electric buses
We are extremely proud that our first set of fully electric battery-powered buses entered service on 6 February.
It is fitting that the buses have entered service in our 125th anniversary year as Reading Borough Council acquired the town’s horse-drawn tramway in 1901 to electrify it. To help mark this occasion, bus number 4 has a special golden design to celebrate this.
We launched the new buses at our Great Knollys Street depot in Reading on Thursday 5 February 2026. The new Zero Emission Buses for the Reading Area – or ZEBRA for short – looked impressive lined up and the event even featured our new mascot for the zero emission buses – Zippy the Zebra – who will be present at future events including our charity Open Day.
buses for now and the future
The fleet of 24 new buses will be used on two routes, our flagship purple 17 between Tilehurst, Central Reading and Wokingham Road, and busy claret 21 between Central Reading, the University of Reading and Lower Earley. Both routes run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The fleet features our usual high specification interior and vibrant coloured branding, alongside some ‘generic’ buses designed to be able to be used on either route. These include one with a zebra design (Zero Emission Buses for the Reading Area), one in the Berkshire warming stripes designed by Ed Hawkins from Reading University to raise awareness of global warming, and one decked in gold to celebrate our 125 year anniversary this year.
The buses are replacing older, diesel buses that will be removed from the fleet on a one-for-one basis. as part of the company’s fleet replacement programme and can be recharged without any impact on the existing 24-hour operation on both of these routes.
The current bio-methane fuelled purple 17 buses are staying with us, but are being refurbished before moving onto other routes, namely berry 23/24 and sky blue 15/16.
There will also be a further six electric buses joining the fleet in 2026 on the yellow 26 route between Central Reading, Southcote and Calcot.
zero emission and high standard interiors
The new buses are zero-emission meaning a reduction in carbon emissions around the town. We have calculated that these vehicles should save around 1819 tonnes of CO2e* per year versus the diesel buses that they replace based on current grid electricity. The buses are also best-in-class with superior on-board features such as:
- full automatic air conditioning and heating – electrically provided using a heat pump
- audio and visual next stop information system including hearing loop
- USB-A and USB-C charging points at each seat
- seat-back phone holder with wireless charging
- comfy high back seats
- LED mood lighting
- lower deck rear tables and extra luggage space in place of rear-facing seats
- free WiFi
- second multi-use wheelchair and buggy bay
- glazed staircase and ‘sunroof’ for extra natural light
- additional tinted glazing – staircase, roof lights and front dome – to keep heat gain down
- coffee shop style flooring
- upper deck table / family area
- staircase CCTV screen displaying free seats upstairs in addition to interior and exterior cameras
- coat hooks
- Tap on tap off ticketing
There are also features for the driver and general safety:
- Camera mirrors for improved visibility
- Reversing sensors
- PA system
- Curved windscreen to reduce risk of injury in the event of an incident
This means that in addition to being zero emission, they bring a significant improvement in journey quality for you, our customers onboard.
Alongside our 75 low-emission biomethane-powered buses, over 60% of our fleet will be low or zero emission – and the remaining diesel buses are all still extremely clean Euro-VI engined.
The investment in electric vehicles has been made possible following a successful bid by Reading Borough Council to the Department for Transport ZEBRA fund (Zero Emission Buses for Regional Areas) to cover 75% the additional costs of buying electric vehicles and the associated depot infrastructure. Reading Buses have invested the equivalent cost of 24 diesel vehicles, and expect the remaining 25% cost to be covered by reduced running costs over the lifetime of the vehicles.
The buses have been manufactured by British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis at their factory in Larbert, Scotland. The charging infrastructure has been supplied by Zenobe.
frequently asked questions
We know there are a number of things people will want to know about the buses and the batteries, so click here to go to the FAQs page!
*Carbon Dioxide equivalent. Based on CO2e savings of 1 tonne per KM of distance travelled vs a euro VI diesel bus.