Have West Yorkshire's bus route offerings been reduced?

[anti-pacer]

Back in the 80's and early 90's West Yorkshire had great route offerings which are sadly lacking today.

For example, WYRC ran through buses from Bradford to Skipton and the Worth Valley villages, and for me at the time the 655/755 routes from Leeds to Bradford via Yeadon. Other routes across the county that have gone are the X32 Leeds-Barnsley-Sheffield, X33 Bradford-Barnsley-Sheffield, 410 Leeds-Doncaster, 484 Leeds-Holmfirth. They had an express bus that went via the M1 from Leeds-Wakefield, and I seem to remember one from Halifax-Huddersfield that ran via the Elland By-Pass.

Ilkley is no longer served by daytime buses from Bradford, and Otley has an infrequent service. Also, Nightrider buses no longer run across the county.

The vehicles have obviously improved over the years, but bus services generally haven't.

 

[J-2739]

I remember the 444 going from Barnsley to Leeds direct. Used it a few times and was painfully slow compared to the train. Also the direct routes to Huddersfield run by what company? Huddersfield?

The train is obviously the more attractive option!

 

[55z]

The problem with these long bus routes is timekeeping. Some of the routes mentioned still run but are split e.g. Leeds to Holmfirth the 435/436 operate Wakefield to Holmfirth. The longer the route (especially cross city./town) can mean unreliability and poor timekeeping. Also different bus companies run some services. As far as the X32/33 it was lack of passengers which resulted in the cancellation of these services. The Huddersfield to Barnsley buses it was the lack of passengers going cross boundary i.e. West to South Yorkshire. Buses still run in the respective counties but not cross boundary, but things might be changing we wait and see. There was change in passengers requirements for routes so bus companies change to suit the majority of their passengers.
From Decemeber 2016 Metro (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) are no longer producing printed rail timetables (cost cutting), they will rely on the various TOC's to produce printed timetables.

 

[anti-pacer]

I remember the 444 going from Barnsley to Leeds direct. Used it a few times and was painfully slow compared to the train. Also the direct routes to Huddersfield run by what company? Huddersfield?

The train is obviously the more attractive option!

Huddersfield was served mainly by Yorkshire Rider (now First) and Yorkshire Traction (now Arriva).

 

[tbtc]

Ilkley is no longer served by daytime buses from Bradford

But then you've got a relatively modern four coach train every half hour with a journey time of half an hour - I can't remember the bus times but I doubt it was faster than one hour - the bus will never compete on end to end journeys like that.

I used to try to commute by the old X32 from Sheffield to Leeds - a long way to be sat on a Yorkshire Traction Dart some days (it was mainly 'decker operated, but no guarantee!).

But the X32's days were numbered once XC brought in a clock face hourly train taking about forty/ forty five minutes (half the time that the X32 too). Even harder to justify the service once Northern brought in an hourly semi-fast from Sheffield to Leeds via Barnsley (now half hourly).

Who is going to sit on a bus from Doncaster to Leeds, when there are three trains an hour?

I don't know why the X33 failed, given that there was no direct train competition from Bradford - Dewsbury - Barnsley, plus those places on the West Yorkshire side had no direct Meadowhall service - but it was outside Arriva's code area, and they seemed more interested in beefing up frequency of "core" routes (like the 268 on that corridor).

The old 239/ X39 corridor Sheffield - Penistone - Denby Dale - Huddersfield) is an interesting omission, given that there used to be competition on it (including via Meadowhall and to Halifax) - there's obviously trains via Penistone but fairly basic and fairly slow - plus the buses could better serve places like Denby Dale (given how far train stations were from the towns they supposedly served).

Same goes for the old 234 corridor from Barnsley to Holmfirth - a rural route that I thought might have had enough pensioners to sustain at least a daily service for the "Freedom Riders". Little population beyond Penistone though.

Otherwise, a lot of main bits of service remain - the 97 is every twenty minutes from Leeds to Guisley via Yeadon but who would sit on such a service all the way to Bradford?

