changes to fares and timetables

We will be changing some timetables and most of our fares from Monday 5 September

These changes are happening as we continue to adjust to new travel patterns following the Covid-19 pandemic and a reduction in developer funding, which supports services to new housing developments.

It is also due to rising prices on items such as vehicle components and fuel amongst other increased costs.

timetable changes

The following services will see changes to their timetables from Monday 5 September. All other services will remain the same as current. 

As there has been a significant change in the way people now work and shop, we have seen reduced customer numbers so we need to adjust service levels to better match demand.

route	details of change
leopard 3	Continues to run every 20 minutes to Arborfield and hourly to Wokingham with minor timetable changes. However, the leopard 8 and 9 are being withdrawn (see below). One journey an hour will be diverted to additionally serve Thames Valley Science Park.
leopard X3	Minor timetable changes to the afternoon journeys from Shinfield Park.
emerald 5	Monday-Saturday frequency reduced to every 12 minutes.
emerald 6	Monday-Saturday frequency reduced to every 12 minutes.
tiger 7	Replaced by a new, more frequent and direct, extension of the Mereoak park & ride 600 to Three Mile Cross, Spencer’s Wood, Swallowfield and Riseley. The service will provide an improved frequency every hour throughout the day and an evening service is also reintroduced.
leopard 8	Replaced by an extension of Mereoak park&ride 600 to provide a more direct service to Three Mile Cross every 30 minutes, and to Spencer’s Wood, Shinfield and Thames Valley Science Park every hour.
leopard 9	Replaced with 'route 9' which will run between Reading, RBH, Cressingham Road and Whitley Wood only, with the extension to Three Mile Cross and Spencer’s Wood replaced by the extended park&ride 600 service.
sky blue 15	Extended from Calcot IKEA to Arlington Business Park and/or Theale to create new shopping and work links. The Theale Green School bus route 88 is re-numbered 15, with no changes to the timetable.
pink 22	Some journeys will no longer run due to low usage.
berry 23/24	Some journeys will no longer run due to low usage.
pink 25	Some journeys will no longer run due to low usage.
yellow 26	Increased to run every 12 minutes at peak periods after being reduced for the summer period, with amended times to improve reliability. Daytime frequency remains at every 15 minutes.
royal blue 33	Minor changes to journeys between 6am and 7am from Reading Station and between 7am and 8am from Stratford Way, with the frequency at these times reducing to every 30 minutes.
mereoak park & ride 600	Increased to run every 15 minutes throughout the day after being reduced earlier in the year. One journey an hour will be extended to Riseley and one journey an hour extended to Shinfield and Thames Valley Science Park. These will form a 30 minute ‘fast’ service to Three Mile Cross and the northern parts of Spencer’s Wood utilising the A33 bus lanes.

fares changes

We are changing most of our fares from Monday 5 September. This is partly due to government funding coming to an end, and partly to reflect inflationary pressures on items such as vehicle components and fuel amongst other increased costs.

A general summary of what is changing is below and a full list of all changes will be available soon. 

Single fares will generally increase by 10-20p and return/day tickets by 30-40p. The flat single fare within Reading will be £2.30 on bus or £2.20 on the Reading Buses app. The day ticket within Reading will be £4.50 on bus or £4.30 on the app.

Discounted Lower Caversham, short-hop and South Reading fares will be available for £1.20, £1.50 and £2.00 on bus.

The simplyReading 7 day, easysaver10 and daysaver5 will increase by £1 after being frozen at the last fares change.

Tickets bought on our app will remain cheaper than buying on bus or from the bus shop to help minimise the impact of the increase.

The combination of service and fare changes will hopefully close the financial gap to allow us to continue providing efficient and reliable services.