Trial return for park-and-ride suspended in pandemic

The service remained suspended amid a lack of demand

A park-and-ride bus service that has been suspended since the start of the pandemic has restarted as a trial.

The 500 bus from Winnersh Triangle to Reading town centre will run on Saturdays only from 25 November.

Wokingham Borough Council is to use part of a Department for Transport grant to fund its return.

But the authority has said, if not enough people are using the service by March next year, it will be withdrawn again.

The 500 service from Winnersh Triangle remained suspended after the Covid lockdowns because Reading Buses said demand was too low, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Now Wokingham Borough Council is using a government grant to fund the trial return, which could be extended to include weekdays in April if there is sufficient demand.

Transport councillor Paul Fishwick said: "If the required level of use is not achieved by the time the grant funding runs out the bus service will stop and the current situation will resume."

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