One of the bus routes in the Reading Buses network marks 50 years on December 6.
Now called royal blue 33, the original route 33 was introduced half a century ago to take customers between Reading Station and the growing housing developments of Tilehurst and Turnham’s Farm.
Whilst the exact route has been tweaked over the years, the main route along Tilehurst Road has not changed showing the necessity of the service to the area.
The relevant internal notice from the time route 33 was first introduced gives instructions on things such as what to show on the destination boards and which stops to use in the town centre.
It also shows that the route started with conductors on board at a time when they were starting to be phased out.
In fact, the original route had a conductor-supervised reversing manoeuvre at Bitterne Avenue to ensure the bus returned the exact same route instead of the current arrangement which sees buses do a one-way loop around Little Heath Road, City Road and Hildens Drive.
Said Robert Williams, Reading Buses Chief Executive Officer; “An old ‘traffic notice’ was uncovered outlining the introduction of the then new bus service to Tilehurst.
“It’s always exciting to unearth a little piece of history like this and it is great that we can still show the importance of buses for people in the town, and that success means the route is operating in a very similar manner to when it first began!”
The current royal blue 33 runs every 15 minutes between Central Reading, Turnham’s Farm, Tilehurst Road, Corwen Road, Pierces Hill and Little Heath Road.