Changes to busy city centre bus routes

Bus services between Headingley and the city centre all have numbers in the 20s

Some of the busiest bus routes in Leeds have been changed, affecting services between the city centre, Headingley and nearby towns.

The changes along the Headingley line mean many of the services have new numbers in the 20s - ranging from 22 to 28 - in order to "help familiarity for customers", said First Bus.

The company also said the timetable alterations, which came into effect on Sunday, should "enhance and better coordinate connectivity" along the corridor.

BBC News has looked at what they mean for passengers travelling to some of the main stops on the routes.

Getting to the railway station

More services now run between Headingley and the railway station

The changes mean more buses from Headingley now stop near Leeds City railway station.

Three new services mean there should be a bus between Headingley and City Square every seven to eight minutes on weekdays, according to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Service 24 is the replacement for bus routes 1 and 8, and runs between Beeston and Holt Park.

It will operate 24 hours a day between the city and Headingley, with improved frequency on weekends.​

Service 22 has replaced the 1B, and now connects Leeds bus station to the railway station.

Service 28 has has also been re-routed to include the railway station as well as the bus station.

There are also some earlier and later journeys on the route.

Getting to the bus station

Service 23 is the new name for route 6, which runs between Leeds bus station and Holt Park.

The route is unchanged, but all timetables have been re-timed with some earlier and later journeys.

The route service 27 takes between the bus station and Guiseley has not been changed, but an evening service has been reintroduced on Monday to Friday and Sunday.

There is also route change at Guiseley to connect to service 33 at Guiseley Morrisons.​

In addition, services 22 and 28 call at the bus station as well as the railway station.

Travelling between Ilkley, Otley and Leeds

There are also significant changes for the long-standing X84 service.

This was previously a limited-stop service between Leeds, Otley, Burley-in-Wharfedale and Ilkley.

It has now been replaced by the new services 25 and 26.

Both of these will run between Leeds, Otley and Ilkley - but the 25 also serves Pool-in-Wharfedale.

One of the biggest differences for these services is that they are no longer limited-stop between the city centre and Weetwood, allowing passengers to get on and off at stops in Headingley.

Michael Moore, Head of Network for First Bus in West Yorkshire, said: “This comprehensive review of our services in Leeds and to surrounding districts and towns has been carefully planned to bring better reliability, punctuality and connectivity for customers.

"We have looked at key corridors where we have seen some pressure on the network and capacity and developed timetables to alleviate these."

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