Reading Mainline Routes |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
www.buszone.co.uk |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This table shows all the details about the routes operated by Mainline during it's lifetime, and all of the changes made to them:
Here are some photos of Routemasters on most of the routes mentioned above, and some of the fare tables for the routes, click on them to enlarge: Line A No.8 on Mainline's first route, turning into West Street in October 1996 Line B No.9 opposite the Broad Street Mall in July 1997 Line C No.12 at Reading Station in August 1999 Line D No.18 on a route only operated after take-over by Reading Transport, outside the Broad Street Mall in November 1998 Line E No.37 in May 1998 at St.Mary's Butts Line F This line became, in the later days, the company's busiest line, and throughout it's operation has been through a large number of changes. Initially it ran from Southcote to Wokingham Road, but it was soon extended at the western end to Calcot, a request from a resident along Underwood Road for a bus service being met by the company. The route was then extended at the eastern end to Woodley, Arundel Road. This created an uproar when a small number of residents in Wingate Road (part of the turning circle) complained about "polluting buses" running around their quiet residential road. They started a poster campaign to rid themselves of the buses, and also barricaded their road with cars and ran a few dirty tricks, to the annoyance of Mike Russel, the manager, and the majority of people in the area that welcomed the service. So it was extended again to Vauxhall Drive, but the residents there also won out, the buses using a slip road of Crockhamwell Road. However residents still opposed this change so the buses reverted to the first arrangement of turning in Arundel Road. By the time the buses stopped serving Arundel Road things had quietened down somewhat, the next extension back to Vauxhall Drive being done to help improve the timings of the route. The new extension made a round trip 2 hours in total, where as before it only took 1.5 hours. The former timings were too hard to keep to - there wasn't enough time at each terminus for a bus to make up time if it had become late for some reason, but it was not economical to put another bus on the route. This led to buses more and more frequently running late, so an extra bus was added as a temporary measure on Saturdays until the route changes could be made, crews ending up with a 25 minute break at Savacentre! Finally the last change, the re-routing to Clivedale Road was done so that Reading Buses could withdraw Line C, Clivedale Road generating a reasonably large number of passengers compared to Vauxhall Drive. No.23 at SavaCentre in February 2000 Line H No.5 in Friar Street, heading for Hemdean Road in June 1998 Line J No.11 at St. Mary's Butts, heading for Kilnsea Drive one Saturday in April 1998 Line X No.23 by the Broad Street Mall, heading for the Bear Inn one Saturday in April 1998 Line L The route was as follows: From Colemansmoor Road via Crockhamwell Road, Shopping Centre, Headley Road, Headley Road East, Tippings Lane, Glendeven Road, Butts Hill Road, Western Avenue, Reading Road, Howth Drive and Beechwood Avenue, returning thence to the Shopping Centre and returning via Crockhamwell Road and Vauxhall Drive to Colemasmoor Road. Buses ran every half hour from 09:30 until 17:20 except for one missed trip at lunchtime to give the crews their statutory rest breaks. The service acted both as a park and ride and a public service, serving all normal bus stops, a flat fare of 20p was charged. Line M The route was as follows: From Woodley Airfield via Mohawk Way, Miles Way, Spitfire Way, Headley Road East, Headley Road, Beechwood Avenue, Fairwater Drive and Nightingale Road to Hazel Drive (South Lake). the return journey ran via the same route to Headley Road East and thence via Hurricane Way to Mohawk Way. Buses ran every half hour from 09:30 until 17:20 except for one missed trip at lunchtime to give the crews their statutory rest breaks. The service acted both as a park and ride and a public service, serving all normal bus stops, a flat fare of 20p was charged. Line 79 No.12 at the Madjeski Stadium during a football match in May 2000 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If you think that there is anything about the company that has been missed, please feel free to email. All contributions for the site are welcome. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||