Report estimates 62 bus routes could be cut this year as campaigner slams plans

Up to 62 bus routes across West Yorkshire could lose some or all of their services from autumn, a shock report has warned.

A Bus Network Sustainability Review report going to West Yorkshire Combined Authority's Transport Committee next Friday says the routes - representing more than 10 per cent of the local network - are at risk when Government funding to help services keep running through the pandemic is withdrawn in October.

The report does not state any details of which routes are at risk.

Matthew Topham, a campaigner at Better Buses for West Yorkshire, said: “These cuts will be devastating. Folks may have to leave their jobs, get into debt to buy cars, or uproot their families to move to work.

“A bus network that cannot take the profits coming in on busy commuter routes and use them to support quieter, essential services (a power called cross-subsidy) isn’t fit for purpose.

“We need more government support right now but we also need London-style public control to allow us to make the network more efficient and to unlock the power to cross-subsidise services.”

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said she hopes both bus companies and the Government will step in to save services.