Better to focus on some of the big frequency improvements to key corridors, like the doubling of the Leeds to York service, the significant increases on the main routes from Leeds to Bradford, the amazing frequency from Leeds to Ripon. Certainly not all doom and gloom.

Sadly, with Sheffield and Leeds being separate "City Regions", I can only see less co-ordination on such cross boundary services in future though.

 

[anti-pacer]

But then you've got a relatively modern four coach train every half hour with a journey time of half an hour - I can't remember the bus times but I doubt it was faster than one hour - the bus will never compete on end to end journeys like that.

I used to try to commute by the old X32 from Sheffield to Leeds - a long way to be sat on a Yorkshire Traction Dart some days (it was mainly 'decker operated, but no guarantee!).

But the X32's days were numbered once XC brought in a clock face hourly train taking about forty/ forty five minutes (half the time that the X32 too). Even harder to justify the service once Northern brought in an hourly semi-fast from Sheffield to Leeds via Barnsley (now half hourly).

Who is going to sit on a bus from Doncaster to Leeds, when there are three trains an hour?

I don't know why the X33 failed, given that there was no direct train competition from Bradford - Dewsbury - Barnsley, plus those places on the West Yorkshire side had no direct Meadowhall service - but it was outside Arriva's code area, and they seemed more interested in beefing up frequency of "core" routes (like the 268 on that corridor).

The old 239/ X39 corridor Sheffield - Penistone - Denby Dale - Huddersfield) is an interesting omission, given that there used to be competition on it (including via Meadowhall and to Halifax) - there's obviously trains via Penistone but fairly basic and fairly slow - plus the buses could better serve places like Denby Dale (given how far train stations were from the towns they supposedly served).

Same goes for the old 234 corridor from Barnsley to Holmfirth - a rural route that I thought might have had enough pensioners to sustain at least a daily service for the "Freedom Riders". Little population beyond Penistone though.

Otherwise, a lot of main bits of service remain - the 97 is every twenty minutes from Leeds to Guisley via Yeadon but who would sit on such a service all the way to Bradford?

Better to focus on some of the big frequency improvements to key corridors, like the doubling of the Leeds to York service, the significant increases on the main routes from Leeds to Bradford, the amazing frequency from Leeds to Ripon. Certainly not all doom and gloom.

Sadly, with Sheffield and Leeds being separate "City Regions", I can only see less co-ordination on such cross boundary services in future though.

I agree with most of what you've said, however, you say who'd sit on a bus from Leeds to Doncaster for over 3 hours. Don't people do that on the Coastliner buses from Leeds to Scarborough? Look at the X1 Excel service which goes from Peterborough to Norwich. OK it covers places not on the rail network and is probably little used for end to end journeys but the same could be said for Leeds to Doncaster services.

As for Ilkley to Bradford services, well I guess the rail line runs close to the former bus route.

The old 655/755 routes from Bradford to Leeds, well for me at least they were invaluable. In the 80's as a teenager I used them to visit my grandad who lived near the Emmott Arms in Rawdon. I lived in Colne then so often used it from Shipley to Rawdon. The 97 route has mirrored the old route from Guiseley into Leeds and I know there's the airport bus from Bradford as far as Yeadon.

The X33 was always busy though and it's a backwards step that we no longer have Nightrider buses.

 

[Welshman]

As tbtc has said, the X34 Sheffield-Leeds services were killed-off by the increased express rail services to 3 per hour [2 via Barnsley & 1 via Wakefield Westgate].Originally, when the X34 was introduced, there were more slacks on the railways due to old mining subsidences. Many of these have now been removed, making the journey via the increasingly-congested M1 less competitive.

In addition to Sheffield-Leeds and Sheffield-Bradford, there was also another service in the "White Rose" group - the X32 Sheffield-Halifax. IIRC, this used the M1, M62 and A58, but was an early casualty - I suspect because of the lengthy journey-times.

