On Trains & Buses

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West Yorkshire Bus Services Face Route and Timetable Changes in Late October 2025

Posted on November 4, 2025

Reading time: 6 minutes.

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Introduction

West Yorkshire’s bus network is set for a new round of timetable and route adjustments at the end of October 2025. Most of the changes take effect from Sunday 26 October, with a smaller number following on Monday 27 October. The revisions span Leeds, Wakefield, Kirklees and Calderdale, touching everything from the frequency of evening journeys to the shape of daytime routes.

Leeds Services

One of the more substantial updates concerns the link between Wakefield, Leeds and Holt Park. Operated by Yorkshire Buses, service 1 and the associated 1A route will be reworked from Monday 27 October. The timetable will be pared back to two journeys in each direction, marking a significant reduction in service. Alongside that, service 1A will be withdrawn altogether. As part of the same package there will no longer be journeys running between Holt Park and Leeds, and the routeings that had taken buses via Pinderfields Hospital will cease.

Service 15 between the city centre, Armley, Gamble Hill and Old Farnley will see its route through Gamble Hill altered by First from Sunday 26 October. Due to access issues, all journeys will operate clockwise around the Gamble Hill loop. There is no change to the published timetable, which is expected to run as at present.

Evening travel options will alter on the corridor serving St James’s Hospital, East End Park, Hunslet Shopping Centre and the John Charles Centre. The 61, 61A and 61E, operated by Yorkshire Buses, change from Monday 27 October with the withdrawal of evening journeys after 1900 that had been branded as 61E. Those late trips were introduced commercially on a trial basis in January 2025 and will now come to an end. Daytime journeys on the 61 and 61A will continue to run until around 1900 as they do now.

Service 81 between Leeds, Armley and Pudsey, operated by Squarepeg, will have some journeys retimed by around five minutes from Sunday 26 October.

Squarepeg will launch service 253 from Sunday 26 October, running hourly between Leeds and Heckmondwike via Birkenshaw and Gomersal. The service is set to operate between approximately 0700 and 1800 on weekdays.

Wakefield Corridors

The 116 runs between Wakefield, Horbury, Ossett, Gawthorpe, Shaw Cross, the White Rose Centre and Leeds under the operation of Yorkshire Buses. From Sunday 26 October buses will be rerouted in Shaw Cross to run via Windsor Road and Chidswell Lane. Along with the diversion, some journeys will be retimed by up to five minutes.

Arriva’s service 126 via Horbury, