Arriva Yorkshire discussion

[YorkRailFan]

For example Barlby Roundabout becomes 'Ardol Clock Tower', which was torn down a few years ago. Barlby High School, which is very much still there, becomes Police Station, which closed years ago. Riccall Store? That's now Costcutter, but is currently a Budgens having been a Nisa before that. Just what local history guide did they get these place names from?

They're all listed as the name of the bus stop on Bustimes so presumably that's why.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Another day, another example of Arriva Yorkshire's unremitting crapness. Even when they put on a lousy hourly service, they can't keep to that.

According to West Yorkshire Metro, the bus turned around before it got to the bus station - no one knows why.

Sending buses "not in service" seems to be the only thing they're good at.

I've had to use Arriva for work over the last month and they truly are dire. It really made me appreciate how good I have it by living in First territory, and I never thought I'd say that!

Constant cancellations, break downs, and filthy buses. I was on a single decker 201 last Tuesday with a smell worse than finding a dead rat behind the radiator permeating the entire saloon. Passengers were boarding, smelling the odour, then immediately shaking their heads and alighting.

Out of these newly acquired heaps, one retains debranded Cheshire Cat colours - 1083 was former 209 and the worst of the lot.
Limp mode permanently engaged and topping out at 35mph on a National Speed limit road. The tinny rasping engine note is imprinted on my brain now

I can also confirm no upgrade whatsoever has taken place of the interiors. They've been hammered to hell (and bodged repeatedly) in Warrington.
So, they're a perfect upgrade for what was once Britain's most profitable bus company.

Believe I had one of those buses still in full Cheshire Cat branding on the X10 last Thursday. Sounded like the engine was going to fall apart every time it went over 20 and had a very acrid smell. The group of friends on the way back to Wakey did appreciate the couch/snug seating at the back though.

 

[yorksrob]

Their bus tracking is a useless pile of c**p as well. Today it was still saying it was two minutes away when the bus went flying by at fifty miles an hour.

Buses really are rubbish.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 May 2025 ==

So it's not just an Easter thing.

Last time I tried to get into Wakefield before 9 on a Sunday and discovered that there were no buses, I thought this cannot be a permanent situation - it must be a bank holiday one off.

No. It turns out that there is no public transport at all in Normanton before 9:00. Arriva Yorkshire need to be removed once and for all.

 

[joieman]

It turns out that there is no public transport at all in Normanton before 9:00. Arriva Yorkshire need to be removed once and for all.

I don't think having no buses before nine in the morning on Sundays is exactly unusual. Here in the Midlands, the 127 doesn't run towards Leicester until after nine either.

 

[yorksrob]

I don't think having no buses before nine in the morning on Sundays is exactly unusual. Here in the Midlands, the 127 doesn't run towards Leicester until after nine either.

What about someone who has to work on Sunday ? There's no public transport at all.

 

[NE91]

What about someone who has to work on Sunday ? There's no public transport at all.

I used to work on the "biggest business park in Newcastle" and couldn't get there until after 10am on a Sunday.

 

[yorksrob]

We used to have a bus to Leeds at around 7:00 on a Sunday. The service has really gone down the pan.

 

[stevieinselby]

What about someone who has to work on Sunday ? There's no public transport at all.

Not saying that it's good enough, just that it isn't remotely unusual in smaller towns, and that getting rid of Arriva is unlikely to change anything on that front.

 

[Omnidekkalover]

You might as well say that ebenezer Scrooge owns Arriva

 

[joieman]

What about someone who has to work on Sunday ? There's no public transport at all.

And on weekdays many less frequent services don't run before 7am, which is useless for many industrial workers. It just is that way, unfortunately.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I was intrigued by this and had a look on Timetable World. They have a 1979 timetable that was long before the days of Sunday trading etc. There was a Wakey to Cas service that passed through at 0637, and a Normanton to Wakey at 0745, and that was it.

Sadly, I think that Sunday services have really suffered generally (not withstanding that Arriva Yorkshire is a pale shadow of what it was through the general Arriva malaise) with declining high street footfall and the evening drinking/bingo trade decimated.

 

[yorksrob]

Not saying that it's good enough, just that it isn't remotely unusual in smaller towns, and that getting rid of Arriva is unlikely to change anything on that front.

The West Yorkshire metropolitan area isn't a "smaller town".

 

[mikeg]

The West Yorkshire metropolitan area isn't a "smaller town".

No, but it includes plenty of them.

I'm going to challenge some of the overwhelming negativity here. Whilst it's clear things could be improved, cancellations aren't as bad as they once were. Moving from Thirsk, then Northallerton to Selby, I think it's bloody marvelous that I can get the bus back from work at 11pm on a Sunday. Just wouldn't happen in many places, I've also never seen the last bus cancelled, which is more than I can say for the railways. All in all, it's a 'good-not-great' service. They do seem to be trying as well, by focussing on things they can actually run and improving these where possible. We now have an hourly service to Leeds, though the last return journey could do with being later. The 415 is definitely the 'main route' but others such as to Pontefract have been enhanced from pretty useless to just about usuable and the service to Goole made a little more usable still. We've also seen the return of Sunday services to Goole and I think Leeds. All in all Arriva are trying, they may not be the best, but beyond some slighlty snazzier buses I don't think changing the operator would change that much. If anything I could see some local services getting worse in terms of timetable.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Some fleet changes at Arriva Yorkshire:
1438 - Withdrawn for scrap
3051 - Transferred to Northumberland
2007 - Transferred to Leicester
1041 - Ex-JMB, has been repainted into Arriva colours
2010 - Transferred from Leicester

How long does 663 have at Selby? It's the only Evolution left at Arriva Yorkshire and seems to keep straggling on.

