New Sunday bus service for Green Park Village and Mereoak P&R
- Council funds new Sunday 650 bus route to serve south Reading
- Free to use throughout December
- New route part of the Council’s £26m Bus Service Improvement Plan
People living in and around Green Park Village and using Mereoak Park & Ride will be able to hop on a new Sunday bus service to Reading town centre from 3 December.
Bus 650 will run hourly between 8am-8pm on Sundays and offer a new travel option to complement the recently introduced train service from the new Green Park railway station.
The 650 will leave from Mereoak P&R and stops will include Imperial Way, Lime Square and Longwater Avenue on its way to St Mary’s Butts and Station Road. Return trips from Station Road will be hourly from 7.30am-7.35pm.
The new bus service is being delivered by the Council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and as an introductory offer, all journeys on Route 650 will be free every Sunday in December 2023.
Cllr John Ennis, Lead Councillor for Climate Strategy and Transport, said:
“As Reading grows, it is important that our public transport network also grows so that residents and workers have a sustainable way of travelling around the borough.
“The 650 bus will give people living in and around Green Park Village another option for getting into town on Sundays, along with the hourly train service from the excellent new Green Park station.
“The new Sunday 650 route will also boost Reading’s park and ride services which is one of the key elements of our Bus Service Improvement Plan. On top of that, it is free to use throughout December, so there is every reason to take the bus into town.”
The Council secured £26m government funding over two years for its Bus Service Improvement Plan which aims to encourage more people to use the bus. Projects delivered so far include the launch of the Reading All-Bus tickets and the Tap on Tap off payment scheme, which are both available on all bus services in the Greater Reading area.
Also, as part of the Reading BSIP, there is currently a statutory consultation on the introduction of six new bus lanes to help speed up bus journeys around the town. For details, visit: https://consult.reading.gov.uk/dens/bus-service-improvement-plan-statutory-consultatio/.
The full Route 650 timetable can be found here: https://www.reading-buses.co.uk/services/RBUS/600
From January 2024 all normal fares will be valid on Route 650, including the All Reading All Day ticket from just £3.40 adult, £5 group.
Going to or from Green Park on a Sunday? Now ‘there’s a bus for that’.