12 new buses for Reading Buses

Thursday 15th February 2024

Reading Buses is no stranger to investing in smart new buses and following the introduction of seven pristine Enviro400s on the newly branded Windsor Express routes 702 (London Line) and 703 (Flightline) last year, it’s now the turn of Lion branded routes 4/X4 between Reading and Bracknell to receive an upgrade.

Eight of a total order of twelve new enviro 400 City buses hit the road en-masse on Monday in an updated livery for the route including a new golden tint and a “more noble” lion image which the company hopes will “help the buses stand out from those that they replace.”

The buses were given an official launch outside Wokingham Town Hall on Monday morning by local dignitaries and company managers as well as attracting attention from shoppers and passers by.

Inside they include many features passengers are coming to appreciate from new buses introduced by top quality bus companies.

Here are some photos showing the highlights….

… there’s a two wheelchair space/buggy area on the lower deck…

… with the ‘over the rear wheels’ area devoted to two nicely placed tables …

… with wireless phone charging pads.

There’s snazzy strip lighting all around the interior sides (including the tables) on both decks …

… giving a modern ‘mood lit’ feel together with the now familiar wood effect flooring.

There are just four rear seats rather than trying to squeeze five in…

… with all the seats being very comfortable, offering good leg room…

… and the now usual usb/usb-c sockets, wireless charging phone holder and bell push.

There’s a thoughtfully placed litter bin, and a space for the Metro newspapers (no metal garish blue dispenser) although the positioning makes it a bit awkward to pick one up …

… and there’s a timetable leaflet holder which, as you’d expect with Reading Buses, was full.

On the upper deck there’s one table for four on the offside just after the stairs…

… on which I particularly like the slot in extension arrangement (as has long been used on Chiltern trains).

The next stop display doesn’t incorporate the bus stopping sign…

… which is located to the right…

… and I didn’t notice any audio announcements but it may have just been the two buses I travelled on because, as you can see, one of the signs was stuck on a bus stop served at 06:06 that morning.

For the driver the specification includes camera mirrors, reverse parking sensors, improved CCTV and audio recording in the entrance area for added security, a fan to supplement the cab air conditioning and a microphone to help provide any additional ad-hoc journey information for passengers.

The other four buses of the batch of a dozen and yet to enter service are three in Flightline livery to complete the upgrade of route 703 and one in a generic Reading Buses livery.

They’re great additions to the Reading fleet.

Roger French

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27 thoughts on “12 new buses for Reading Buses”

  1. The railway line in that direction from Reading is closed this week for (I think) crossing work at Wokingham. I know because I am traveling to Reading via Basingstoke right now.

    So it may be intentional timing for the launch!

    Love the wooden floor effect. I remember that Southend Transport used it for a batch of Fleetlines that they rebodied in the 80s. They always looked nice too but lacked tables and iPhone chargers…..better to go to college on than the ex LT DMSs that were also used on Service 1 though.

    Great article. Thanks.

    Stephen

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    1. I think the flooring is a bit low rent. Fine if you want to look like a Greggs but not the quality offering that Reading used to be. Similarly the cheap vinyl arial lion logo is very basic.

      Overall though this is a good effort, just looking a bit last year in parts.

      Gareth Cheeseman

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  2. Good to see some new buses arriving for the Reading fleet – looking at the Small Groups fleet book just published the age profile was starting to look off. There’s some big batches of double decks which are going to need replacement over the next few years, hopefully the finances are upto it since it would be a shame if all the excellent work done before the pandemic starts to erode.

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    1. Reading Buses/Reading Transport Ltd. had a three-year moratorium on buying new buses due to the financial difficulties caused by the Covid crisis. This led to the route 26 buses being refurbished instead of being replaced at the end of 2020 (when they would have been ten years old) which had been the original intention. Service levels on many routes are still lower than pre-pandemic so a few older vehicles are being replaced by existing fleet spares rather than new vehicles.

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    2. Meanwhile Stagecoach East Midlands is still using 20 year old buses around Lincolnshire.

      I thought I saw a new bus last week but it was just one repainted in a new purple variant of the Stagecoach livery (for InterConnect routes). It might look pretty outside but it’s still a 15 or 20 year old bus inside and that’s not exactly going to get customers out of their cars and staying our of their cars.

