Courtney Buses is a bus company based in Bracknell, England. Founded in 1973, the company operates a network of commercial and contracted local bus services and school buses in Berkshire, north Hampshire and small parts of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. The company is known for its use of alternative fuels, having been the first bus company in the United Kingdom to operate a bus run on 100% soya oil. In March 2019 it was purchased by Reading Buses. In November 2019, Courtney Buses took over responsibility for Thames Valley Buses, including route 5 from Slough-Cippenham and the Green Line route 703 from Bracknell-Ascot-Windsor-Slough-Heathrow Airport. Courtney-branded routes in the Windsor and Slough areas, including routes 2, 10, 10A, 10S and 15 were also amalgamated into the Thames Valley brand.
History
The company was formed in 1973 as a taxi hire firm in Bracknell by Bill Courtney-Smith, who still manages the company, and moved into coach hire in the 1980s. In 2000 Courtney Coaches commenced its first local route, 53. This was taken over by First Berkshire & The Thames Valley in 2003. The company expanded dramatically in January 2004 when all seven local routes in Maidenhead were taken over from First Berkshire. In September 2006 Courtney Coaches had its licence revoked by the Traffic Commissioner. An appeal was launched, operations continued and the decision overturned by the end of 2006. Between 2005 and 2007, a park & ride service was operated between Maidenhead town centre and a temporary site at Stafferton Way. The Stafferton Way site had been used to provide replacement parking during a period in which a town centre car park was shut. In October 2007 the company introduced a unique ticketing system, ETMSS, which uses mobile computer technology to replace fare charts and reporting software with one computerised system. Other features include the ability to modify fares from anywhere using the internet, GPS tracking of individual buses and reduced insurance costs as a result of this, and the ability to calculate fares, cash exchanges and refunds. The cost of installation was reportedly paid back within the first 12 months. The routes in Maidenhead were changed significantly in early 2009. However, changes to the stopping pattern on route 6 received criticism from some residents and were further changed in April 2009. Further expansion came in January 2009, when the shuttle service between Didcot Parkway station and Milton Park was expanded from one bus to two using a new low-floor double-deck vehicle at a cost of £175,000. Over 400 passes for the service were issued to workers prior to its introduction. Courtney moved its depot from Downmill Road, Bracknell to Hogwood Lane Industrial Estate in Finchampstead in late 2010. The company announced a change of trading name to Courtney Buses in late 2011. In November 2011 Courtney began operation of a new Christmas park & ride service in Windsor. There was more expansion in early 2014, when four contracted routes in the Bracknell area were taken over by Courtney following the withdrawal of Thames Travel. In July 2015, Courtney Buses took over the operation of nine routes in Bracknell previously operated by First Berkshire & The Thames Valley. In January 2018, Courtney Buses expanded into Slough after taking over four routes in the area, which until that point, had been operated by First Berkshire and the Thames Valley. In March 2019, the business was purchased by Reading Buses. In November 2019, Reading Buses began gradually merging Thames Valley Buses and Courtney Buses, starting with the Windsor and Slough routes, which will eventually see the whole business combined under the Thames Valley brand in the next couple of years.
Alternative fuels
In 2002 Courtney Coaches became the first bus company in Britain to operate a bus on 100% soya oil. Abingdon based company Regenatec converted an Optare Solo minibus to operate on the fuel, which gained the company appearances on Working Lunch and in the Daily Telegraph newspaper. The cost of conversion was around £3,500. Fuel savings of around 80% were reported, and this cost was paid back in eight months. In March 2007 Courtney director Bill Courtney-Smith and Regenatec director Mike Lawton were invited to 10 Downing Street by Prime Minister Tony Blair to demonstrate another converted vehicle at an environmental presentation. Bill Courtney-Smith later bought half shares in Regenatec when the company experienced financial trouble in early 2009. In May 2012 it was announced that as part of the government's Green Bus Fund initiative, Courtney had received funding to purchase two double-deck Hybrid electric buses.
Routes
Courtney Buses operates a number of local routes in the towns of Maidenhead, Wokingham and Bracknell; longer-distance routes take its buses to Windsor, Henley-on-Thames, Reading and Slough. The company also runs contracts to The Heights in Weybridge, Milton Park, , and Sony in Basingstoke.
Fleet
As at March 2019 the fleet consisted of 53 buses. Since local bus service work began the predominant type in the fleet has been the Optare Solo, although other vehicles are also owned. Two notable buses delivered in 2006 were the only Alexander Dennis Enviro 300s with East Lancs Esteem bodywork, which left the fleet in 2011. Two Optare Tempos powered by 100% pure plant oil, the first 12m single-deckers to run on this fuel, were ordered in 2010.