I suspect the X36 Huddersfield-Halifax limited stop was culled because increased traffic congestion between Huddersfield-Ainley Top and Salterhebble - Halifax meant this service was not much quicker than the service calling at all stops.

One service I've often thought could make a useful return would be the old X68 Sheffield-Huddersfield- Halifax limited stop, introduced by that great Bus Manager, Geoffrey Hilditch. When I used this quite frequently in the 1970s, it was possible to travel from Sheffield-Halifax in under two hours, although the 25 minutes allowed then from Huddersfield to Halifax would be quite unrealistic today!

For, despite the talk of extending the present Sheffield-Barnsley-Huddersfield rail service to Halifax and Bradford, nothing has come of this [I suspect because of pathing problems through Huddersfield following the modified layout and increased TPE services]. A train journey from Sheffield to Halifax now usually means going via Leeds, with the stress of changing there.

Perhaps there could be scope for a re-introduced bus service.

On the positive side, a recently-introduced bus service which has improved travel prospects, is the 500 Hebden Bridge-Keighley service. Running hourly [in place of the original 1 or 2 per day], and taking only 45 minutes, this is a quicker and more direct linking of the Calder and Aire Valleys than going by train via Leeds or Bradford Interchange-Forster Square.

So its not all bad news!

 

[anti-pacer]

As tbtc has said, the X34 Sheffield-Leeds services were killed-off by the increased express rail services to 3 per hour [2 via Barnsley & 1 via Wakefield Westgate].Originally, when the X34 was introduced, there were more slacks on the railways due to old mining subsidences. Many of these have now been removed, making the journey via the increasingly-congested M1 less competitive.

In addition to Sheffield-Leeds and Sheffield-Bradford, there was also another service in the "White Rose" group - the X32 Sheffield-Halifax. IIRC, this used the M1, M62 and A58, but was an early casualty - I suspect because of the lengthy journey-times.

I suspect the X36 Huddersfield-Halifax limited stop was culled because increased traffic congestion between Huddersfield-Ainley Top and Salterhebble - Halifax meant this service was not much quicker than the service calling at all stops.

One service I've often thought could make a useful return would be the old X68 Sheffield-Huddersfield- Halifax limited stop, introduced by that great Bus Manager, Geoffrey Hilditch. When I used this quite frequently in the 1970s, it was possible to travel from Sheffield-Halifax in under two hours, although the 25 minutes allowed then from Huddersfield to Halifax would be quite unrealistic today!

For, despite the talk of extending the present Sheffield-Barnsley-Huddersfield rail service to Halifax and Bradford, nothing has come of this [I suspect because of pathing problems through Huddersfield following the modified layout and increased TPE services]. A train journey from Sheffield to Halifax now usually means going via Leeds, with the stress of changing there.

Perhaps there could be scope for a re-introduced bus service.

On the positive side, a recently-introduced bus service which has improved travel prospects, is the 500 Hebden Bridge-Keighley service. Running hourly [in place of the original 1 or 2 per day], and taking only 45 minutes, this is a quicker and more direct linking of the Calder and Aire Valleys than going by train via Leeds or Bradford Interchange-Forster Square.

So its not all bad news!

They improved the Keighley-Hebden Bridge service but removed the 502(?) Keighley-Halifax-Huddersfield service.

 

[Welshman]

They improved the Keighley-Hebden Bridge service but removed the 502(?) Keighley-Halifax-Huddersfield service.

True.
I just remember when it used to be a Yorkshire Woollen District single-decker service No.2 from Ossett to Keighley via Dewsbury, Elland and Halifax.
As a child in Halifax and seeing those buses, I often wondered where Ossett was

 

[tbtc]

A couple of other long lost West Yorkshire services were the M62 (Halifax - White Rose Centre - Leeds) and the M1 (Halifax - Meadowhall) - I liked the no-nonsense Halifax approach of numbering the bus route to match the road that it ran on! Back in the days of Cursed Folderline (sorry, First Calderline)

it's a backwards step that we no longer have Nightrider buses.

