Pink 22 saved!

The Pink 22 bus service has been saved! This happened after the council stepped in and worked with Reading Buses to find a solution.

Reading Borough Council will give Reading Buses a one-off capital grant to buy a new electric bus. This money, plus Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) funding grant from the government means the bus can keep running between Caversham Heights and Reading Town Centre.

Both the council and Reading Buses are asking people to use the bus more. If more people use it, it can keep running in the future.

Since the pandemic, far fewer people have been using the Pink 22 bus – about half as many as before. Roadworks on Kidmore Road have also made things harder, as fewer people have been able to use the bus.

The council has been looking at every way it could to keep the bus running, ever since it found out Reading Buses might stop the service.

Electric buses have become cheaper to buy. This means money the council had already received from government can be stretched further and help pay for the extra bus. An electric bus will also make the air cleaner along the route, and journeys will be quieter for passengers.

The new electric bus won't be ready until spring 2027. So, starting Monday 20 July, Reading Buses will run a temporary service to keep buses running until then.

There will be a new timetable:

• At busy times, a bus every 50 minutes (instead of every 30 minutes as now).
• At quieter times, a bus every 45 minutes (instead of every 60 minutes as now).

The new electric bus, along with these timetable changes, will cost Reading Buses less money to run. This will help them keep the Pink 22 bus service going.

Councillor John Ennis, Reading Council's Lead for Transport, said:

“From the outset the Council has been exploring every possible option to enable the pink 22 to continue to serve passengers. I’m pleased a solution has now been found.

“I had requested that Council officers think outside the box and consider innovative and novel ways in which this could be achieved. Given that that only a commercially viable solution would enable the route to run, that was a far from easy task, but they have worked behind the scenes to come up with a solution which does exactly that, which I’m sure the community appreciate.    

“By making use of the existing bus grant from Government we have been able to save the service, however it’s really important to emphasise that this is a one-off grant to purchase a new electric bus, and the interim Council funding to support the service until the new bus is delivered next Spring is temporary and does not involve on-going Council subsidy.

“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. 

“In the meantime, I’d like to thank everybody who took the time to make their views heard and Reading Buses for arriving at a solution.”

Robert Williams, Reading Buses Chief Executive Officer said:

“We are pleased to have found this solution to ensure that the pink 22 to Caversham Heights can continue to run following substantial declines in patronage over the last few years.

“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.

“We also intend to continue conversations from the public meeting about how the route could be amended in the future.”