MARK LYONS meets Robert Williams, a lifelong enthusiast who returned to his hometown last year as chief executive officer at Reading Buses, and learns that local teams form part of his growth ambitions for one of the UK’s last arms length municipal companies
Newest double-deckers with Reading Buses are 17 dual-door Alexander Dennis Enviro400CBG City-bodied Scania N280UDs fuelled by biogas. Most, like 717 (YP67 XCM), are branded for cross-town route Purple 17.
One hundred years after Reading Corporation started its first motorbus service, its successor Reading Buses — trading name of Reading Transport — is one of only nine arms length municipals left in Britain. More than that, industry awards schemes have judged it to be one of the country’s best operators, one that has outgrown its hometown to provide services throughout the Thames Valley.