Aren't Aviva introducing late night Leeds - Wakefield buses at the end of this month?

(changes to drinking laws have ruined most late night bus services, since people no longer come out of pubs at quarter past eleven or out of nightclubs at quarter past two - both of which provided reliable numbers of punters to fill a bus)

I agree with most of what you've said, however, you say who'd sit on a bus from Leeds to Doncaster for over 3 hours. Don't people do that on the Coastliner buses from Leeds to Scarborough? Look at the X1 Excel service which goes from Peterborough to Norwich. OK it covers places not on the rail network and is probably little used for end to end journeys but the same could be said for Leeds to Doncaster services

The Coastliner services are great if you are a West Yorkshire pensioner with lots of free time looking for a jaunt to the seaside. Much as I like Donny, it lacks some of the tourist attractions...

There's also the issue that the train only stops at Malton (between York and Scarborough) - meaning lots of intermediate places that the bus serves which the train cannot. Local trains stop several times between Leeds and Doncaster, catering to those markets.

One service I've often thought could make a useful return would be the old X68 Sheffield-Huddersfield- Halifax limited stop, introduced by that great Bus Manager, Geoffrey Hilditch. When I used this quite frequently in the 1970s, it was possible to travel from Sheffield-Halifax in under two hours, although the 25 minutes allowed then from Huddersfield to Halifax would be quite unrealistic today!

It changed from the X68 to the 237/ 238/ 239 to the X38/ X39 to the 239 again, with varying degrees of frequency - with various operators competing and co-ordinating - but now there won't even be a bus from Penistone/ Oxpring/ Thurgoland to the Northern General/ Sheffield (Penistone services running no further than Chapletown - it's just a TM Travel Solo as it is).

 

[NorthernSpirit]

From Decemeber 2016 Metro (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) are no longer producing printed rail timetables (cost cutting), they will rely on the various TOC's to produce printed timetables.

Is this the various routes timetables or is the full book going as well? I'd give it aroud two to three years and the bus timetables will be going the same way.

---

Someone else mentioned the reintroduced nightbuses, the N10 is the new Leeds to Wakefield nightbus. The 202 / 203 is having a slightly later finish on Fridays and Saturdays.

In the recent West Yorkshire wide consultation I have suggested that on some of the core routes into the main towns and cities a nightbus would be ideal addtion along with some key routes such as the 310 / 314, the 231 / 232, the 363, the old X25, the X84 and the X98 / X99 either having a slightly later finish or a couple of nightbuses introduced.

Should Metro / WYCA inroduce a Nightbus Network, I'd deffinatley be using them.

As mentioned above, if Metro decided to do an SYPTE and scrapped the printing of all timetables and left them to the bus ops to do it themselves then I do reckon that they'd be more money to spend on increasing the route offerings.

 

[johntea]

Buses will leave City Square at 00:00 and 01:15 and pick up on Boar Lane and at The Corn Exchange (for Call Lane). They will then pass Leeds Bus Station and run along the 110 route as far as Wakefield city centre.

We will also be providing a new late trip between Wakefield and Leeds, leaving Union Street (outside the bus station) at 00:35.


It'll be interesting to see the demand, the 00:00 sounds good but the 01:15 sounds a bit pointless if I put myself in the shoes of someone having a night out in Leeds, plus if you're out with some mates you're not going to catch the bus when you can just split an Uber...

As for the 00:35 from Wakefield to Leeds I can't really comment as you would have to pay me good money to have to spend time in Wakefield at those sort of hours!

 

[bradford758]

Bradford-Ilkley, the evening bus service no longer runs, meaning there is now no direct bus on the route.
Bradford-Otley, the current limited service from end of this month. is to be increased to hourly during the day on the former route via Menston.

Sent from my 4009X using Tapatalk

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Were many of the routes that have now gone subsidised by the local council(s)?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Huddersfield was served mainly by Yorkshire Rider (now First) and Yorkshire Traction (now Arriva).

