Hopefully it will go to someone else under franchising and will be speeded up, reliable, and be a proper X service again. I have used the X6 between Bradford and Leeds a few times recently and the difference is stark. They run on time, reliably, are proper limited stop services, the drivers drive quickly, and don't wait at bus stops to lose time. Each journey took 31 minutes. Each journey ran to the same route.
By comparison, the X99 is not limited stop, was slow, late and the route varies seemingly day by day or by the time of day. It's total guesswork now - will it be Roseville Road and Regent Street? Will it be RR and Byron Street? Will it be Roundhay Road and North Street?
The bus will wait at stops between Collingham and Oakwood Clock to lose time and then hit traffic coming into Leeds and arrive late? Whoever designed the timetable knew nothing about the route.
Yesterday on the journey from Leeds to Wetherby, the driver designed his own route as a result of an accident which had delayed the incoming service. His route was brilliant, and so fast that he almost caught up all the lost time, in spite of leaving Leeds 15 minutes late. He should design the route and timetable. The bus was a 62 plate Gemini, so for once it had some power and acceleration, and he used it to good effect.
It is 11 miles on the X6 and it takes 31 minutes off-peak. It is 15 miles on the X99 and it takes 55 minutes as a minimum.