New buzz service to connect south Reading with Green Park Station

A new extended bus service will link south Reading with Green Park railway station six days per week starting in the new year.

The existing No 9 hourly service will become buzz 9 from 2 January 2024 and will follow the existing route from the town centre into Whitley Wood before continuing on to Green Park Station.

The extended service is part of Reading Borough Council’s £26m Bus Service Improvement Plan, funded by the Department for Transport.

Buzz 9 will run on the existing 9 route via Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH), Shinfield Road, Cressingham Road, Northumberland Ave and Whitley Wood Road and will then be extended via Whitley Wood Lane, Imperial Way, South Oak Way, Lime Square and Longwater Avenue to Reading Green Park Station.

An hourly service will continue to be provided and will offer good connections at Green Park Station, with trains to and from Basingstoke. Inclusive journey time Whitley to Basingstoke is about 45 mins.

The new service will offer Monday to Friday trips from 6.26am at Engineers Court, Whitley Wood, to Green Park Station through to 7.05pm. Return journeys from Green Park Station will run from 6.52am until 7.37pm.

Buzz 9 will also run a new hourly Saturday service along the existing route 9 via the RBH to Whitley and from Engineers Court to Green Park Station from 6.18am through to 7.15pm. Saturday return journeys from Green Park Station start at 6.51am and run through to 7.51pm.

All normal fares will be valid, including ‘Tap On Tap Off’ with daily fare capping and the All Reading All Day ticket from just £3.40 Adult, £5 off peak group.

The introduction of the buzz 9 follows the launch of the new hourly Sunday 650 bus in December which serves Green Park Village and Mereoak Park & Ride. Both schemes are part of the Council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan which aims to increase bus usage in the borough.

Cllr John Ennis, Lead Councillor for Climate Strategy and Transport, said:

“The new buzz 9 service will connect south Reading residents with the new Green Park Station six days a week.

“The Council worked with Network Rail and Great Western Railway to open Reading’s new railway station in May 2023 and I am pleased we are able to offer improved connections to and from it with this new bus route.

“The buzz 9 service is part of the Council’s ongoing commitment to offer more convenient and sustainable ways for residents and visitors to travel around Reading.”

Robert Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Reading Buses, said:

“The extension from Whitley Wood to Green Park will create direct links to a significant area of employment, and links from Green Park to the University area and Royal Berkshire Hospital that we hope will be attractive”.

The timetable and route of the new buzz 9 service can be found on the Reading Buses website at: https://www.reading-buses.co.uk/route-9-becomes-buzz-9. 

Going from south Reading to Green Park Station? Now ‘there’s a buzz for that’.