Boost for bus routes across West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin said the "new and improved" services would launch next month

Bus services across West Yorkshire are set to receive a boost with new and more frequent services beginning in February.

A £2.6m investment by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will create new links between Huddersfield and Halifax.

There will also be more frequent services on 10 existing routes across the county.

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin said better bus services were "a vital part of my mission for a better-connected West Yorkshire".

'Connecting communities'

She said: "I’m delighted that these new and improved services will be hitting our streets next month – connecting communities, reducing reliance on cars and getting people where they need to go."

Many bus operators have been cutting back on routes and frequencies as post-Covid travel patterns saw passenger numbers fall.

The combined authority had secured £78m of funding from the Department for Transport to provide more buses and cheaper and simpler fares.

The latest tranche of improvements will see new links created between Huddersfield and Halifax town centres, Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital, in partnership with operator First.

The 503 service will be withdrawn and replaced with two new routes: the 501 which will run between the town centres via both hospitals, and a more direct route called the X1.

The combined authority will fund the new services at a reduced rate for the first three years, with First agreeing to take the commercial risk in years four and five, with the aim of making them financially sustainable in the longer term.

Kayleigh Ingham, commercial director of First West Yorkshire, said: "We are pleased to introduce these service improvements to support customers in Calderdale and Kirklees and those making trips to hospital appointments."

Meanwhile, from mid-February, 10 existing routes will get more frequent buses.

• The 548/549 between Halifax and Huddersfield will be increased to a combined frequency of 15 minutes during the day.

• The 14 between Pudsey and Leeds will have an increased frequency of 30 minutes during the day;

• Evening buses will run every 30 minutes, rather than once an hour, on the following routes to and from Wakefield: the 106 to Hall Green, the 148/149 to Knottingley, the 189 to Castleford, the 268 to Bradford, the 444/446 to Leeds, the 496 to Upton, the 126 to Dewsbury and the 195 to Hemsworth.

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