Bus route saved days before it was set to finish

A community bus route that was days from running for the final time has been saved.

Reading Borough Council said it will give Reading Buses a one-off grant for an electric bus to use on the Pink 22 route from Caversham Heights to Reading town centre from spring 2027.

Residents and councillors held a demonstration on Sunday calling for the bus route to be kept, ahead of the proposed final journey on 20 July.

The bus company said it was running the route at a significant loss and that passenger numbers have dropped by half since the pandemic, in part affected by a recent road closure.

Both urged residents to make use of the service to safeguard it in the future, which will run a revised timetable from next week until the electric bus is available next year.

Saadia Saadat, a Conservative councillor for Caversham Heights, said she and colleagues were "overwhelmed by the fantastic turnout" at Sunday's demonstration.

"Seeing so many residents stand together shows just how important this socially necessary bus service is to our community," she said.

Buses will run every 50 minutes during the peak and 45 minutes during the off-peak as part of the revised timetable. Currently buses run every half an hour during the peak and every hour during the off-peak.

John Ennis, the council's lead member for transport, said: "The pink 22 will only be viable in the long-term if residents make better use of it.

"I urge residents in Caversham Heights to leave the car at home where possible and to hop on their community bus for trips into the town centre. That is the only way to safeguard this valuable route in the future."

Robert Williams, Reading Buses' chief executive, said the company was pleased to have found a solution despite the route's "substantial declines in patronage".

"Our hope is that the new electric bus will provide an additional incentive for residents to give the service a try, as the service is ultimately only justifiable if a larger proportion of the community use it than just those who have no alternative," he said.