The longstanding Green Line name is to be dropped by Reading Buses in favour of Flight Line and London Line brands with the delivery of a seven new Alexander Dennis Enviro400 double-deckers.
Those vehicles were ordered earlier this year and will be put to work on routes 702 and 703. The former runs between Legoland, Windsor and the capital and becomes London Line. The latter operates between Bracknell and Heathrow Airport and is thus Flight Line. The two fall under an overarching Windsor Express brand adopted by the operator.
Although the Green Line name will be removed in favour of the new identities, the new fleet – which represents an investment of almost £2.5 million – still carries a green-based livery.
The Enviro400s each come with a glazed staircase and roof, an air chill system on the upper deck, a PA system and audio/visual next stop announcements. Also fitted are USB and wireless charging, wi-fi, high-backed seats, tables on both decks and what the operator terms “coffee shop-style flooring.”
Those for Flight Line also have an additional luggage rack. They form part of an enhanced timetable for the Heathrow service. The rest of the Flight Line fleet will be similarly upgraded later this year, Reading Buses says. No changes are being made to either service’s route or timetable.
Chief Executive Officer Robert Williams notes that the purchase represents the municipal operator’s first new buses since the onset of the pandemic and that it was keen to deliver a high specification on them.
“We are conscious that the Green Line name has had a long association with routes in this area, so we wanted to make sure that customers were not surprised by the change. We have retrained a green colour scheme and ‘line’ naming to make the switchover as seamless as possible in customers’ minds.”
Although the Flight Line and London Line names supersede Green Line with the new vehicles, Reading Buses points out that the two identities are not new. Flight Line was used by London Country for airport services in the 1980s and London Line was utilised by Reading Buses in the 1990s for its former express service between its home town and the capital.
