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Please
note - this is a site of historical record and does not contain current
service information
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four years Reading Mainline operated as an independent
concern with a
fleet of crew operated Routemaster buses on an expanding network of
routes in
competition with incumbent municipal Reading Buses. There was an
initial fleet of ten Routemasters, eight of which came from Southend
Transport who had receently discontinued a six year period of crewed
operation from 1987 to 1993 following a change of ownership. So on 23rd
July 1994 Line A commenced from Turnhams Farm in the western suburbs
via the town centre to Whitley Wood in the south. The
crew operated Routemasters
had an obvious speed advantage over Reading Buses fleet of exclusively
one man
operated
vehicles. The initial response by Reading Buses was to introduce a new
service in duplication, route number 1. This used new Metro-Rider
minibuses and had distinct Fast-Line branding coupled with limited
stops, and was timed to run just in front of Mainline buses. Line
A operated along the busy Oxford Road corridor westwards to the
pleasant residential suburb of Tilehurst, quite a contrast to the
social housing at the other terminus Whitley Wood. At the end of
the first day of Mainline operation it was reported that over a
thousand passengers had been carried. |
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From
its base in Cardiff Road progressively Mainline expanded its routes to
cover most
parts of
the town, especially the routes that had once been operated by
corporation trolleybuses in earlier years (the trolleybuses were
finally withdrawn in 1968). The newcomer Reading Mainline then
gave
birth chronologically to Lines A, B,
E, H, F, X, C, J in order of their introduction, leading to a daily run out of 26 RMs. But as these
further
routes were introduced Reading Buses retaliated by starting a low cost
operating unit, which ran from the former engineering works at Kenavon
Drive. These anonymous unbranded minibuses brought the competition back
as response against Mainline services E, H and F. Crew reliefs
took place in the town centre, some fifteen minutes walk from the
depot, which sometimes caused a few grumbles! The two halves of a
crew duty were almost always on two different lines. There was no
evening or Sunday operation.
The business philosophy of founder Mike Russell - on which the Mainline operation was based - was that a crew operated vehicle could operate a faster service stop for stop than a one man vehicle, and with the reduced running times, coupled with passenger friendly buses with conductors, a more productive operation would ensue, needing fewer vehicles (and thus crews) overall. The increase in productivity would offset the cost of the second wage for the man on the back; whether this was achieved may be doubtful. Routemasters could also penetrate further into housing estates, into "dead end terminals" if needs be, because the conductor was available to assist the driver in reversing manoeuvres. All routes other than Line C operated across the town centre. |
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There were financial challenges as Reading Buses mounted a strong defence of their routes, thus sadly after a period of sustained driver and conductor shortages (particularly conductors, drivers seemed easier to find) had begun to impact on the services - Reading being a town with a low rate of unemployment - it was announced in May 1998 that Mainline was to merge with Reading Buses, although Routemaster operation would still be continued for some time as part of the arrangements for the buy-out. So Mainline was purchased by incumbent Reading Buses for a cost in total of £700,000, including £250,000 for the vehicles and depot with £450,000 in accrued debts. Mainline's depot and base was in Cardiff Road and when the lease expired in 1999 it was decided that all the buses should be moved to the new Reading Buses depot in Great Knollys Street. There were at the time twenty four operational vehicles in the Mainline fleet. The end of the inter-regnum period finally came and during the summer of 2000 the Routemasters disappeared from the streets of Reading - the vehicles having already been advertised for sale. On 22nd July, on the sixth anniversary of the start-up, it was all over. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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It
all started with Line A in July
1994, and
then grew through an alphabet of
destinations to reach most parts of the town. But for many years
now the sight
of Routemasters on the streets of Reading is just a fond memory.
The sixth anniversary of the start-up
was
also to be the last day
of operation (Saturday 22nd July 2000), with lines D, E and F being the
last routes to
run. Line C had gone earlier in June and line A back in February.
The very last scheduled Mainline trip
was
the 6.40 pm
departure from Woodley (Clivedale Road) on line F to Reading
Station. It
left about fifteen minutes late after a lot of photos had been taken
and was
preceded by two extras. At the depot a crowd of about 200 people were
waiting to see the founder Mike Russell drive the last Reading Mainline
Rouemaster into both the
garage and the
history books. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The last car in was No 36, 735DYE. Special Last Day ride at will tickets had been on sale for £3.50 and all the buses carried "Last Routemaster Week" legends; special blinds, black ribbon on the wing mirrors and grab rails, wreaths on the radiators - these typified the last day. Eleven Routemasters were still serviceable and the Saturday run out called for seven (three on line D from Purley to Addington Road and four on line E from Calcot to Woodley), and duplicates and extras ran throughout the sad day. But Mainline went out in style and something was missing from the streets of Reading ......... | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Map of Reading Mainline routes as in operation at July 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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For those with an interest in the vehicles of Reading Mainline a full fleet list can be found here
Some of the Mainline RMs were destined to return to further service in London for eventual operation on heritage routes 9 and 15. Mainline founder Mike Russell said that he would write a book to tell more of the story one day, but after twenty plus years it has yet to appear. However an account by Mike Russell of Mainline in Reading is on pages 60-65 of Working with Routemasters (ISBN 185414 282 8) |
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