Reading Buses has re-affirmed their confidence of achieving a land speed record for a service bus after completion of testing at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire last week. 

Their bus, with a new and distinctive ‘cow’ livery to highlight the biomethane fuel which the company buys for the vehicle, passed through their test programme with ‘flying colours.’ 

“We met our testing targets and we believe there’s scope for even a little more,” said John Bickerton, Chief Engineer at Reading Buses. “We’ve exceeded our target speed and we have some ongoing development work with Scania to squeeze a little more performance on the day. 

“Even we don’t know what speed we’ll achieve on 19th May – which makes this even more exciting for us.”

The bus operator has a target of 80 mph, around 50% faster than the normal speed limit for the vehicle.

Testing was completed to ensure that the bus is safe and stable at these speeds, and the company’s engineers took measurements from the vehicle and particularly the Michelin tyres which have been approved to run beyond their normal limits for the record attempt.

Said Martijn Gilbert, Reading Buses Chief Executive Officer:  “We’re really pleased with the results from the tests which show that the bus is safe at well above our normal speed range. 

“The bus has no major modifications and will be back in service on the following day. This is a great way to showcase our services as a fast and environmentally friendly way into Reading town centre.”

As part of the attempt, the company is working with its ticket machine supplier, Ticketer, to find a way to remotely issue a bus ticket – making it the fastest bus ticket in the world.

The operator announced their record bid on April 17 at their press launch at Brooklands Museum in Surrey, the historic race track where the UK’s first land speed record was set. 

The record attempt aims to highlight the company’s public transport services in Reading and to show the rest of the UK that biomethane is a credible fuel today. The company runs 34 biomethane vehicles and has delivered over 4 million miles in service with this fleet.

The company has already secured sponsorship and support from across the industry including Ticketer, Nimbus, Millbrook, Scania, ADL, Gas Vehicle Alliance, Brooklands Museum, CILT, IMechE, TEK seating & USSC, route-ONE magazine and Numbercraft.