Arriva Yorkshire discussion

[YorkRailFan]

It seems that Arriva are just as much of a crap show in North Yorkshire as in West. And you can't even ask anyone about the non-existant bus because the call centre's closed.

I wonder how much of our money this free market bastion is sending abroad.

The sooner this company is dissolved, the better.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 May 2026 ==

Surprise surprise, another Arriva no show.

Call-centres being weekdays only isn't unique to Arriva. First's call lines are also weekday only, as are Go Ahead East Yorkshire's (which also acts as a call centre for Go Ahead West Yorkshire) and also Transdev's by the looks of it. Should it be better? Yes! But it's not really fair to single out Arriva on this matter when other companies in the region also don't have call centres open on weekends.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 May 2026 ==

School Holiday only journeys on the 187 will now also run during the School Term from 1 June. From the same date, the SW1 will be operated by A&A Travel instead of Arriva.

We are pleased to announce that from Monday 1 June 2026, journeys on service 187 which currently only run on School Holidays will be extended to run on Schooldays as well, to provide greater flexibility for customers travelling between Wakefield and Castleford.

Departures from Wakefield at 0727 and 1557
Departure from Castleford at 1455
These extra journeys will improve travel options and better meet customer demand at key times of the day.

Please check the Arriva App up to date timetable information.

Also from 1 June 2026, the SW1 service will be operated by A&A Travel. Customers can be assured that there will be no timetable changes, and the service will continue to operate to the same timetable.

Route 187 Additional Journeys and SW1 Operator Change

From Monday 1 June 2026

www.arrivabus.co.uk

 

[Kaliwax]

Former Arriva Yorkshire ALX300 467 is in preservation with people I think at the White Rose Bus Group. Same people who also have Spectra 722.

 

[Ballyheigue]

Former Arriva Yorkshire ALX300 467 is in preservation with people I think at the White Rose Bus Group. Same people who also have Spectra 722.

I take it it'll be a static display as it'll take years to even get out of the yard lol

 

[johntea]

Full credit to the driver of the 141 service leaving Leeds this evening who with their lightning quick reactions prevented a head on crash with an absolute idiot of a motorist that decided they were in such a rush to get petrol they turned in straight in front of the bus!

It was probably the scariest near miss I've ever encountered whilst travelling on a bus

 

[YorkRailFan]

E400 MMC 4745 has transferred from Merseyside to Yorkshire.

 

[Kaliwax]

Only on a 2 month loan, 2032 has gone the other way so drivers can route learn and bus learn for the open golf contract in July

 

[smith3792]

Wakey Depot 2031 with allover advert for Local Radio Rhubarb Fm and is out on 148/149 today

 

[yorksrob]

Over half a decade now since the pandemic and still no sign of the N10 night bus between Leeds and Wakefield coming back.

I'd love to see the cost of that service, compared to how much profit this waste of space of a company is sending abroad.

 

[Man of Kent]

Over half a decade now since the pandemic and still no sign of the N10 night bus between Leeds and Wakefield coming back.

I'd love to see the cost of that service, compared to how much profit this waste of space of a company is sending abroad.

Perusing the accounts on Companies House shows that Arriva Yorkshire hasn't paid any dividends for at least 5 years.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Perusing the accounts on Companies House shows that Arriva Yorkshire hasn't paid any dividends for at least 5 years.

The management fees are notable though…

 

[NorthernSpirit]

Over half a decade now since the pandemic and still no sign of the N10 night bus between Leeds and Wakefield coming back.

I'd love to see the cost of that service, compared to how much profit this waste of space of a company is sending abroad.

The N10 - Take it up with Wakefield Council, I did back in 2017 when I was pushing for a smallish nightbus network for West Yorkshire. At least one out of four routes suggested actually materialised, the other routes suggested were a Wakefield - Five Towns circular, Wakefield to Huddersfield via the fastest possible route and a Wakefield to South Elmsall circular.

 

[YorkRailFan]

E200 1055 has been withdrawn.

 

[Simon75]

Is the Arriva Wakefield garage still in use, as i thought it closed down?
As a Facebook page, someone says its still open?

 

[M60lad]

Looks like its only open for parking and maintenance purposes from what I saw when I went past yesterday

 

[yorksrob]

Another day of cancellations on the 189.

