Bus users have expressed disappointment at the withdrawal of a service between Dewsbury, Brighouse, Elland and Halifax.
Transport firm Arriva said the 278 service will cease on Saturday February 17 due to increased running costs and a drop in passenger numbers.
The changes will also affect the Huddersfield to Dewsbury 262 service which will no longer operate between Mirfield and Dewsbury from February 18.
Service 278 user Giles Bloxwich said the changes would end up costing him around £18 a month.
He said the change wouldn’t help visitor figures for both Dewsbury Market and the Piece Hall, Halifax.
“This will also affect hundreds of commuters who travel between Halifax, Brighouse and Dewsbury, who will now have to travel via Huddersfield for connections,” he said.
“Not only will this increase journey times, the cost of travel will also increase dramatically as the journey will now overlap two or sometimes three different bus companies.
“There will be no direct service between Brighouse and Mirfield or Dewsbury.
“The Arriva website states that the 278 has become too expensive to run due to falling passenger numbers, however commuters at peak periods would argue otherwise.”
Mirfield Tory councillor Martyn Bolt said the changes were disappointing and another yet example of a transport service which wasn’t integrated and which discouraged people from using public transport.
Clr Bolt said new services designed to partially replace the 278 service were “not the most elegant solution.”
Arriva said it had worked with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (Metro) and bus firm Yorkshire Tiger to maintain bus links between Dewsbury and Halifax.
The following services from Yorkshire Tiger are intended to partially fill the gap created by the withdrawal of the 278 service:
* Service 78/X78: New Monday to Saturday daytime services operating hourly between Brighouse and Halifax via Rastrick and Elland which will “partially replace service 278”, according to Metro. Buses will be timed to meet service 262 in Brighouse to allow bus users to change between these services.
* Service 262: The route of this service is being revised to partially replace the 278 service. It will now serve Cooper Bridge and Brighouse but no longer operate between Mirfield and Dewsbury. Buses will be timed to meet services 78 and X78 in Brighouse to allow passengers to change between these services.
Several other services in West Yorkshire are also being changed in West Yorkshire later this month.
Details can be found here: www.wymetro.com/plan-a-journey/travel-news/service-changes/
