New Gas Buses* in Reading

Reading Buses are in the process of introducing a batch of 17* Scania KUB270/Enviro300 buses powered by Gas. These are some of the first to be introduced into the country, and feature extra-large covers to make the gas tanks more aesthetically pleasing. The buses are being split across two routes - Greenwave Park & Ride services and the Scarlet route 9.

Last Thursday, I popped out the front of Reading railway station en-route to another location, and grabbed a couple of the brand new Enviros in service. According to the excellent Bus Zone website, the Scarlet batch of buses was only introduced to service on 28th May. Here is 417 (YR13PNU) pictured three days later.

The reason I've starred the 17 above is that 3 further buses are to enter service on other routes too. These are two for Bronze route 11, followed by one in standard Reading Buses fleet livery. The fleet will be numbered 401 to 420 when it is fully in service. Here is another bus in the batch - this time vehicle 415 (YR13PNK).

Scarlet 9 operates at a frequency of every 10 minutes between Monday and Saturday until late afternoon, when the frequency becomes every 12 minutes until about 6pm(ish). Greenwave is again a route with a frequency of every 10 minutes, although this becomes more irregular after 4pm (there is still a good number of 5-6 buses an hour until 7pm though). Greenwave does not operate on Saturday

These buses are very impressive beasts, and well worth a look if you are in the area. These Enviros have replaced Volvo B7RLEs on route 9, which have been taken out of service with the arrival of the new buses. Another fourteen are to be ordered, again according to the Bus Zone website, which should add further variety to the Reading fleet.