Private hire drivers celebrate bus lane battle

Kamran Saddiq said: "Now we can avoid all this traffic, it’s a big, big help."

A town's private hire drivers are celebrating being given access to both sides of a busy bus lane after years of pleas.

Private hire drivers previously were allowed to use the inbound bus lane on King's Road in Reading, but not the outbound lane.

In November 2022 drivers were denied access, but in March 2024 access was agreed unanimously by the council and now signage is installed they can use the lane.

Kamran Saddiq, chairman of the Reading Private Hire Association (RPHA) said: “The signs have gone up, a driver told me and I personally took a drive there.”

Private hire taxi drivers have argued for years that they should be given access to the bus lane.

Access to the bus lane will speed up journeys to and from the Royal Berkshire Hospital, and getting out of Reading to the M4 and Heathrow Airport.

Private hire drivers now have access to both sides of the bus lane on Kings Road, Reading

The installation of the signs has taken a while but the council had pre-warned drivers that the project could take time.

Mr Saddiq said: “We weren’t too fussed. They said it would take a bit of time as they had other more urgent projects.

“They said they would give us a date, then in June they updated us to say it would take until the end of September to have everything completed.

“They kept us in the loop, they were not fobbing us off.

“Other works had to be facilitated, they gave us a time plan and they kept to the time plan.

“Now I’m proud to say the signs are up.”

Rule changes mean only cab and private hire drivers who are licenced with Reading Borough Council can use the lane - which means other drivers may receive a charge.

The team at Reading Private Hire Association say they are grateful for the changes