Yorkshire Traction were taken over by Stagecoach, not Arriva (apart from Huddersfield depot which is now Yorkshire Tiger who ARE owned by Arriva!).

The X36 got to the point that it wasn't much faster than the 503 due to congestion, it stayed on as a peak-only service for about 6 months but as that was also the time that congestion was at its worst it wasn't a success.

A few attempts to restore a Huddersfield to Barnsley bus have been made (the villages around Denby Dale have historical ties to the Barnsley area) but without success. Centrebus tried with the 85/85a service but this was decidedly half-hearted- they tried to operate with just one bus and driver which meant only one out-and-back journey with a short working back to Waterloo depot in between (85a) so that the driver could have lunch! There is or was until recently a limited Barnsley to Denby Dale service which was run by Tates until they collapsed, not sure who runs it now but it may be TM Travel.

 

[Bantamzen]

Back in the 80's and early 90's West Yorkshire had great route offerings which are sadly lacking today.

For example, WYRC ran through buses from Bradford to Skipton and the Worth Valley villages, and for me at the time the 655/755 routes from Leeds to Bradford via Yeadon. Other routes across the county that have gone are the X32 Leeds-Barnsley-Sheffield, X33 Bradford-Barnsley-Sheffield, 410 Leeds-Doncaster, 484 Leeds-Holmfirth. They had an express bus that went via the M1 from Leeds-Wakefield, and I seem to remember one from Halifax-Huddersfield that ran via the Elland By-Pass.

Ilkley is no longer served by daytime buses from Bradford, and Otley has an infrequent service. Also, Nightrider buses no longer run across the county.

The vehicles have obviously improved over the years, but bus services generally haven't.

In a word yes. In my part of the world (Baildon) the main route north out of Shipley used to see all the following services:

649 Bradford-Esholt
650 Bradford-Ilkley
652 Bradford-Otley-Ilkley
653 Bradford-Otley-Harrogate
655/755 Bradford-Headingley-Leeds

Most of these ran at least hourly. On top of these the village was also served by

626 Brighouse-Bradford-Baildon
656/657/658/659 Bradford-Baildon-Lucy Hall

All services were at one time operated by First, but they treated most of these routes with a form of what can at best be described as mild neglect. Many people remember the services slowly getting worse, regular cancellations, poor time keeping etc. One by one First dropped all of the top section, scaling back and eventually dropping all but the 626 service. And even this is still treated with contempt (or at least so it feels) often with older stock running it, and First's reputation for poor timekeeping upheld in this part of the world.

The only other services now operating are:

649/650/653-(Bradford)-Shipley-Esholt-(Otley)
656 Bradford-Baildon-Lucy Hall
737 Bradford-LBA

The former runs infrequently, with the latter two an hourly service. So basically we have gone from several services an hour to basically one plus and occasional second along Otley Road.

So yes, in my neck of the woods the service has got considerably worse. Yes we still have the Bradford-Ilkley Northern service as a half hourly frequency, but when there's and issue on the line or engineering works, getting about gets considerably more difficult. And even with the line, traffic in the area gets worse every year so the argument about there being no potential demand doesn't wash for me. There is plenty of potential, but it needs investment (isn't this always the case?).

 

[Statto]

I remember the 662-664-665 used to operate as a though route via Keighley, now you have to change at Keighley.

760 Keighley-Wetherby monster route via Leeds now split at Leeds & operated by different Transdev divisions & Leeds-Wetherby section now 770.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Back in the 80's and early 90's West Yorkshire had great route offerings which are sadly lacking today.

The vehicles have obviously improved over the years, but bus services generally haven't.

I think I'd agree with that, especially in Bradford and Shipley where I grew up.

Some of the routes were always de-reg madness (I remember the utter pointlessness of the 759 "limited stop" Keighley-Otley bus; it was limited stop but ran via Shipley and Five Lane Ends Morrisons!) but some of them really are missed. The Huddersfield-Halifax-Keighley (502)/Bradford (503) were useful links that are very difficult now. The lack of a through bus from Bradford to Otley is a big omission.