Abysmal given that its only half hourly to begin with.

 

[YorkRailFan]

A post on Travel West Yorkshire reports that Pulsar 2 1446 & Enviro 400 1899 have been withdrawn.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Jul 2026 ==

Bit of a switch around, E400 MMC 4745 has returned to Merseyside and 2032 has returned to Yorkshire from Merseyside.

 

[Kaliwax]

I thought I'd post this in the Yorkshire thread since it concerns Yorkshire as well

6 of the SK72 plate E400MMCs at Ashington are heading to Yorkshire along with 7541-7552.

The SK72 E400MMCs and 8 of the 7541-7552 batch will be heading to Selby to replace their geminis. The other 4 of the 7541-7552 will go to Wakefield to replace 1896-1899. The geminis will be moving to Castleford to allow the E400s there to be withdrawn.

 

[YorkRailFan]

I thought I'd post this in the Yorkshire thread since it concerns Yorkshire as well

6 of the SK72 plate E400MMCs at Ashington are heading to Yorkshire along with 7541-7552.

The SK72 E400MMCs and 8 of the 7541-7552 batch will be heading to Selby to replace their geminis. The other 4 of the 7541-7552 will go to Wakefield to replace 1896-1899. The geminis will be moving to Castleford to allow the E400s there to be withdrawn.

Quite the upgrade for the 415 then hopefully!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Aug 2026 ==

Versa 792 has been repainted to Arriva's Journey Mark livery

 

[YorkRailFan]

Fleetnumbers for the NE E400 MMCs that are now in Yorkshire:
7541 - 1902 (entered service 27/08/26)
7542 - 1903 (entered service 06/08/26)
7543 - 1904 (entered service 05/08/26)
7544 - 1905 (entered service 17/08/26)
7545 - 1906
7546 - 1907 (entered service 29/08/26)
7547 - 1908 (currently waiting for new engine)
7548 - 1955 (entered service 18/08/26)
7549 - 1990 (entered service 11/08/26)
7550 - 1991 (entered service 06/08/26)
7551 - 1992 (entered service 07/08/26)
7552 - 1993 (entered service 11/08/26)
7563 - 1994 (entered service 10/08/26)
7564 - 1995 (entered service 08/08/26)
7565 - 1996 (entered service 12/08/26)
7566 - 1997 (entered service 20/08/26)
7567 - 1998 (entered service 20/08/26)
7568 - 1999 (entered service 14/08/26)

(All dates are in DD/MM/YY Format)
(To clarify: 75xx are North East fleetnumbers, 19xx are the new Yorkshire fleetnumbers)
Source: https://northeastbuses.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=4711&page=9

The following are withdrawn:
E200 1056
VDL SB200 Wright Pulsar 1428
E400s 1885, 1887, 1888, 1891, 1893, 1896, 1897 & 1898.
---

E200 MMC 3002 is on loan to Stockton depot. E200 MMC 2710 is on loan to Yorkshire from Stockton covering for 3002.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Service Changes from 29th/30th August:

126 Wakefield • Horbury • Ossett • Chickenley • Dewsbury Sat 29 Aug 2026 Operated by Arriva On Saturdays, some journeys will be slightly retimed.
187 Wakefield • Kirkthorpe • Normanton • Altofts • Castleford Sun 30 Aug 2026 Operated by Arriva On weekdays, the 0655 Castleford to Wakefield and 0757 Wakefield to Castleford journeys will be retimed 15 minutes earlier.
230 230A Dewsbury • Grange Moor Sat 29 Aug 2026 Operated by Arriva All journeys will be retimed by 3 to 10 minutes.
250 Dewsbury • Dewsbury Moor • Heckmondwike Sat 29 Aug 2026 Operated by Arriva Most journeys will be retimed by around 5 minutes.
268 Wakefield • Dewsbury • Heckmondwike • Cleckheaton • Bradford Sat 29 Aug 2026 Operated by Arriva Some journeys will be retimed by up to 15 minutes. Some early morning and evening short journeys will be extended.
280 Dewsbury • Thornhill Sat 29 Aug 2026 Operated by Arriva Some journeys will be retimed by up to 10 minutes.
281 283 283A Dewsbury • Batley • Birstall • Birstall Retail Park / Bradford Sat 29 Aug 2026 Operated by Arriva Some journeys will be retimed by up to 15 minutes.
444 446 Leeds • Rothwell • Carlton / Woodlesford • Wakefield Sun 30 Aug 2026 Operated by Arriva On weekdays, some journeys at school times will be retimed due to changes in the school day at Oulton Academy.
X10 Wakefield • Leeds • Leeds University Sun 30 Aug 2026 Operated by Arriva Afternoon journeys will be retimed 5 minutes later.

