Reading Buses launched the Silverstars service for the new academic year to help standardise bus fares

Reading Buses unveiled the new 'Silverstars' service to offer a better and more advanced arrangement for secondary schools, which previously offered travel at different prices.

The Theale Green and Little Heath buses previously, known as TG and LH services, will be served by a specially numbered bus which is already part of the mainstream fleet.

They will be numbered similarly to their parent route, but will have a letter after the number to show they are an extended school route, such as 'Yellow 26T' for Theale Green pupils.

Silverstars passengers under the age of 19 will be required to pay a special fare, as Reading Buses' standard range of boost fares will not be covered by the new service.

Jake Osman, marketing and communications manager for Reading Buses, explained: “When we took over full control of these school bus operations last year, we decided to keep the legacy pricing from the previous year to begin with.

“This put a differential between the three main schools within the silverstars routes and so meant some schools were paying far more than others.

“For this year, we have looked at our pricing and aligned it so that all school products are the same price, regardless of which school they are for.

“All products are now available to buy online through our dedicated sites for each school.

“These buses will also have special Silverstars fares for boost customers, as the company’s standard range of boost products and tickets will not available for use on these buses given their special nature, in exactly the same way as the old TG and LH numbered services.”

Bulmershe, Denefield, Little Heath, Chiltern Edge and Theale Green School will be served by the Silverstars buses from September 4.

Parents can purchase Silverstars smartcards to ensure their children have a bus pass to get to and from school.

Visit: www.reading-buses.co.uk/schools to find out more about the changes and to buy products.