The X33 Bradford-Sheffield died because it took far too long, it's a long old trek from Bradford to Wakefield and now it's quicker on the train than it is on the bus. I remember doing it from Barnsley to Bradford back in Yorkshire Traction days and it took hours, congestion is only slowing things up further.

I think some of the weird and wonderful routes I used to end up on as a kid doing DayRovers, a lot of them are gone. But, then again, given how many of them were empty or took the hugely long way around, it's no wonder. I did Leeds to Bradford on the 755...once.

 

[northwichcat]

Yorkshire Traction were taken over by Stagecoach, not Arriva (apart from Huddersfield depot which is now Yorkshire Tiger who ARE owned by Arriva!).

Stagecoach sold the former Yorkshire Traction Waterloo depot to Centrebus Holdings (with Arriva having a 44% stake) and they traded as The Huddersfield Bus Company, who also acquired K-Line. Arriva bought out Centrebus Holdings and rebranded as Yorkshire Tiger. I recall going in to Huddersfield soon after that happened and seeing a former K-Line service being operated by a bus in Arriva colours but with a Yorkshire Tiger logo being applied over where you would have expected to see an Arriva logo.

(It should be stressed that Centrebus Holdings was not the holding company for Centrebus.)

 

[anti-pacer]

Yorkshire Traction were taken over by Stagecoach, not Arriva (apart from Huddersfield depot which is now Yorkshire Tiger who ARE owned by Arriva!).

The X36 got to the point that it wasn't much faster than the 503 due to congestion, it stayed on as a peak-only service for about 6 months but as that was also the time that congestion was at its worst it wasn't a success.

A few attempts to restore a Huddersfield to Barnsley bus have been made (the villages around Denby Dale have historical ties to the Barnsley area) but without success. Centrebus tried with the 85/85a service but this was decidedly half-hearted- they tried to operate with just one bus and driver which meant only one out-and-back journey with a short working back to Waterloo depot in between (85a) so that the driver could have lunch! There is or was until recently a limited Barnsley to Denby Dale service which was run by Tates until they collapsed, not sure who runs it now but it may be TM Travel.

Sorry, my mistake. I meant Yorkshire not Yorkshire Traction.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

There is or was until recently a limited Barnsley to Denby Dale service which was run by Tates until they collapsed, not sure who runs it now but it may be TM Travel.

There use to be, but the 24 has since been curtailed at Ingbirchworth. Then from January 2017, the 24 and the 25 will be no more, they're getting axed.

This will leave the Wednesday only 257 Holmfirth to Stocksbridge as the only cross boundary service in those parts, I suppose the 25 could live on as a peak hour service but that is how far it'd go, considering that when I've used it only one person has boarded at Carlecotes on the full run.

What would be nice would be a service 60 (so to link in with the Bradfield services) from Hillsborough to Holmfirth via Penistone and Flouch a few times a day, I suppose it could work, it'd just depend on how such a service would be timed and used to justify its existance.

 

[lejog]

On the positive side, a recently-introduced bus service which has improved travel prospects, is the 500 Hebden Bridge-Keighley service. Running hourly [in place of the original 1 or 2 per day], and taking only 45 minutes, this is a quicker and more direct linking of the Calder and Aire Valleys than going by train via Leeds or Bradford Interchange-Forster Square.

So its not all bad news!

Recently-introduced? I've been catching the service for 50-odd years now, is that really classified as recent?

It was greatly improved 10 years ago now when Keighley Bus took over from First. Under First it had been latterly running with a single bus every 2.5 hours from Todmorden to Keighley and back as it ran to Todmorden Garage to change drivers. Keighley added a second bus to their Oxenhope service and extended it to Hebden Bridge only, allowing an hourly clockface service.

Due to a "feature" in the computer programme generating West Yorkshire's bus stop timetables, the 500 reappeared for a while on timetables displayed in Todmorden 5 years after it stopped running from there! No buses though.

