13 different bus routes serving the Leeds City area to be cancelled as well as operators
making other changes
The people of Leeds who heavily rely on buses are going to have to find other routes or
other modes of transport to travel to and from places. It is part of a massive timetable
shakeup in the area.
The changes were published by regional bus information service WY Metro. They are
already in full effect across the city and are making things that extra difficult. Services
such as the X26, 29 and 85 have been completely removed.
Leeds Councillor Salma Arif gave her thoughts regarding bus service cancellations.
“The main reason that bus services are being cancelled is that bus operators are
experiencing a shortage of drivers. Following Covid, older drivers either retired or reduced
their hours. Younger drivers went on to get better paid jobs elsewhere.” It is clearly
evident that Covid has had a huge impact on bus services, like it has on other companies
throughout the last few years. She further added
“Bus operators are actively recruiting drivers, but the training process is a lengthy one”. It
is a positive that there are more recruits learning, however duration is the key problem so
it could be a while yet until we see a return to regular timetables.
For regular bus attenders the cancellations are a great concern. Mary Wilson requires one
of the buses on a daily occurrence due to work commitments. She quoted
“It’s a total nightmare. The bus made it so much easier of a morning to travel to work but
now it’s slightly more tiring for my husband. Due to the distance my work is from home,
he has to get up extra early to give me a lift otherwise I would never arrive on time”. This
is an unfair affect on Mary and others, especially because they have to wake up
sufficiently earlier than usual. Morning’s can be very stressful for thousands of families
and the tiredness can eventually take its toll on people.
Ex bus driver Stephen Owens suggested Covid isn’t only to blame,
“Back when I still worked as a bus driver, the people in charge weren’t as lenient as what
they are now towards people. I started to notice it during the last few years until I retired
so I’m not overly surprised that buses are continuously getting cancelled”.
That definitely can be another factor with people not earning a heavy punishment for
taking time of work, although in some situations a person does have to stay of for
whatever the reason.
No matter the reasoning, one thing is for sure, buses need to find a way back into regular
timetables before the problem further grows.