https://www.wymetro.com/media/kiyehypk/public-transport-changes-aug-2026-16301.pdf

In addition to this, a variation to the 231/232 has been registered effective 31st August:

• Registration number PB0000582/277
• Licence Number PB0000582

• Variation number 12
• Status Registered
• Service number. HA1, 232S, 231, 232
• Service type Normal Stopping
• Start point Huddersfield
• Finish point Wakefield
• Via
• Date received 13 Aug 2026
• Effective date 31 Aug 2026
• End date
• Supported by subsidies? In Part
• Local authorities covered by route West Yorkshire Combined Authority (formally Metro)
• TAOs covered by route North East of England

Pardon Our Interruption

There are also changes in the Selby area from 6th September:

415

Selby - York

Arriva Yorkshire

01924 231300

Arriva bus website

6 September 2026

Minor changes to timetable to improve reliability

Bus service changes and news

Latest news and notifications of planned changes to bus routes and timetables.

www.northyorks.gov.uk

As well as a variation registered to the 400/401 effective from the same date:

• Registration number PB0000582/75
• Licence Number PB0000582

• Variation number 38
• Status Variation
• Service number.641, 401, 400
• Service type Normal Stopping
• Start point Selby
• Finish point Goole
• Via
• Date received 29 Jul 2026
• Effective date 06 Sep 2026
• End date
• Supported by subsidies? No
• Local authorities covered by route East Riding of Yorkshire Council
• North Yorkshire Council
• TAOs covered by route North East of England

Pardon Our Interruption

 

[mikeg]

Regarding the 415 service changes it’s ridiculous. The dwell times at the designer outlet are already over conservative and even with the current timing points can result in waiting 5 minutes +. Also what happened to notice being given? A few days notice is not enough for the travelling public to adjust their plans.
I know sometimes due to conditions on the A19 it can occasionally run late but this will only increase average journey times whilst doing little to increase reliability (the a19 either runs great or barely at all).
I do think that buses could do with learning from the railways that overall speed increases patronage and fare box revenue.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Regarding the 415 service changes it’s ridiculous. The dwell times at the designer outlet are already over conservative and even with the current timing points can result in waiting 5 minutes +. Also what happened to notice being given? A few days notice is not enough for the travelling public to adjust their plans.
I know sometimes due to conditions on the A19 it can occasionally run late but this will only increase average journey times whilst doing little to increase reliability (the a19 either runs great or barely at all).
I do think that buses could do with learning from the railways that overall speed increases patronage and fare box revenue.

These changes have been on the Metro and North Yorkshire Council websites for a while now. However, there's nothing on the Arriva website as of yet.

Having a journey take slightly longer, but with a more resilient timetable, will be valued more than an unrealistic timetable that has faster journey times. People value reliability just as much as journey times, they rightfully expect buses to turn up when they are meant to in the timetable.

The timing point at Designer Outlet is meant to regulate the service for disruption on the A19, but also disruption in York. (See December when the congestion is horrific with York Christmas Market). From what I can see, most journeys are timetabled to wait 2-3 minutes at Designer Outlet, which is a reasonable waiting time in my opinion. I can think of many other services that have buses timetabled to wait 10+ minutes at a timing point (Coastliner as an example), 2-3 minutes is nothing in the grand scheme of things and builds in a little bit of resilience into the timetable.

 

[mikeg]

They may be timetabled to have a 3-4 minute wait but in practice it’s usually 5 or more as the bus runs early as of around Deighton or the south of Fulford (depending on direction). I’m also unsure why everything has to be the same every hour? Surely this is a waste of capacity?

