Readingbuses Open Days 2017 & 2018
The award-winning bus
company Readingbuses know how to put
on a party! Their ever-popular summer
‘Open Day’ certainly brings in the crowds, whether it be the general public or
the bus enthusiast. Engaging the
potential and regular passengers, showing them what goes on behind the scenes
of their local, friendly bus company.
That being so, the independent transport videos cameras
went along to record the festivities at the 2017 and 2018 open days. Our filming will give you an insight as to
what goes on if you have not yet attended or as a souvenir of the Open Days if
you are a regular attendee.
The day runs to a
well-organised formula. There are
displays of each type of bus from the current Readingbuses fleet, therefore displaying a bus from each route,
open for the public to inspect and to have the opportunity to sit in the
driver’s seat! This is a colourful
display as each bus route in Reading is identified by a different colour, name
and brand. The older order is not
forgotten, with former Reading Corporation and Reading Transport AEC Regents and
a Bristol VRT in attendance and at the 2018 event a Reading trolleybus to
commemorate 50 years since the system closed in 1968. Reading Mainline is represented by a former
London Transport Routemaster and local operator Thames Valley by a Bristol K type. There are rides through the bus wash and
tours of the control room and the workshops.
An informative guide explains all that there is to know about the buses
you see in the workshop. There are also
open-top tours of Reading using either their own open-topper, 520 (V524 ESC), a
former Lothian Buses Dennis Trident with Plaxton President bodywork, or
visiting open-toppers. At the end of the
day there is an impressive cavalcade of all of the display buses making a brief
tour of the town centre before returning to the Great Knolleys Street depot
which is captured by our cameras at each event.
The visiting buses you will see in the 2017
footage are two former London Transport open-top vehicles, AEC Routemaster, RMC1510
(510 CLT) and Titan, T1100 (NIB 5232, B100
WUV). During the 2018 visit our
cameras travel onboard Readingbuses
open-top Dennis Trident 520 for the tour of the town. Other visiting buses in 2018 include former
Southdown ‘Queen Mary’ open-topper, 409 (409 DCD) and preserved London Transport
Routemaster RM1005 (5 CLT), which now runs with a Cummins Euro 6 engine. The other star of the 2018 show was the
appearance of the prototype Optare Metrodecker, numbered 899 (YJ16 DFG) in the Readingbuses fleet painted in the latest
Green Line livery for the Windsor/Legoland to London services. This bus is on long-term loan from Optare, as
five of the type have just been ordered by the company for delivery in 2019 for
this service.
The Readingbuses
fleet is probably one of
the most innovative contemporary fleets in the UK. A visit to
Reading is recommended. Have a look at our other Reading’s Buses
titles that will certainly whet your appetite!