Many thanks for your question. Ross Travel made the commercial decision to withdraw service 125 which provided this direct link. It was withdrawn a few years ago due to declining patronage.

In the current deregulated market bus operators are free to decide what routes and frequencies they operate. This is one of the reasons why the Mayor is bringing buses back into public control through Franchising.

We are aware of the aspirations to reinstate this link, and while this continues to be challenging in the current deregulated market we are continuing to look at ways to find a solution.

Thank you for your question. Concerns about affordability for children and young people are completely understandable, especially when many rely on buses to reach school or college.

The decision to increase the basic fare from £1.20 to £1.60—a 33% rise—can be explained through several factors that have shaped the cost and structure of the service since 2020.

The single fare for young people was reduced from £1.30 to £1.20 in 2020 as part of the Mayor’s Fare Deal. No increases have been applied since then, meaning young people’s fares have been held for more than four years.

Over the same period, the cost of running school bus services has increased by more than 80%. Keeping fares frozen while costs rise at this scale is no longer financially sustainable without reducing the number of services or increasing subsidies.

Places on school bus services are provided on the basis that students travel regularly. If they do so, then they should pay no more than an average of £1.30 (based on weekly ticket, which is £13). If they are occasional travellers, the increase has a more limited impact.

Scotland’s free travel scheme is supported by significant government subsidy. Local authorities elsewhere do not receive equivalent funding, so they must balance affordability with the financial reality of running services.

Many thanks for your interest in Talking Transport. For those who aren’t able to join a meeting, we will share a recording of the presentation on our Your Voice page once the in-person events have taken place, and the Question & Answer function will be available for people to ask their questions to the team.

Many thanks for getting in touch. Locations for these events are chosen in partnership with Transport Engagement Lead Councillors, and often move around between different areas in order to hear from different communities and try to give those who don’t have easy access to town and city centres a chance to attend.

For those who aren’t able to join a meeting, we will share a recording of the presentation on our Your Voice page once the in-person events have taken place, and the Question & Answer function will be available for people to ask their questions to the team.

Locations may vary for future meetings, and we will log all suggestions of future venues for consideration by the organisers. 

Thank you for your question. You’ve rightly highlighted the need for more capacity on rail services throughout the Calder Valley. The need for more rolling stock and the need to replace Northern’s ageing fleet are a reflection of years of underinvestment in our regional rail network.  We have been actively lobbying the government for greater investment in modernising trains and infrastructure and increasing capacity.  In 2024 we published our Rail Strategy, which sets out requirements for rail investment in West Yorkshire. Yorkshire's plan for rail was published in May this year calling for investment in rolling stock and infrastructure in our rail network.

Northern are actively working on a long-term solution. Recently, they initiated a procurement process to acquire up to 450 new trains to replace older, less reliable rolling stock. This is part of their strategy to modernise the fleet, improve reliability, and reduce maintenance challenges. However, given the complexity of manufacturing and deploying new trains, this will take several years to fully implement.  We have also pressed Northern to look at, in the interim cascading existing trains into their network however as there is shortage of rolling stock across the UK this is challenging.

We have seen more recently as part of the diversionary route for TRU, longer trains utilising platforms on Calder Valley.

Please know that the Mayor, Tracy Brabin is committed to holding operators accountable and working to secure the investments our region needs to provide a truly reliable and accessible public transport system.

Thank you for getting in touch about improving accessibility at Honley rail station.

The Combined Authority is very aware of the difficulties associated with accessing rail stations in West Yorkshire which are not fully accessible, but the delivery of large-scale changes to station infrastructure requires significant investment which is largely unaffordable without government funding assistance.

In 2023 Kirklees Council were successful with their Penistone line £48 million Levelling Up Fund Round 3 bid to improve the line between Huddersfield and Sheffield (you can find more information about this on Kirklees Council’s website). Priorities along the route include improving accessibility and waiting facilities at stations, upgrading rail infrastructure and including moving towards a larger scheme that would improve journey time and increase the service from hourly to half-hourly.

The government has recently announced that £1.5m has been initially released to Kirklees Council to allow them to develop plans and produce an Outline Business Case and then assuming it is accepted they will be able to draw down additional funding to complete the Full Business Case.

Once this is complete, they will then seek to enter into delivery with the remaining funding (up to the £48m). The scope is undetermined at the present time, and it is noted that the bid was written in 2022 with cost estimates for that time. The development work will therefore determine what scope will be achievable with the available funding.

The Combined Authority will continue to work with Kirklees council and key stakeholders to help bring much needed improvements to the line and stations, including Honley to make them meet the needs of the local community and visitors.

Cross-boundary services are not covered by the franchising scheme (as it only applies to West Yorkshire). They will instead operate under a 'service permit regime'. This means that operators will have to apply for a permit to run them. We are consulting with operators to make sure that this process is as easy as possible.

We recognise the strategic importance of cross–boundary services to facilitate travel beyond West Yorkshire, particularly to places of employment, leisure and education. Having in place an effective approach to managing these cross-boundary services, both now and in the future, will be important to maintaining these important social and economic links.

We will work with First to ensure that services are not cancelled, and where they may need to do so, that they are formally cancelled so passengers are aware on the real time departure displays.

Cross-boundary services are not covered by the franchising scheme (as it only applies to West Yorkshire). They will instead operate under a 'service permit regime'. This means that operators will have to apply for a permit to run them. We are consulting with operators to make sure that this process is as easy as possible.

We recognise the strategic importance of cross–boundary services to facilitate travel beyond West Yorkshire, particularly to places of employment, leisure and education. Having in place an effective approach to managing these cross-boundary services, both now and in the future, will be important to maintaining these important social and economic links.