First bus Leeds: Full list of all services changing and cancelled including Pudsey, White Rose, Moor Allerton and city centre
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First has announced it is splitting its 51 and 52 services which travel through Leeds city centre from Morley in the south to Moor Allerton in the north to improve punctuality.
Buses will now combine a changeover in the city centre on Eastgate. New service numbers 38 and 39 will operate on the Leeds Eastgate-Moor Allerton section and a through-ticket is also being introduced for customers travelling the whole route. The alteration is being made following extensive consultation with local councillors and customers.
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Hide AdKayleigh Ingham, Commercial Director of First West Yorkshire, said: "The change to this north-south link through the city will help to avoid delays due to congestion which has affected journey times on such a lengthy route.
“I’m confident that our investment in new technology will also continue to improve punctuality for all services across the region.”
Changes come as part of a package of alterations First is introducing which includes the withdrawal of services and frequency reductions on underused routes, including a number of services run under contract for West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) which is due to expire in April.
Passenger numbers remain lower than pre-pandemic levels and although many services are showing good growth, a very small number haven’t shown signs of attracting sufficient users to cover their costs. As a result, services 9, 48 and 87 in Leeds will no longer operate from Sunday, April 2. A new 9S service will provide school trips.
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Hide AdKayleigh Ingham added: “We appreciate that some amendments will be disappointing for customers affected. First West Yorkshire has carefully reviewed these together with WYCA in order to limit changes. This action is necessary now to ensure we build a sustainable network into the future and that we balance customer demand with available resources, where there is a clear need for additional capacity.
“It would not be prudent for any organisation, private or public, to continue to operate the same services knowing that the demand across the bus network has changed.”