Event to mark centenary of Maidenhead - Streatley bus service - 02 Aug 15

[whole diary]

[bobm]

The Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust (TV&GWOT) is planning a major event to celebrate the commencement of bus services in the Thames Valley by British Automobile Traction, the forerunner of the Thames Valley Traction Co, a BAT subsidiary.

TV100 will be held on Sunday 2 August and will feature:

A cavalcade of former Thames Valley Traction and associated companies vehicles from Maidenhead to Reading
A display of the older vehicles on the forecourt of the new Reading Station by permission of First Great Western, Network Rail and Reading Borough Council.
1913 ^British^ Leyland S3.30.T HE12 which started the service in 1915.
1914 London AEC ^ Type ^Battlebus^ LH8186 by courtesy of the London Transport Museum
Thames Valley 1927 Tilling Stevens MO9324 which is on loan from the Southdown Omnibus Trust to TV&GWOT and is currently being refurbished in our workshops
TV&GWOT^s 1927 GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Guy FBB which was originally delivered to the GWR Road Motors main works at Slough
Free bus services on Route 1 (Maidenhead ^ Reading ^ Streatley)

Vehicles expected in service include:
 

Thames Valley Bristol K, KSW, FLF double decks and Bristol L, LL, LWL and LH single decks
Alder Valley Leyland Nationals
Bee Line Volvo
Royal Blue coaches which operated on hire to Alder Valley on Route 1 in 1973-5
Vehicles from neighbouring operators who interfaced with or worked into the TVT area
Photographic opportunities at the former BAT premises

More details here - http://www.tvagwot.org.uk/event-thamesvalley100.htm

[Electric train]

One hundred years on we are in the same position as we were 101 years ago no buss service between Maidenhead and Reading .....................

For 2 reasons the train is faster and the automobile 

[Adelante_CCT]

127 still runs on saturdays

[onthecushions]

One hundred years on we are in the same position as we were 101 years ago no buss service between Maidenhead and Reading .....................

For 2 reasons the train is faster and the automobile 

But the train does not stop every 500m or so (at least not in the TT!) and so cannot serve a myriad small communities. A convenient bus can still be attractive, even to car owners, facing ^1.80/hr parking.

An hourly bus running even alongside a railway has only a tiny fraction of the capacity of a train. It is therefore nearly always complementary and can only hurt a poorly used train service.

The A4 between Maidenhead and Reading now by-passes the larger villages and so probably doesn't merit a regular bus, just like the A33 Reading to Basingstoke. A pity if you want to use the buses as a network but there are excellent Reading bus services to other TV towns.

OTC