 

[JD2168]

Some fleet changes at Arriva Yorkshire:
1438 - Withdrawn for scrap
3051 - Transferred to Northumberland
2007 - Transferred to Leicester
1041 - Ex-JMB, has been repainted into Arriva colours
2010 - Transferred from Leicester

How long does 663 have at Selby? It's the only Evolution left at Arriva Yorkshire and seems to keep straggling on.

From what I’ve noticed 663 seems to regularly do a couple of 51’s from Doncaster to Askern then 2 school runs then back towards depot. It doesn’t seem to do long days

 

[YorkRailFan]

Arriva has received two buses over the last week.
1040 - an ADL200, ex-JMB
1088 - an ADL200MMC, ex-Weardale
Both have been repainted into Arriva's Journey Mark livery.
Eclipse Urbans 1102 and 1107 have now been removed.

 

[Kaliwax]

From what I’ve noticed 663 seems to regularly do a couple of 51’s from Doncaster to Askern then 2 school runs then back towards depot. It doesn’t seem to do long days

With the cancellation of the 51 from next Month, 663 could be living on borrowed time, I'd assume PVR would go down at Selby.

 

[JD2168]

With the cancellation of the 51 from next Month, 663 could be living on borrowed time, I'd assume PVR would go down at Selby.

No surprise that the 51 is to be cancelled, loadings have slumped since First started running back to Askern again. Looking at BusTimes the 351/361 will replace the 51 areas not currently covered with a 451 school run to replace the school service.

I would presume it will also cancel the Yorkshire Buses tender for the 51 Sunday service

 

[YorkRailFan]

ADL 200 1047 and B7RLE Eclipse Urban 1105 have been withdrawn. Pulsar 1430 has also now been withdrawn.

Two of the ex-Warrington ADL200MMCs, 1077 and 1083, have been repainted into Arriva's Journey Mark Livery.

 

[Andyh82]

A new bus station for Wakefield seems to have been a surprising feature of Reeves/Brabin’s transport announcement today

As far as I’m aware that was never even slightly suggested previously so I don’t know where it has come from

Wakefield Bus Station is owned by Arriva though, and there is the issue that Metro will have to buy it for when franchising starts

 

[Leedsbusman]

A new bus station for Wakefield seems to have been a surprising feature of Reeves/Brabin’s transport announcement today

As far as I’m aware that was never even slightly suggested previously so I don’t know where it has come from

Wakefield Bus Station is owned by Arriva though, and there is the issue that Metro will have to buy it for when franchising starts

Could it be a mistake for new bus depot?

 

[Robertj21a]

A new bus station for Wakefield seems to have been a surprising feature of Reeves/Brabin’s transport announcement today

As far as I’m aware that was never even slightly suggested previously so I don’t know where it has come from

Wakefield Bus Station is owned by Arriva though, and there is the issue that Metro will have to buy it for when franchising starts

Is it definitely on the same site?

 

[M60lad]

If it is a new Bus Station won't that be 3rd New Bus Station Wakefield has had?

If it is indeed a mistake for Bus Depot any idea where a new Depot for Wakefield could be?

 

[johntea]

It’s definitely a new bus station (the local MP confirmed that) but they apparently haven’t decided yet if it’s going to stay where it is or move somewhere else

One issue that money won’t really resolve is the amount of undesirables that loiter in and around the bus station though!

 

[yorksrob]

Well, this is a new one.

Turned up at the bus stop for the sparse half hourly Sunday service, only for it to whizz straight past with "Not in Service" on the front.

This might seem not unusual, except that the bus clearly had plenty of passengers on board.

Perhaps it had been hijacked !

 

[M60lad]

Could be a number of reasons for this:

1> Maybe the driver had a problem with the bus and was told to run it as a drop off only to destination and then run it in

2> Or maybe the bus might have been running late so the driver was told to run a drop off service only

 

[yorksrob]

Could be a number of reasons for this:

1> Maybe the driver had a problem with the bus and was told to run it as a drop off only to destination and then run it in

2> Or maybe the bus might have been running late so the driver was told to run a drop off service only

He was pretty much on time as far as I could tell.

 

[mikeg]

Or maybe the driver just forgot to change the destination blinds, seems to happen quite often around here.

I've actually seen it happen when the bus is too full to board, in Fulford they change it to not in service, but again only usually when running patricularly late...

 

[yorksrob]

Or maybe the driver just forgot to change the destination blinds, seems to happen quite often around here.

I've actually seen it happen when the bus is too full to board, in Fulford they change it to not in service, but again only usually when running patricularly late...

I was waving my arm for him to stop, so it can't have been that

 

[johntea]

I actually had a profitable experience the other day, the driver was so engrossed in his phone (this was at a bus station don't worry!) that he couldn't be bothered to go to the effort of exchanging my cash for a tcket so just waved me on board free of charge

They also seem to have replaced (most) of the dot matrix screens at Castleford Bus Station with flat screen TV style ones now including the useful...but not useful because it alternates every 5 seconds from the bus departures...rail departures information