy - I remember on a couple of occasions seeing a conductor on a Woodley service in the late 1970s/early 1980s, although it was a front-entrance bus rather than a Regent/half-cab.
I've seen / heard conflicting accounts on this.
One is that the 25 (Southcote) was the last crew route, because of a reverse at one terminus that either management or union or commissioners would not sanction for OPO buses. (Northumberland Avenue has a turning circle presumably built for trolleybuses and still in use, although I understand the last traction pole in use as a street light was removed not that long ago.)
The other version I had heard was that some duties on Woodley (possibly one or two spreadover duties) stayed crew operated in to the 80s.
This enthusiast collated list says the Twyford service - believe an extension off Woodley routes) was crew operated until 1989.
I'm not sure there's anything on paper - the '100 years of Reading motor buses' book that came out a year or two back doesn't seem to say anything on the subject.
Of course with smaller operators, the lines between 'scheduled crew operation', 'unscheduled crew operation fairly regularly on a few duties to keep the remaining crew drivers / conductors occupied' and 'turning out an old bus now and then due to vehicle shortage or because we feel like it' can be a bit unclear...
My earlier memories of Reading were from mid 70s to mid 80s when I had relatives in the town, and a visit involved a bus journey (not on any of those three routes) from the railway station to their house, and I only remember OPO buses, but we tended to arrive well after the morning peak and set off back home towards the end of the evening peak, so what happened in the peak hours would have passed me by.
I certainly remember seeing one or two Regents (and ex London Transport tower wagon - still used for towing some years after Reading's last trolleybus) in the depot (photos not mine.)
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Post by wirewiper on Jan 22, 2021 11:08:58 GMT
Reading Buses is withdrawing Green Line 702 temporarily from Monday 25th January. Green Line 703 will continue to operate.
Also withdrawn temporarily will be Winnersh Triangle Park & Ride, the lion 4/X4 stops nearby on Reading Road.
From Monday 1st February ruby 10, Greenwave 50 and Mereoak Park & Ride will operate to Saturday timetables on Monday to Friday. Leopard routes 3, 8 and 9 will have revised timetables from this date due to a reduced level of support from Wokingham Borough Council.
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