Meet the two longest-serving First Bus drivers in Leeds - who have no plans to retire after 56 years

The two longest-serving First Bus drivers in Leeds have been looking back at their distinguished careers.

Trevor Gibson, 75, and Tony Baron, 79, first joined First Bus as conductors in 1970, before beginning their journeys as bus drivers a few years later.

Over 56 years on and they are still safely transporting passengers across Leeds, Wakefield and their respective villages.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post, they revealed what keeps them going after all these years and why they have no plans to retire - just yet.

“It’s the camaraderie of it all,” Trevor told the YEP. “I’m a very humorous person so it’s always very vibrant when I’m in the canteen, but I’m very serious when I’m out on the road.

“It’s a very varied job with hours and routes and all sorts of people that we meet, but the secret is to be polite, see every point of view, be informative and know your job inside out.”

Having previously worked at a Do It Yourself shop, opposite the old Bramley bus depot, Tony revealed that he joined the company upon realising that conductors earned £10 more a week.

Now in semi-retirement, he is only down to work two days a week but revealed he loves the job so much he quite often works a full six day week.

“I like driving, I like meeting people and I only do early shifts now which suits me down to the ground,” Tony said.

“The job gotten better and easier over the years. There used to be no power steering so you couldn’t go round the corner more than five mph, but now it’s so easy the bus almost drives itself.”

Power steering has not been the only change in the last 56 years, with bus fares having also changed exponentially.

Not only have the fares changed up in price, but they have also converted from the old pounds, shillings and pence.

“The buses have got better, not just for the drivers but for the public,” Tony said. “They’ve got better lighting, heating and the fares have got better.

“Originally our maximum fare was £3.20, then they came down to £2, then £2.50 and now they are talking about bringing it down again and if they can afford it then why not.”

More recent years has also seen the addition of tap on, tap off contactless card service - allowing customers and drivers to forgo the counting of change.

Trevor said he welcomed this change, although revealed that card problems can sometimes hold up services.

“I think it’s made it a little easier, but it’s still pretty 50-50 between card and cash payers,” he said.

“Problem is if there is a card issue then it does slow the bus down at the bus stop because of the fault of the card or the card holder - if they haven’t operated the card properly or is using an out of date one.”

Finishing off our little chat, the pair reminisced about some of their favourite memories over the years, including one passenger on the Rothwell route who used to pay for his fare and give the driver a Mars bar, while another passenger would give each driver a gift of five shillings at Christmas time.

Trevor can currently be found driving the 116 route from Leeds to Wakefield, via Ossett, which he named as his favourite route to drive.

Tony operates as a spare driver on any vacant route and said he likes them all.