School routes 80 and 83 both go on Tuesday 1 September, and nine other Reading Buses services get new departure times. What to check before term starts.
Two of Reading Buses’ dedicated school routes disappear when the operator changes its timetables on Tuesday 1 September, days before Reading secondaries go back.
Route 80 is cancelled and route 83 is withdrawn. Nine other services get new departure times, and one changes its route. Reading Buses published the changes on 21 August.
The two school routes that go
Route 80 is cancelled because St Joseph’s College has closed. The independent school on Upper Redlands Road shut on 10 July. Its board of governors took the decision three days earlier, on 7 July.
Chair of governors Hilary Buckle said in the school’s own closure statement that “rising costs have significantly impacted the college and our fee-paying parents alike; and the introduction of VAT on fees and the removal of business rates relief have added to the financial pressure”. Governors had looked at a sale to a schools group, a merger and outside investment before deciding to close. Buckle referred in the same statement to the “132-year legacy of St Joseph’s“.
Route 83 is withdrawn, and Reading Buses gives two different reasons for it in two different places.
- On its news page and its schools page, the operator says routes 82, 83 and 84 “will be affected by a reduction in funding so route 83 will be withdrawn”.
- In the Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge leaflet for 2026/27, the same operator says “route 83 has been withdrawn due to low usage”.
Both pages say the same thing about what replaces it: students can still use routes 82 and 84, and there should be enough space on them.
What is left for Chiltern Edge
Route 83 ran to Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge, the secondary on Reades Lane at Sonning Common, north of Caversham. Three services still reach it, and the September times are in the operator’s own school leaflet.
| Service | Route | First pick-up | At school |
|---|---|---|---|
| 82 | Reading Bridge and St Barnabas Church | Friar Street stop FJ, 7.47am | 8.30am |
| 84 | Lower Caversham, Caversham Park and Emmer Green | Caversham Road Fire Station, 7.44am | 8.31am |
| pink 25 | Reading Bridge and Prospect Street | Friar Street stop FJ, 7.35am | 8 minute walk from Kidmore End Turn, 7.58am |
The 82 and the 84 both leave school at 3.25pm and reach Friar Street at 4.05pm. The pink 25 leaves Kidmore End Turn at 4.30pm and reaches Friar Street at 5.01pm.
If your child used the 83 from Caversham Park Village, the 84 is the closer replacement: it calls at Caversham Park Queensway at 8.19am and comes back through Caversham Park Fraser Avenue at 3.35pm.
Route 81 picks up Caversham Park Village
With route 80 gone, route 81 is rerouted to cover Caversham Park Village instead.
Reading Buses is also adding a second 81 journey at 4.44pm from the Royal Berkshire Hospital South Wing, running as far as Caversham Heights. It is aimed at Reading School, Abbey School and Kendrick School pupils staying for after-school activities.
Reading Buses says there are no other changes to school routes, but warns that ordinary service buses many pupils use have changed, so it is worth checking those separately.
The nine services with new times
| Service | What changes |
|---|---|
| lime 2 | New departure times, plus an extra school-day journey |
| leopard 3 | Route change in Arborfield: buses use Rowcroft Road instead of Baird Road, with new stops at Lance Way |
| emerald 5 | New departure times, buses up to every 15 minutes |
| emerald 6 and 6a | New departure times, still up to every 12 minutes |
| purple 17 | New departure times |
| little oranges 19b | Extra 7.16am journey from Chalfont Way on school days |
| little oranges 19c | The 7.40am starts from the Royal Berkshire Hospital on school days |
| claret 21 | More buses on weekday mornings and evenings, minor time changes |
| greenwave 50 and 50a | New departure times, buses up to every 15 minutes |
Only the leopard 3 changes where it goes. Everything else on the list is a change to when it goes, which is the sort of change people miss until they are standing at the stop.
What it means for you
The changes land on Tuesday 1 September, which is a bank holiday week. The Monday before is the August bank holiday, so the first ordinary weekday of the new timetable is also the first day of the new times.
- If your child used route 80 or route 83, you need a new plan before term starts. For the 83, that is the 82 or the 84. For the 80, route 81 now covers Caversham Park Village.
- If you use the emerald 5, emerald 6, purple 17, claret 21 or greenwave 50, check the new leaflet rather than assuming your usual bus leaves at the usual minute. The new timetable leaflets are linked from the operator’s own announcement.
- If you are in Arborfield, the leopard 3 moves off Baird Road onto Rowcroft Road, with new stops at Lance Way.
- If nothing on the list is your route, you are probably unaffected, though Reading Buses says some service buses used for school journeys have changed times even where the route has not.
Roadworks are a separate hazard in the same fortnight, and they move stops rather than timetables. Our Reading roadworks and travel page tracks the closures and suspended stops that are live now.
We have also written about the council’s separate proposal to start charging for post-16 travel assistance, which is open for comment until 5 October.
Have your say
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