Reading Transportation

Local bus travel in and around Reading is provided by Reading Buses (operated by Reading Borough Council and Reading Transport Limited)

Groups of Routes (to each area) are colour coded, purple for the main line route 17, yellow and red for Southcote and Calcot etc.

All the buses are modern vehicles with low floor easy accessiblity.

Fares for single journeys are currently £1.70, a day ticket costs £3.80, a weekly £13.00, all available from the driver, but EXACT money in cash is required, no change is given).

Monthly, quarterly and annual tickets are also available from the Travel Centre in the Broad Street Mall.
Buses run from approximately 06.00 - 23.15 Monday to Saturday, 09.00 - 23.00 Sunday.

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Getting to Reading is easy. From London take a Great Western train from Paddington . Reading is the first stop, about half an hour away.
Trains run at 30 minute intervals and are comfortable and fast, though booking a seat can be advisable.

By Road
The M4 is the road to take from London or S Wales, and feeder roads from places like Oxford. Usually the M4 is busy but very much so as you approach Reading [and Bristol from the south]. I always know I'm in the vicinity when I see the Ecotricity wind turbine.

Reading is a very easy place to get to by train; being on the main line from London Paddington to the West Country and also on the Cross Country line between Oxford and Guildford/Basingstoke.

The station is on the edge of the town centre with the main shopping areas and the Oracle shopping centre, with its riverside restaurants, about 5 minutes walk.

Reading is also useful for getting the RailAir bus connection to Heathrow Airport and also has direct trains to Gatwick.

Reading is a very busy commuter station and whilst peak-time travel is quite expensive there are some very good deals available from First Great Western for off-peak travel if booked in advance - website below:

Reading is a fairly compact city and built pretty much on the flat and so is ideal for cycling to get around. A relatively recent initiative has been the introduction of the OY Bike rental system whereby you can pick up a bike at one of several locations around the city using your mobile telephone.

The conspicuous canary yellow bikes are tethered to their docking stations and require a pin code to release them. This can be obtained by phoning the call centre and then when returned to any docking station a further pin code is given which must be called in again thus ending the hire period. You need to register in advance (online or by phone) to use the bikes and provide credit or debit card details.

The charges are simple: 2 GBP an hour for up to three hours or 8 GBP per day and the first 30 minutes is in fact FREE - which is ideal if you only need to make a shortish journey and there is a docking station near your destination.

There are some pleasant cycle routes around the city and especially along the canal or the River Thames and so look out for the canary yellow bikes!

This is a sortof multi-tasking, all-singing, all-dancing transportation tip in that it encompasses getting to and from Reading and whilst by bus is in fact the link between the National Rail Network and Heathrow Airport.

The RailAir service to Heathrow from Reading Railway Station is a dedicated, non-stop bus service leaving Reading approximately every 20 minutes during the day with an average journey time of 40 minutes. The service is easy to use, reliable, stops at all terminals and has ample luggage-carrying capacity. The 14 pounds GBP single fare is a bit on the pricey side but as part of a rail ticket can actually be quite reasonable especially for off-peak journeys (2nd website).

Tickets can be purchased online, at staffed railway stations or on the day at the RailAir lounge at Reading or office at Heathrow and are usually valid for any service on the day of travel.

Railair is a coach service linking rail passengers (mainly from western England, Wales, the West Midlands and NW England) to London Heathrow Airport.
As Heathrow is Located 15 miles west of central London, Reading offers the best fast train service between Heathrow and the western half of Britain.

This is the 293rd tip on my site!

First Great Western trains run regular services from London Paddington, with the journey time about 30 minutes (fast trains).

Thames Trains also do the route with stops along the way to reading.

You can also get the Southwest Train, from Waterloo Station, the journey takes about an hour and twenty minutes.

These buses/coaches leave from reading Railway Station and go direct to London Heathrow Airport (Terminals 1, 2 and 3) many times a day.

The buses currently depart every 20 minutes during the day, Mondays to Fridays.
Then at weekends and early weekday mornings and evenings, the coaches depart every 30 minutes.

Your best bet is to see the attached website however.

Singles currently cost £11, day returns £12.50 and returns for up to one month cost £18.50 so it isn't especially cheap.