The company was authorised to construct and operate a horse tram route on an east–west alignment from Oxford Road through Broad Street in the town centre to Cemetery Junction.

The cars operated from a depot on the south side of the Oxford Road, immediately to the east of Reading West railway station.

[4] The electric tram services were originally operated by 30 four-wheeled double decked cars supplied by Dick, Kerr & Co.

[5] By 1965, most UK trolleybus systems had closed, and the manufacturers of the overhead equipment gave notice that they would cease production.

Reading Corporation decided to abandon the trolleybus system, and the routes were phased out between January 1967 and November 1968.

The trolleybuses continued to operate two-way, as it was considered uneconomic to erect wiring on the new inbound route, London Road.

The concept of the contra-flow bus lane was proved successful, and adopted in other places for motor buses.

[6] In 1982 the X1 was shortened to run from Reading to Aldgate in East London, under the Goldline brand, and joint operation ceased.

Bus deregulation also meant that the local council no longer had any power to regulate the routes and fares of Reading Transport, nor could they prevent other operators from starting competitive services within the borough.

[11] In January 2018 Reading Buses took over two routes (2 and 5), and won Slough Borough Council tenders for evening (4) and Sunday services (6) from First Berkshire.

[12] The companies have worked together in the past, most noticeably on the Jet Black 1 service which operates between Reading and Newbury.

In autumn of that year, Reading Buses introduced its first branded Premier Route in the form of the number 17, running between the Three Tuns on Wokingham Road and the Bear Inn at Tilehurst via the town centre and Oxford Road, and the linear descendant of the old main line.

In April 2009, a similar concept was introduced to some of Reading Buses' longer distance rural routes.

Most longer distance and interurban services now have animal related branding, with the lion to Bracknell and the leopard to Wokingham.

The Thames Valley P&R service 400 was indefinitely suspended in July 2022 due to low usage and a lack of funding.

In December 2017, it was announced that Reading Buses was to take on three services withdrawn by First Berkshire & The Thames Valley in the Slough area.

[15][16] In December 2017, Reading Buses announced they would take over the Green Line 702 route from First Berkshire & The Thames Valley.

[25] The two routes are marketed together in Bracknell under the name Windsor Express which is shown prominently at the front of the buses.

In addition, The London Line 701 was introduced to be the brand used on the 3 buses per day from Reading to Slough/Legoland in the early morning, with them making return trips in the late evening.

On 21 August 2023, Newbury & District commenced operations on the new Flightline 730/731 route between Basingstoke, Frimley, Camberley and Heathrow.

[26] Reading Buses formerly operated the 925 route between Woking and Heathrow, but this contract was suspended with the onset on the coronavirus pandemic.

The operation of theses services by N&D ended in late 2023, with the 402 being withdrawn completely, and the two coaches being returned to NatEx.

Another longer distance route, to Basingstoke, was jointly operated with Stagecoach in Hampshire and branded as The Link.

Unlike services run by Reading Buses, Goldline gave change on their routes.

[27] In February 2009, the private hire services run by Goldline ceased, and the coaches were all sold.

Following a contract win from West Berkshire Council, Reading Buses introduced the Kennections brand in Newbury in September 2016.

Reading Buses has a history of experimenting with biofuels, including biodiesel and alcohol fuel.

[33][34][35] In October 2009, it was discovered that instead of the bio-ethanol fuel having been sourced from sugar beet grown in the English county of Norfolk (as had been advertised), it was actually made from wood pulp imported from Sweden.

[43][44] One member of this fleet, No 420, holds the land speed record for a regular service bus, having achieved 80.82 mph under test conditions in May 2015.