A NEW bus will start serving the Thames Valley from Sunday, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Queen succeeding to the throne.
The special Platinum Jubilee bus will be part of the Reading Buses fleet this year, and be seen on the streets of Reading, Windsor and London across the year.
On Sunday, February 6, 1952, King George VI died, and his daughter, the then Princess Elizabeth, became Queen.
In June, celebrations of her coronation will take place , with a four-day bank holiday weekend. The Queen is the longest reigning monarch in British history.
The 76-seater double decker follows in the steps of previous special buses from the company.
Reading Buses’ chief executive Officer Robert Williams said today: “We are unveiling a bus to celebrate the platinum jubilee in a similar way to the golden jubilee 20 years ago.
“This is such a monumental occasion that we eagerly want to celebrate. The bus will appear on our high-profile Green Line 702 service which passes Windsor Castle and also runs into London very near to Buckingham Palace.”
He continued: “The design uses the official emblem which was created specially for the platinum jubilee event by Edward Roberts, a 19-year-old student at the University of Leeds. It sits on our silver livery for use on any route.
“We want to share the joy of this special year and we are delighted that the official emblem is available for use for all activities associated with the platinum jubilee celebrations.”
The bus will be one for people to watch out for, in a similar way that people look out for the company’s open-topped bus on sunny days.
“In addition to passing or travelling close to the royal residences, the platinum jubilee bus will also regularly be seen on local services in Reading so we hope people will look out for it,” Mr Williams said.