 

[YorkRailFan]

They may be timetabled to have a 3-4 minute wait but in practice it’s usually 5 or more as the bus runs early as of around Deighton or the south of Fulford (depending on direction). I’m also unsure why everything has to be the same every hour? Surely this is a waste of capacity?

It's timetabled to be the same for a regular clockface interval. Its simpler for passengers. Otherwise you end up with a situation like First's AI timetables, aimed to reduce PVR in times of less congestion but in practice reduces the frequency of the service and runs at irregular intervals.

 

[stevieinselby]

Arriva do like to build in lots of surplus time, to the extent that in normal conditions drivers are sandbagging (and delaying other traffic) and still end up arriving early at the next timing point and having to wait.
We saw that when they changed the diagramming around the 493 (Pontefract to Sherburn) and reduced the running time from 65 minutes each way to 55 minutes – no change to the route or anything else, they just had to tighten up the running times because the interworking arrangements they had used previously were no longer an option – and despite cutting 10 minutes from the running time the service is still reliable and punctual with buses arriving at the end destination mostly on time. We see it on the 42, where drivers won't go above 35mph even on rural roads where they easily, safely and comfortably could do, because they know they'll only have to stop and wait at the next stop.
Interesting that in the new timetable, they only seem to be adding a lot of padding on Saturdays but not much on weekdays – but looking at tracking recently there doesn't seem to be a problem with punctuality even on Saturdays.

It might help them in the punctuality statistics and to avoid the attention of the traffic commissioner, but it won't be helping to make using the bus appealing to passengers if the timetable shows the journey to be so much slower than the alternatives and if when they try it they find they're waiting at stops for what feels like ages.

 

[mattb7tl]

Arriva do like to build in lots of surplus time, to the extent that in normal conditions drivers are sandbagging (and delaying other traffic) and still end up arriving early at the next timing point and having to wait.
We saw that when they changed the diagramming around the 493 (Pontefract to Sherburn) and reduced the running time from 65 minutes each way to 55 minutes – no change to the route or anything else, they just had to tighten up the running times because the interworking arrangements they had used previously were no longer an option – and despite cutting 10 minutes from the running time the service is still reliable and punctual with buses arriving at the end destination mostly on time. We see it on the 42, where drivers won't go above 35mph even on rural roads where they easily, safely and comfortably could do, because they know they'll only have to stop and wait at the next stop.
Interesting that in the new timetable, they only seem to be adding a lot of padding on Saturdays but not much on weekdays – but looking at tracking recently there doesn't seem to be a problem with punctuality even on Saturdays.

It might help them in the punctuality statistics and to avoid the attention of the traffic commissioner, but it won't be helping to make using the bus appealing to passengers if the timetable shows the journey to be so much slower than the alternatives and if when they try it they find they're waiting at stops for what feels like ages.

Every service they care about has a ridiculous amount of padding. The 202/3 and 229. In one of the transport committee meetings a few years ago. It was said they were the most punctual operator in the region which is probably not wrong. As it is hard to be late when you consistently sit at a timing point for five to ten minutes.

 

[YorkRailFan]

There's a fine line In having the "perfect" timetable that has favourable journey times and is also resilient to disruption.

Arriva is clearly choosing resilience, and they're not the only one, East Yorkshire Buses also has a lot of extra padding in their timetables (such as the Saturday 31X timetable which has journeys from Shipton to Skelton that take 3 minutes timetabled to take 11 minutes or the 83 to York waiting 15 minutes in Ripon and taking 18 minutes to Sharrow when it takes 8 minutes.) On the other hand, you have operators that have more favourable journey times with little to no resilience (like Connexions).

Arriva prefers a resilient timetable. It has operational benefits (like allowing for delays that cause extra driving hours) and as an extra positive, makes their punctuality statistics look better. Its far from perfect, but perhaps better than an unrealistic timetable that is unreliable? Obviously, the ideal timetable would be somewhere in the middle, good journey times with some resilience. All things considered, the 415 is far from the worst service when it comes to extra padding in the timetable.

 

[stevieinselby]

Arriva is clearly choosing resilience, and they're not the only one, East Yorkshire Buses also has a lot of extra padding in their timetables (such as the Saturday 31X timetable which has journeys from Shipton to Skelton that take 3 minutes timetabled to take 11 minutes or the 83 to York waiting 15 minutes in Ripon and taking 18 minutes to Sharrow when it takes 8 minutes.) On the other hand, you have operators that have more favourable journey times with little to no resilience (like Connexions).

