From 1st July 2019 the following bus services run by North Yorkshire County Council will be amended to operate via Raikes Road in Skipton:
Service 72 to Grassington (daily), operated by Keighley Bus Company, will continue to run via Grassington Road. Services 75 (Saturdays) and 873/884 (Sundays) to Malham will continue to run via Gargrave Road. The 280 bus service between Preston, Clitheroe and Skipton was under threat as the current operator, Rotala Preston Bus advised it could no longer provide the service commercially after 16 June 2019.
However, Lancashire County Council and Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire have been working together to ensure the service continues. This followed a tendering exercise with other bus operators to establish the best value solution. Stagecoach will take over operation of service 280 from Monday 17th June 2019, meaning there will be no gap in service. There will be some minor timetable amendments, but the service will continue to operate Monday to Saturday daytime every hour between Preston and Clitheroe extending through to Skipton every two hours as with the current service. The route will be changed between Barnoldswick and Skipton to additionally serve Earby, and the times of buses through to Skipton will now be similar on Saturdays to the times on Mondays to Fridays. Lancashire County Council will initially provide more than £80,000 per year to subsidise the route, with Ribble Valley Borough Council and Pendle Borough Council being asked to provide a contribution to help facilitate the first year's operation. The new timetable can be downloaded here (PDF file). 2018 marks the 140th anniversary of the opening of the 6 mile branch railway between Garsdale (on the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle line) and Hawes. This was a momentous year in which the 40 mile Wensleydale railway between Northallerton and Garsdale was completed.
A meeting has been arranged to consider the formation of a steering group to consider the feasibility of re-opening the branch line between Garsdale and Hawes. The meeting will be held at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes on Saturday 11th August 2018 at 3.00pm. If you are interested in attending this meeting – or can offer practical support or suggestions based on experience – please contact Ruth Annison by post to Dyke House, Askrigg, Leyburn DL8 3HG or telephone 01969 650349. Contracts for North Yorkshire County Council subsidised local bus services in the Hambleton, Harrogate and Richmondshire areas are due for renewal in April 2019.
As part of this renewal process, the Council is seeking comments on these services, so that they can be better informed when preparing tenders for new contracts. Click here for a list of the bus services that are to be considered for renewal and details of how to provide comments. Comments should be received by no later than Friday 13th July 2018 Little White Bus service RR3, which provides the late afternoon journeys between Leyburn and Bedale on Mondays to Fridays, will be withdrawn after operation on Friday 29th June 2018.
NYCC service 155 (Monday to Friday) and Acorn Wensleydale Flyer service 856 (Sundays and Bank Holidays) will continue unchanged. ITV, with presenters Julia Bradbury and Ore Oduba, are celebrating Britain’s Favourite Walks: Top 100 with a 2.5 hour programme on January 30th starting at 7.30pm.
Seven of the walks on the programme are within the Yorkshire Dales/Forest of Bowland area - and all are accessible by public transport. Click here for details. |