About Us

Some history for you...

Our company was formed in 1973 as a taxi hire firm in Bracknell by our former owner and Managing Director William Courtney-Smith, moving into coach hire in the 1980s. In 2000 Courtney Coaches commenced its first local route, 53 which served Wexham Park Hospital, Maidenhead and Bracknell. The company expanded dramatically in January 2004 when all seven local routes in Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead were taken over from First Berkshire. The routes in Maidenhead were changed significantly in early 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. 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 & 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 Thames Valley.

In March 2019, the business was purchased by Reading Buses and the transition started to become Thames Valley 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. 

So our story continues and our future is promising. Thames Valley Buses will continue Courtney Buses legacy into the future and provide even better quality services for our customers.