Green Line routes 700, 701 and 702

700, 701 and 702
Overview
System Green Line
Operator First Berkshire & The Thames Valley
Garage Slough
Route
Start Bracknell bus station
Via Windsor
Slough
M4 motorway
End London Green Line Coach Station
Service
Level Daily

Green Line routes 700, 701 and 702 are limited-stop express bus services operated by First Berkshire & The Thames Valley under the Green Line banner from Berkshire to London.

History

Following deregulation of the UK coach market under the Transport Act 1980, London Country Bus Services commenced operating Green Line route 701 from Maidenhead to London, in conjunction with Alder Valley in May 1982.[1] When Alder Valley was split in 1986, the route passed to the Berks Bucks Bus Company, which eventually became First Berkshire & The Thames Valley.

To bring together all of the Berks Bucks Bus Company routes which terminated at London Green Line Coach Station into one depot, route 702 was extended to Bracknell, previously only having run as far as Legoland Windsor.[2]

To begin with, Jonckheere bodied Volvo coaches were transferred from Slough for the services. Armchair Passenger Transport’s London commuter routes C1 and C2 became Green Line route 701, with the existing Slough to London Green Line route 701 passing to Armchair.[3]

The service was operated by a variety of coaches cascaded from First Berkshire & The Thames Valley's RailAir service including Berkhof Excellence 1000 bodied Scania N113CRBs and Irizar Century bodied Scania K114IBs as well as coaches from other FirstGroup subsidiaries.[4]

In October 2008, three Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL double deckers, with coach style leather seating, were introduced on the routes.[5]

Current route

Irizar Century bodied Scania K114IB outside Green Line Coach Station on route 702 in October 2008
Plaxton Profile bodied Volvo B7R on route 702 at Bracknell bus station in June 2010
Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TL on route 702 in July 2014

Route 702 is the standard service, running the whole route at a basic hourly frequency. Routes 700 and 701 runs at peak times only, the former via Datchet in lieu of Slough and the latter serving some Bracknell housing estates.[6][7][8]

Fares

Two fare structures are operated a pre midday structure, and a post midday structure with fares discounted by 40%.[8]

References

  1. Foster, R.J. (1989) An Atlas of the National Bus Company and the Scottish Bus Group before Deregulation ISBN 0-9509910-9-0 Appendix I
  2. Busworld - "The BeeLine timeline" Accessed 21 May 2008
  3. Busworld - "GreenLine 702 comes to Bracknell" Accessed 21 May 2008
  4. First Bus Handbook. Telford: British Bus Publishing. 2007. ISBN 978 1904875178.
  5. Buses rolled out for London Bracknell Forest Standard 6 October 2008
  6. Green Line map Green Line
  7. Bracknell timetable book First Berkshire & The Thames Valley January 2015
  8. 1 2 Go Greenline First Berkshire & The Thames Valley

External links

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