 

[Bantamzen]

The lack of a through bus from Bradford to Otley is a big omission.

And it is not without irony that me having ranted about the limited service on this route, Metro have just announced that from next Monday TLC will be offering an hourly Bradford-Shipley-Menston-Otley service, Monday to Saturday daytime badged as the 653.....

http://wymetro.com/changes/

Still, it just goes to show the power of this forum!!! I wonder if it will work for the lottery numbers....

 

[Deerfold]

Recently-introduced? I've been catching the service for 50-odd years now, is that really classified as recent?

It was greatly improved 10 years ago now when Keighley Bus took over from First. Under First it had been latterly running with a single bus every 2.5 hours from Todmorden to Keighley and back as it ran to Todmorden Garage to change drivers. Keighley added a second bus to their Oxenhope service and extended it to Hebden Bridge only, allowing an hourly clockface service.

Due to a "feature" in the computer programme generating West Yorkshire's bus stop timetables, the 500 reappeared for a while on timetables displayed in Todmorden 5 years after it stopped running from there! No buses though.

The improvement was because Metro specified an improvement. Keighley buses had an advantage for this new specification as they could simply extend the existing 663, whereas First would have had to run the route in its entirety.

Before that Keighley ran one bus a day on some of the days the service ran (Take your pick from Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, daily in the Summer), from Keighley to Hebden Bridge and back.

Incidentally, I happen to have the 1941 West Yorkshire Road Car times to hand when Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committee ran 2 daily return journeys (only 1 on Sundays, allowing 16 minutes in Keighley...)

They improved the Keighley-Hebden Bridge service but removed the 502(?) Keighley-Halifax-Huddersfield service.

Not sure who "they" is, but the 502 finally died this year - the odd commercial 4 buses on a Sunday each way service was withdrawn by First.

The weekday withdrawal was very odd, with a service that ran every hour from early morning to late evening with extra services in the peak being withdrawn entirely.

The 562 Halifax - Oldham (and further back, Manchester, replacing the X12 Leeds/Bradford - Manchester services) was also an odd withdrawal with the hourly service being completely withdrawn in one go - this was in the period before nationwide ENTCS passes with available but after the agreements on cross-boundary pass acceptance was superceded by free local bus travel - wiping out the traffic of pensioners to Oldham's markets on a Saturday.

Cross-boundary routes seem to have suffered quite a lot.
The 562 is gone, the X84 to Skipton has lost its early morning, evening and Sunday services, Kirklees to South Yorkshire services have pretty much disappeared.

Aren't Aviva introducing late night Leeds - Wakefield buses at the end of this month?

I think Aviva are sticking to insurance.

The N10 seems rather half-hearted with just 2 journeys and a fairly early finish. I don't expect it to last long, though it is on the route of the old Leeds - Wakefield Nightrider.

(changes to drinking laws have ruined most late night bus services, since people no longer come out of pubs at quarter past eleven or out of nightclubs at quarter past two - both of which provided reliable numbers of punters to fill a bus)

West Yorkshire's night services mostly went before many places obtained later licenses.
The N53 Halifax - Sowerby Bridge - Hebden Bridge bus was withdrawn with the other Halifax services with claims they were lightly used. The 0220 departure from Halifax was regularly standing room only on a double decker.

I think the Bradford - Keighley 938 might have been the earliest to be withdrawn - perhaps because it was run by a different company to the daytime service.

Transdev are introducing welcome later services - though the only proper night services are on the 36 to Harrogate and Cityzap until 0300 on Saturdays only, though they've a daily 2340 from Leeds to Keighley and 2345 from Bradford to Keighley (and 0015 F/Sa nights) when most bus companies have few services after 2300.

I remember the 662-664-665 used to operate as a though route via Keighley, now you have to change at Keighley.

760 Keighley-Wetherby monster route via Leeds now split at Leeds & operated by different Transdev divisions & Leeds-Wetherby section now 770.

