First Bus has announced service changes to come into effect on Sunday 27 October, including the removal of the 1 and 1B, to be replaced by a new 24 service.
The 24 will run from Beeston through the city centre and Headingley to Holt Park, the route of the old 1 service before it was changed to the 10 in September 2019.
Following a campaign by local people, the service was restored a year later, but the new number 1 terminated short of Lawnswood Cemetery. The frequency of the service has been cut from 8 buses an hour to 4 since then.
In its announcement of service changes on its website First Bus says: “These services have been renumbered to improve coordination with other services along the Headingley Line.”
But local residents are not happy, pointing out that the number 1 has served Beeston going right back to the days of trams. They also point out that Headingley will get a much better service than Beeston with buses running to the city centre every 3-4 minutes Monday to Friday and operate 24 hours a day.
Buses to Beeston will run every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime, every 20 minutes Sunday daytime and every 30 minutes in the evenings.
Commenting on Facebook Beck General said:
“I was one of the activists involved in the defend the one campaign in 2019 and I am so upset to read about this. It shows such disdain for bus users that they will be so casual and private about such updates. Why are we never asked?”
And Richard Edwards said:
“Re-establishing the direct link to Lawnswood / Holt Park that we lost in 2019 is welcome, but renumbering it to No. 24 (which has no relevance to Beeston whereas it’s always been the No.1 for as long as I’ve lived here) will confuse a lot of people, also it’s a pity to lose that iconic link with our past – I believe the No. 1 route dates back to the days of the trams. Should Worst Bus be allowed to just scrap that on a whim with no consultation? Needs to go back to every 10 mins too – if one knocks, or is full, half an hour is a very long time to wait in the cold and wet.”
The West Yorkshire Mayor, Tracy Brabin, is in the process of taking control over bus services through a process called franchising. In future the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will set routes, frequency and fares, but for now the bus companies still make their own decisions, with no democratic accountability.
Cllr Andrew Scopes (Labour, Beeston & Holbeck) told South Leeds Life:
“I’m disappointed with the change, particularly given the well-run community campaign last time the bus company tried to change this route. However, it does look like it is more a name change, but we will need to keep an eye on this to ensure that further changes are not made.”
First Bus has been approached for comment.
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I can appreciate how people feel about the demise of the No. 1 ‘bus service . It does have an historical link to Beeston although it actually replaced the No. 5 tram service, the No. 1 tram only running from Lawnswood to Leeds. For a time, a No. 5 ‘bus also ran to Beeston from Swinegate.
The most unsatisfactory aspect of course is the gradual reduction in ‘bus frequency. A regular 10 minute or less interval on any transport service may will result in ‘buses (or trams) not being cost-effective to run, but travellers can rely on there being one soon..
Sadly, you are not alone. Some rural, even villages services in Yorkshire do not even have an hourly service, or are so irregular as to make planning any journey a nightmare.
Addendum: Tram services did not terminate in town, but were through-routed with other services. It might have been possible for a No.1 tram from Lawnswood to have changed its route number to No. 5 Beeston, when it arrived in town.
Buses running to Beeston every 15 minutes Monday to Friday?? Does the Council know, have they any idea, how full the buses get on an evening? Trying to get on a bus coming down Park Lane into City Square is bad enough, but changing the service from two buses to one every quarter of an hour will see passengers stranded in town with no other way to get home.
What are the Council thinking of? I hope they have second thoughts for the residents of Beeston, and not some cock-eyed way of saving a bit of money.
To be fair to the council, it’s not in their control. This is a First Bus decision. Once franchising finally comes in the West Yorkshire Mayor and the Combined Authority will have control of routes and timetables, but for now we remain stuck with the private bus companies.
The number of times the number 1 bus is cancelled on Ladypit lane is frustrating now. If the service continues as the new 24 l would hope that that’s issues will be sorted out and the maximum wait should be 15mins during week days l reserve judgement!!!