Exciting changes to greenwave

Exciting changes are coming to greenwave as we simplify the offering on the South Reading routes.

We will be introducing three new routes from 9 November as we reimagine the greenwave network.

We have been listening to customer feedback, and want to make it easier for you to know which bus will get you to your destination, and that it will always take the same direct route. The routes will all use the bus lanes along the A33, which continue to be extended by Reading Borough Council to bring more reliable journeys throughout the day.

There will be some minor changes to bronze 11 Sunday evening times - timetables will be online soon.

There are also some changes to Buzz 42 - click here for the timetable.

new routes, same destinations

The new routes will still run to the same destinations, but we have removed the difficult to understand route numbers and replaced them with just three, each with their own brand identity to make things easier to understand and navigate. We are still working on downloadable maps, but these will be available soon - keep checking back!

Kennet Island

Buses between central Reading and Kennet Island will become the ruby 10, running up to every 20 minutes in a loop via Gillette Way (for Brunel Retail Park, Morrisons & Royal Mail) and Kennet Island.

Click here for the ruby 10 timetable.

Green Park

Buses between central Reading and Green Park remain as greenwave, with the route number 50. Buses will run in a one way loop around Green Park via Brook Drive and Longwater Avenue up to every 10 minutes, including South Oak Way for Lime Square. The loop will start from South Oak Way in the mornings to provide handy connections to/from the rest of Green Park, and from Longwater Avenue in the afternoons, evenings and Saturdays to avoid traffic congestion. 

Click here for greenwave 50 times.

Mereoak park & ride (with RIBP and Tesco Depot)

Buses will become park & ride 600 running directly between Mereoak and Central Reading - including journeys via Reading International Business Park and Tesco Depot at key times for those destinations.

All three routes will use buses powered by carbon neutral bio-methane fuel with greenwave 50 to gain fast boarding dual door double deck vehicles during 2021 once the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on passenger numbers has subsided.

Click here for Mereoak park & ride times.

Madejski Stadium

Buses will no longer serve the car park or Northern Way stops – please take the short walk down to Brook Drive to use greenwave 50. You can also walk to South Oak Way.

time for a change

Greenwave has been one of our fastest growing services thanks to a partnership with Reading Borough Council, Green Park and Reading International Business Park dating back to 2011. With the partnership due for renewal this November we were planning to take the current greenwave network of routes to the next level with these three new frequent services offering more capacity and simplified fares to support further growth.

We want to use this opportunity to support the rebirth of travel post-Covid in the most attractive and sustainable way possible – by bus.

All three routes will benefit from the bus priority measures along the A33 and will be introduced on November 9.

fares

Fares for ruby 10 and greenwave 50 will now be aligned with our normal, simplyReading offering. Fares on Mereoak park & ride will generally remain as current. Greensaver and GreenPass tickets will no longer be able to be bought, but can still be used on these services for up to six months to allow you to continue using any travel that you have saved up. 

Please see below for details on each route.

ruby 10

The single fare between Kennet Island and town will remain at the special South Reading £1.70 price. All other fares will become simplyReading fares, meaning returns now become the simplyReading day ticket priced at £4.

greenwave 50

All fares will become simplyReading fares, meaning returns now become the simplyReading day ticket priced at £4.

park & ride 600

Generally fares will be the same when bought at Mereoak, although some will change to align them better with other areas. There will still be the £1 parking charge when parking at Mereoak. Some fares have this included - for fares without parking, you should buy your parking either from the machine in the car park or from the driver.

buy from the driver

	single	return	60-min transfer	all day
adult	£2.50*	£4.50	£3.50	£5.00
Boost (18 & under)	£1.50*	£2.20*	£2.00*	£2.70*

*fares marked with an asterisk do not include parking. Please buy your parking separately if needed.

The following special tickets are only available to buy and use on Mereoak park & ride only and both include parking.

2 together

Buy before 9.30am Monday to Friday only. Valid for two people with one car for only £7.

family 5

Buy after 9.30am Monday to Friday and all day Saturday just £7. Valid for up to 5 people maximum 3 adults.

buy online/from the app

You can get great value period tickets by buying our simplyReading products - valid on all our buses in the Reading area.

	7 day	30 day
adult	£16*	£59*
Boost (18 & under)	£12*	£45*

*products do not include parking. Please buy parking separately if needed.

flexible travel with parksaver

The parksaver smartcard allows you to buy single journeys in bulk in advance at a discounted rate - and includes the price of your parking. They are flexible so you pick when you want to travel.

Parksaver smartcards can only be used on park & ride buses, but can be used for travel to/from both Mereoak and Winnersh Triangle.

Parksaver cards will only issue you with a ticket on journeys from the park and ride to give you the barcode to scan at the barrier to leave the site.  

parksaver 10	10 single trips	£22.00	buy now
parksaver 20	20 single trips	£42.00	buy now
parksaver 40	40 single trips	£82.00	buy now

occasional user?

If you are working from home more often, or just come into town every now and then, you can still save! Our saver10 products give you individual trips that you buy in bulk in advance. 

Easysaver 10 is just £16 for 10 journeys and Boostsaver10 for 18s & under is just £13.