That'd be 663 (now 500) - 664-665. 662s were short workings to Keighley.
666-667-668s used to continue to Skipton from the core Bradford-Keighley route, with X69 express services during the peak.

The 760 used to split in the evening and Sundays with Black Prince operating Leeds-Wetherby (and with crap connections in Leeds).
The 770 (and now 771) was extended along the route to Harrogate from Wetherby).

And it is not without irony that me having ranted about the limited service on this route, Metro have just announced that from next Monday TLC will be offering an hourly Bradford-Shipley-Menston-Otley service, Monday to Saturday daytime badged as the 653.....

http://wymetro.com/changes/

Still, it just goes to show the power of this forum!!! I wonder if it will work for the lottery numbers....

This change was mentioned in this thread before your rant:

Bradford-Otley, the current limited service from end of this month. is to be increased to hourly during the day on the former route via Menston.

Sent from my 4009X using Tapatalk

 

[Tetchytyke]

The weekday withdrawal was very odd, with a service that ran every hour from early morning to late evening with extra services in the peak being withdrawn entirely.

Even now, I get the feeling that First were trying to game Metro into subsidising the service, along with the 503 to Bradford and 504 to Illingworth. Metro weren't really playing ball- Halifax-Denholme was given to an independent (I want to say TJ Walsh?) whilst the 503 ended up as Halifax-Four Lane Ends Girlington once a day.

I'm surprised Transdev or Centrebus aren't interested in having a go with the Halifax-Keighley bus again, it never struck me as a basket case route.

 

[Deerfold]

Even now, I get the feeling that First were trying to game Metro into subsidising the service, along with the 503 to Bradford and 504 to Illingworth. Metro weren't really playing ball- Halifax-Denholme was given to an independent (I want to say TJ Walsh?) whilst the 503 ended up as Halifax-Four Lane Ends Girlington once a day.

I wondered about that myself, along with the 562. I'm not sure about the 503 as that was withdrawn a couple of years earlier and most of the route can still be done. The one a day Girlington to Halifax service seemed a bit of a random solution.
TJWash operate the 504 Halifax to Denholme, connecting with the Transdev service - though it also links lots of bits of East Halifax so goes an indirect route. Tyke connection is also not guaranteed and spa working in the evening peak.

I'm surprised Transdev or Centrebus aren't interested in having a go with the Halifax-Keighley bus again, it never struck me as a basket case route.

There's a lot more buses between Halifax and Illingworth these days - already there's a bus war with cheap fares. An operator running 1 bus an hour won't pick up many local passengers. They're already running 2 buses an hour Denholme to Keighley - a third wouldn't fit in well.

 

[Bantamzen]

This change was mentioned in this thread before your rant:

My bad, I missed that when I posted. It's a welcome additional after years of neglect, mainly by First who seem to dislike operating services in my area.

 

[Robertj21a]

Even now, I get the feeling that First were trying to game Metro into subsidising the service, along with the 503 to Bradford and 504 to Illingworth. Metro weren't really playing ball- Halifax-Denholme was given to an independent (I want to say TJ Walsh?) whilst the 503 ended up as Halifax-Four Lane Ends Girlington once a day.

I'm surprised Transdev or Centrebus aren't interested in having a go with the Halifax-Keighley bus again, it never struck me as a basket case route.

Not sure that Centrebus will want to operate it - from Leicester ? Presumably you're thinking of Yorkshire Tiger.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Not sure that Centrebus will want to operate it - from Leicester ?

I've always thought there was a strong market for a direct Leicester-Thornton bus

 

[lyndhurst25]

From Decemeber 2016 Metro (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) are no longer producing printed rail timetables (cost cutting), they will rely on the various TOC's to produce printed timetables.

Have you got a link for that decision? That's sad news for me as I always carry a copy of the handy combined West Yorkshire Train Times book with me when out and about.

A similar move in South Yorkshire means that now if you need to look up the train times between Sheffield and Rotherham then you have to consult 4 different Northern timetable leaflets, whereas previously all the information was in a single Travel South Yorkshire booklet.