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Driver marks 50 years on the buses

Reading Buses Amarjit Singh is sitting in the driver's seat of a bus, looking at the camera and smiling. He has his hands on the steering wheel and wears thin wire framed glasses with a blue collared shirt, tie and black long sleeved jumper.Reading Buses
Amarjit Singh joined Reading Buses in 1975 when he was 22 years old

A bus driver has been reflecting on his career as part of celebrations for 50 years of service.

Amarjit Singh joined Reading Buses in 1975, when he was 22 years old, on a starting wage of 75p per hour.

Chief executive Robert Williams thanked and congratulated him, adding that they were "honoured" he was still working for the firm.

Looking back on how the industry has changed, Mr Singh said he had always liked interacting with customers.

Reading Buses paid tribute to the long-serving bus driver and released a statement about his career.

Mr Singh first joined the firm as a conductor as he was originally considered too young to drive a bus.

After three years in the role he starting driving, explaining the buses in the 1950s and 60s were "heavy to drive" and had "clunky" gears.

"Buses are definitely better now, easier to drive and much safer for everyone," he said.

"If you broke down you were expected to find a public phone to alert the inspectors - although if you didn't appear after a while, they would send the emergency engineer to find out what had happened."

Reading Buses Mr Singh stands outside the Reading Buses office building surrounded by his colleagues. The group are all looking at the camera, with Mr Singh standing in the centre wearing his uniform - a blue collared shirt, tie and black jumper with grey formal trousers. There is a beige brick building behind the group with a Reading buses sign on it.Reading Buses
The Reading Buses team said they were "honoured" Mr Singh had worked for them for 50 years

Mr Singh said conductor-specific roles started to come to an end in the 1980s and drivers were expected to issue their own tickets.

He added: "I actually enjoyed issuing tickets as well as driving, I liked interacting with customers. I don't think others were so keen though."

Mr Singh also worked as a school bus driver, and said the best piece of career advice he was ever given was to "leave your worries at work and go home happy".

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