New routes, timetable enhancements and other changes from Monday 2 September
4 weeks ago
On Monday 2 September we’ll be making timetable changes to a number of our services, bringing enhancements on a number of routes, introducing brand-new services and improving the reliability of other timetables.
frequency enhancements
We’re increasing the frequency on leopard 3 on Monday to Saturdays. Between Central Reading and Shinfield the service will be improved to run up to every 15 minutes during the day. Journeys between Reading and Arborfield will be every 30 minutes Monday-Friday off peak and every 15 minutes Monday-Friday peak periods and on Saturdays. Between Reading and Wokingham leopard 3 will remain hourly with minor adjustments.
Claret 21 customers will also see a frequency increase up to every 15 minutes Mondays to Saturdays. This is in advance of more exciting changes to the claret 21a route at the start of the University term. These changes will provide a better service than was in place before the pandemic!
Pink 25 will also see additional buses with the introduction of a new pink 25a to provide two buses an hour between Central Reading, Emmer Green and Sonning Common during the day Monday to Saturday. An additional early morning journey and a new hourly evening service to Peppard Common is also introduced. On Sundays, pink 25 will have its frequency doubled to hourly throughout the day. These enhancements to pink 25 have been coordinated by Oxfordshire County Council with funding from new developments and HM Government.
Royal blue 33 will see small changes to departure times and an increased 15 minute frequency in the evening peak.
route changes
Sky blue 15 also sees a frequency increase between Tilehurst and Calcot Sainsbury’s to every 20 minutes, replacing the 15a journeys that finish in Tilehurst.
All buses will run from Tilehurst to Calcot Sainsbury’s directly along Langley Hill and the A4 Bath Road, however this means that they will not visit Mayfair, Garston Crescent, Royal Avenue, IKEA or Theale. This is due to low usage to these areas, alternative routes and stops being nearby, and the opportunity to provide this better overall service for everyone.
For school journeys, one 15a journey will be retained for Denefield School and the journeys for Theale Green School are renumbered 88.
Our recently introduced aqua 28 route will see four journeys Mondays-Saturdays rerouted to run via Binfield Heath and Dunsden Green during the day, providing replacement for the discontinued Arriva/Carousel 800 route. This is being introduced following retendering by Oxfordshire County Council.
Also, due to the closure of Shinfield Park, the Mereoak Park&Ride 603 journeys will change to the normal park & ride 600 route between Mereoak Park & Ride and Central Reading.
brand-new routes
There is also exciting news that we are introducing a new route. Azure 43 will run Monday to Saturday between Central Reading, Oxford Road, Purley, Pangbourne and Upper Basildon with 5 journeys a day. A school journey will run as route 93 to Goring and Langtree School.
Azure 43 / 93 is replacing Thames Travel routes 143 and BB3 following retendering by West Berkshire Council, with a slightly improved timetable to Upper Basildon, and only the school day 93 serving Goring. Any season ticket holders will need to contact Thames Travel for a refund and purchase a new ticket from ourselves, with the benefit that Reading Buses ticket holders will be able to use the route along with the rest of our network. A special ticket for Langtree School is available from our website here.
Another new school route 80 is being introduced from Caversham Park, Emmer Green and central Caversham to the schools in the Royal Berkshire Hospital area to supplement our normal network and popular school route 81. Our normal range of fares are available for this service, which has the benefit of allowing the use of the rest of our network at other times.
timetable changes
We’re also making changes to timetables for several routes.
Buzz 9 will see minor timetable changes at the request of Reading Borough Council; with buses using the buzz 9a route on a Saturday afternoons to help improve punctuality due to congestion around Costco.
Sky blue 16 will see minor timetable changes to help it run more evenly with the improved sky blue 15 from Central Reading.
Buzz 18 will see significant changes to the departure times between Central Reading and Tilehurst at the request of Reading Borough Council to accommodate the varying start and finish times of the new River Academy.
Route by route details of all our changes can be found below:
|
route |
changes |
timetable |
|
leopard 3 |
Increased frequency up to every 15 minutes between Central Reading and Shinfield Mondays to Saturdays |
available soon |
|
buzz 9 |
Buses will run as 9a on Saturday afternoons to help improve reliability. All buzz 9 and 9b services will run via 300 and 100 Longwater Avenue and Brook Drive. Buzz 9a will still run via Reading Gate Retail Park. |
|
|
sky blue 15 / 15a |
Simplified route and frequency between Reading, Dee Park, Tilehurst and Calcot up to every 20 minutes |
|
|
sky blue 16 |
Changes to times to help provide better spacing with sky blue 15 |
|
|
purple 17 |
Returns to pre-summer timetable |
|
|
buzz 18 |
Significant changes to meet River Academy start and finish times |
|
|
claret 21 |
Increased frequency up to every 15 minutes Monday to Saturdays |
|
|
pink 25 / 25a |
New off-peak pink 25a from Reading to Sonning Common and new hourly evening service to Peppard Common introduced. Frequency increased on Sunday to every 60 minutes. |
|
|
aqua 28 |
Four journeys a day will now run via Binfield Heath Monday to Saturdays. Some departure times adjusted. |
|
|
royal blue 33 |
Changes to improve reliability and increased afternoon frequency to every 15 minutes |
|
|
azure 43 |
New route between Central Reading and Pangbourne replacing Thames Travel 143 |
|
|
schools 80 / 81 |
New route between Caversham Park, Emmer and central Caversham to the schools near the Royal Berkshire Hospital, supplementing route 81 from Caversham Heights with minor timetable change. |
available soon |
|
schools 88 |
New route to replace 15 from Reading, Oxford Road, Dee Park and Tilehurst to Denefield School |
available soon |
|
schools 93 |
New route between Central Reading, Pangbourne, Goring and Langtree School replacing Thames Travel BB3 |
|
|
Mereoak park&ride 600 / 603 |
Route 603 altered to follow standard 600 route. |