Arriva prefers a resilient timetable. It has operational benefits (like allowing for delays that cause extra driving hours) and as an extra positive, makes their punctuality statistics look better. Its far from perfect, but perhaps better than an unrealistic timetable that is unreliable? Obviously, the ideal timetable would be somewhere in the middle, good journey times with some resilience. All things considered, the 415 is far from the worst service when it comes to extra padding in the timetable.

I think the times on the 31X are fairly clearly a data entry error rather than excessive padding, as the buses usually arrive at the end of the route 15–20 minutes early, and that the 14:28 arrival time was somehow set because the vehicle's next journey starts at 14:30 rather than because they are allowing 20 minutes more running time than Transdev over that one section of the route.

I suspect that the padding on the 82/83/84 comes from trying to balance regular interval services between Fountains Abbey and Ripon and regular interval services between Green Hammerton and York with uneven running times between Ripon and Green Hammerton, along with making a timetable that is compatible with the school times so that they aren't having to change it all again for September.

Obviously there is a balance to be struck between resilience and speed. For longer multi-nodal services where the route passes through major town/city centres along the way and where a high proportion of passengers will be getting on/off and fewer passengers will be travelling end-to-end, there's a strong case for having an extended stop at those mid-way nodes to ensure resilience, and the smaller number of passengers travelling across the centre will just have to accept it ... but where you don't have a major node mid-route, I would rather see running times kept a bit tighter (while still being achievable in typical road conditions and usage) but then have padding between journeys if needed to give that resilience.

Yes, operators need to set that balance at a level they feel is appropriate. My personal feeling is that Arriva have been too conservative, and are focusing on box-ticking at the expense of making a good service for passengers – which is part and parcel of their overall management style recently – but I recognise that other people may have different priorities.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Obviously there is a balance to be struck between resilience and speed. For longer multi-nodal services where the route passes through major town/city centres along the way and where a high proportion of passengers will be getting on/off and fewer passengers will be travelling end-to-end, there's a strong case for having an extended stop at those mid-way nodes to ensure resilience, and the smaller number of passengers travelling across the centre will just have to accept it ... but where you don't have a major node mid-route, I would rather see running times kept a bit tighter (while still being achievable in typical road conditions and usage) but then have padding between journeys if needed to give that resilience.

With the 415, Designer Outlet is arguably that major node mid-route, with it being a destination for people in York and also along the A19 towards Selby and lots of people getting on/off. The 415 does have layover times at both ends of the route but I assume that the time at Designer Outlet allows lots of people to get on/off whilst sticking to the timetable.

I often use Coastliner to get from Tadcaster Road to Heworth, the waiting times at the station and Stonebow are quite frustrating (10 minutes in the case of Stonebow) so I always prefer to use the 11/11A as it has shorter dwell times. I think on longer journeys, having a break can be quite good - like Malton Bus Station on Coastliner - especially if there's a toilet nearby.

Yes, operators need to set that balance at a level they feel is appropriate. My personal feeling is that Arriva have been too conservative, and are focusing on box-ticking at the expense of making a good service for passengers – which is part and parcel of their overall management style recently – but I recognise that other people may have different priorities.

Having 2-3 minutes at Designer Outlet (or even if it ends up being 5 minutes) isn't that bad for waiting times, especially if there's lots of people getting on/off. I think the 415 is a route that some people will choose even if it takes longer than the car because its quite convenient. No worries about parking in York, it runs until quite late in the evening, its frequent and quite reliable. As for the rest of the network, yes padding is quite excessive in areas, but there would also be complaints if buses were running late so its a fine line.

I suspect that the padding on the 82/83/84 comes from trying to balance regular interval services between Fountains Abbey and Ripon and regular interval services between Green Hammerton and York with uneven running times between Ripon and Green Hammerton, along with making a timetable that is compatible with the school times so that they aren't having to change it all again for September.

Except that they are changing in September, more than just terminating in Ripon, so the PVR reduces from 4 to 3. Times from Ripon and Boroughbridge will be irregular, but will be regular from Green Hammerton and York.