      An occasional Lincoln bus user

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      1. Good for Stagecoach….if a bus is in a good condition, roadworthy and comfortable which the vehicles you refer to are, age doesn’t matter. “shiny new buses” don’t stay that for long, and I doubt if the average Motorist checks out the age before boarding.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Most of the buses painted into the new purple Interconnect livery are between 2009 and 2012 era, so not 20 years old, at most 15. A good chunk of them came from the Cambridge Busway operations and boast facilities similar to the Reading Buses E400s on this blogpost including comfy seats and USB charging. The single decker Volvos even have air conditioning.

        If refurbished no-one would notice their age – I recall a batch of 16 year old Volvo Olympians that used to run my local route getting refurbished with seat covers and a repaint. People genuinely thought they were new.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Thanks again for a good article.
    I notice Reading Transport has been doing some staff recruitment.

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  4. Can we please see the West Berkshire Council Transport Services DRT being done because we were promised that the whole of West Berkshire would be served from Calcot towards the Wiltshire Hampshire & Oxfordshire borders but it has the app doesn’t work full stop and laggs plus crashes constantly

    Also we were promised the Tadley Baughurst Kingsclere old Burghclere & Highclere would be Serviced but unsurprisingly lied too and I’m completely fed up with it

    Becca Seymour & Jenny Sawyer

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  5. Also four new E200s to a similar spec (minus tables and camera mirrors) have recently been introduced for Bracknell town services.

    Steve

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  6. My experiences of the Bracknell – Reading corridor goes back to 13/10/2010 when it was First Bus Route 190. Vehicles: TN33144 & SS65602 refer! On 10/07/2018 I rode Route 3B eastbound along most of Nine Mile Ride. Vehicle 425 refers.

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  7. Nice for the launch to be in Wokingham rather than one of the bigger towns at the ends of the route. Would make a more newsworthy splash in local media

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  8. Great article, although the introduction of this quality of bus should not be newsworthy – it should be the norm! For every operator, for every part of the country.
    Yes, how do we get there collectively – maybe some of the DfT funds squandered on DRT could have been better directed.

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    1. Yes, whilst none of the features appear to be innovative, as a package they add up to what most passengers would expect (along with the printed timetables).
      But the reality is that uneven funding means that much of the country has nowhere near this standard: often due to local authority choices, and unsuccessful bids for external funds. The resulting services, operated with older, and unreliable vehicles, quickly destroys passenger confidence.

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  9. I like the push buttons on the seat backs. Newish Stagecoach introductions in my area require a lot of peering about and leaning over to even get at one on the grab poles.

    I’m guessing the lion branding reflects the Maiwand lion war memorial in Reading’s Forbury Gardens

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  10. Very impressive vehicles, a credit to the operator. It’s pleasing to note that this route that was on its knees when run by First is on the up. Also note Bracknell Bus Station, not lavish but perfectly adequate and clean and tidy, near the railway station and a short walk from the Town Centre.

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    1. Why “on its knees when run by First”? It was they who progressively built it up to the 15 minute frequency, not Reading. It’s back down to every 20 now, of course!

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  12. How jealous I get when reading about improvements to bus services in so many areas like this one. Here in West Kent we have a mish mash of services, not well co-ordinated. We would love to have better buses, well publicised so people want to use them!

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  14. At least one of the Flightline branded 703s was in service on Monday morning as noted in Slough.

    And yes, the Lion 4/4x has come a long way since I lived on the route late 1940s/early 50s, when it was the Thames Valley 2 (Reading-Bracknell-Ascot-Windsor). Operated with six wartime, underpowered Strachen low bridge bodied Bristols from Ascot depot, with a seventh being a slightly more modern vehicle from Reading depot. Top speed about 20mph and all fully loaded throughout the day…..thought the space age had arrived when Reading depot fielded one of the experimental Lodekkas on the route c1951/2 for a week.

    Changes of route numbers several times, Operators, survived conversion to single-deck and re-conversion to double-deck, and now both sections fortunately in the capable hands of Reading Buses as 4 and 703. By coincidence, gaining new buses from the same batch on both services!

    Terence Uden

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  15. These buses have a great specification – but I hope they are less bumpy and creaky than the E400MMCs we have in Cardiff. Even the newest ones give a pretty harsh ride. I can’t find out what the “underpinnings” of the Reading buses are, as I’m aware that a number of different chassis variants are available.

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