![Reading Festival has laid out its Look Out For The Planet pledge ahead of its return next week, bringing measures set to promote sustainability. Picture: Luke Dyson [LukeDyson.com]](https://wokingham.today/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Img1871502-360x180.jpg)
Nine new low-emission buses have taken to the roads in a largest ever order for new vehicles by Carousel Buses.
The single-deckers, produced by bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis, consist of six midibuses, seating up to 30 passengers, and three full-size single-deckers offering up to 43 passenger seats.
All the low-emission vehicles include Alexander Dennis’ SmartPack efficiency technology to reduce carbon and exhaust emissions, and have room for a wheelchair user and a separate buggy bay. Each bus has accessible passenger information including audio-visual next stop announcements, as well as wi-fi and charging points.
Four of the buses are in a bespoke purple livery for use on Maidenhead local services 3, 4 and 9. Three further vehicles are being used on the 37 and 10/10A routes, which provide links across the Royal Borough, and beyond to High Wycombe, Bourne End and Staines.
The final two buses are being used on Carousel Country service 127 linking Maidenhead with Twyford, Woodley, Reading, and across Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.
Luke Marion, managing director of Carousel Buses, said: “This order for nine new buses was the largest single order for new vehicles that Carousel has ever placed.
“We’ve added new features such as camera mirror systems to these vehicles, which has been welcomed by our drivers.
“These new buses form part of our commitment to constantly improving services, making bus travel an attractive alternative. Our thanks go to Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead for its support.”
Councillor Geoff Hill, cabinet member for highways and transport and customer service centre, said: “Maintaining a high standard of public transport in the Royal Borough is a priority for the council and I’m pleased to see the new Carousel buses on the road.
“With the features on the new buses, our residents will be able to travel with features that make travelling a breeze as well as knowing that their use of public transport is better for the environment in line with our commitment create a cleaner, greener and safer borough.”
This investment comes at a time when bus use in the Royal Borough is growing rapidly. New national statistics have recently revealed that Windsor and Maidenhead are among the highest growing areas for bus passenger journeys in the country.
The Department for Transport published its annual statistics on local buses in Great Britain for the year ending March 2025, and the numbers revealed Windsor and Maidenhead recorded one and a half million bus passenger journeys between 2024 and 2025, representing a 14.1 per cent growth on the same period in 2023 and 2024.
The area’s spike in bus passenger journeys is one of the highest in the country, with the national average at just one per cent.
The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead saw 1.18M local bus miles driven in 2024/25, which was an increase of 40.8 per cent year-on-year.
Building on the successful introduction of several new services across the Borough last year, Carousel has recently further developed local links around Maidenhead, with more buses running more often, providing quicker journeys across the town.
This includes a revised network of services around North Maidenhead on services 8 and 9, the extension of service 15 to Maidenhead from Slough, Eton and Eton Wick, alongside the addition of Woodley to the growing 127 service.
