Reading Buses has introduced a new timetable to make way for various improvements on several prominent routes across the town.
Some of the major improvements will take place on the Caversham routes. There will also be new connections for Kennet Island ruby 10.
Caversham route changes
Changes have been made to several Caversham bus routes.
Berry 23/24 will now use Caversham Bridge in both directions instead of Reading Bridge.
This change means journeys between Caversham Park and Reading will travel along Church Street and Gosbrook Road to Briants Avenue.
Both sides of Caversham Park will now have links to central Caversham in both directions, providing a combined frequency between Caversham Centre and central Reading up to every 15 minutes.
In Emmer Green, the route of berry 23/24 and pink 25 will be swapped, reflecting customer requests and punctuality issues at certain times of day.
Buses on berry 23/24 will go back to their previous route via Courtenay Drive and Kidmore End Road, and pink 25/25a will run directly along Peppard Road.
Additional buses and drivers are being allocated to berry 23/24 to improve punctuality.
Pink 25/25a and outbound aqua 28/28a buses will now additionally stop at Reading Station North interchange.
Little berries 27 is being renumbered to 29a with an amended timetable during the daytime.
Evening journeys will now follow the 29 route in both directions to improve reliability.
Changes to Ruby 10 route
From Monday, September 1 the revised Ruby 10 route will provide a direct link between Kennet Island, Basingstoke Road, the University of Reading, and the Royal Berkshire Hospital, in addition to central Reading.
This will also establish a new direct connection for patients who need to travel between the Royal Berkshire Hospital and Circle Reading Hospital.
From central Reading, the Ruby 10 service will follow the same route as the Buzz 9 service along Kings Road, Eldon Road, Craven Road (for the Royal Berkshire Hospital), Redlands Road, Shinfield Road (for the University of Reading), and Cressingham Road, before continuing along Buckland Road to Morrisons.
The loop around Kennet Island will be reversed, with the service running from Morrisons via Rose Kiln Lane, the A33, Hilton Hotel, Kennet Island Central Piazza, and Manor Farm Road, before rejoining Basingstoke Road and Buckland Road back towards the hospital and central Reading.
The route changes will also result in some bus stop changes.
In central Reading, the Ruby 10 service will move its stops at St Mary’s Butts to stop CR and on Station Road to stop SA.
In Kennet Island, buses will now stop on the opposite side of the road to their current stops at Hilton Hotel, Central Piazza, and Manor Farm Road.
Buses will no longer stop at Gillette Way and Brunel Retail Park.
The extended route means a new timetable with buses running up to every hour Monday to Saturday.
There will be no service on Sundays.
Additional service changes include an increased frequency of the Bronze 11 service to every 20 minutes during the daytime on Sundays, matching the rest of the week.
An extra late-night bus is also being introduced on the Orange 13 service on Friday and Saturday nights as part of the Wokingham Bus Service Improvement Plan, with buses now running hourly until 1.30am.
The introduction of a fleet of brand-new electric buses will also see an increased frequency for the Purple 17 service at peak periods compared to last winter.
The Buzz 18 service will also see an increased frequency to Tilehurst every 30 minutes as part of the Reading Bus Service Improvement Plan, allowing the current 18a journeys to central Reading to become full route 18 journeys to Tilehurst with some modifications to departure times.
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