Reading Buses

Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 on route Purple 17 in December 2013
Parent	Reading Borough Council
Founded	31 October 1901
Headquarters	Reading
Service area	Berkshire
Service type	Bus services
Routes	92
Destinations	Reading Bracknell Newbury Wokingham
Fleet	192 (September 2016)
Fuel type	Diesel Natural Gas Hybrid
Chief executive	Martijn Gilbert
Website	www.reading-buses.co.uk

Reading Buses is a bus operator serving the towns of Reading, Bracknell, Newbury and the surrounding area in the county of Berkshire, England. The operating company is officially known as Reading Transport Limited, and is owned by Reading Borough Council.

The origins of Reading Transport can be traced back to 1878, when the privately owned Reading Tramways Company (part of the Imperial Tramways Company) was formed. The company was authorised to construct and operate a horse tram route on an east–west alignment from Oxford Road through Broad Street in the town centre to Cemetery Junction. This route formed the core of what became known as the main line of the tram and trolleybus network.

Construction started in January 1879, with the entire line open by May. A fleet of six single-decked cars were initially used, with 31 horses, providing a 20-minute frequency. The cars operated from a depot on the south side of the Oxford Road, immediately to the east of Reading West railway station. By the 1890s the whole fleet had been replaced by double-decked cars operating at a 10-minute frequency. The company made several proposals to add routes and electrify the system, but none of these were implemented, and in 1899 the borough corporation decided to purchase the system.

The purchase deal was completed on 31 October 1901, and Reading Corporation Tramways came into being. The corporation set out about first extending, and then electrifying the system. The extensions were completed by December 1902, and the last horse cars ran in July of the following year.

The new electric trams started operating in July 1903. Extensions were constructed to the Wokingham Road and London Road (both from Cemetery Junction), and new routes added to Whitley, Caversham Road, Erleigh Road and Bath Road. The trams operated from a new depot in Mill Lane, a site that was to remain Reading Transport's main depot until it was demolished to make way for The Oracle shopping mall in 1998.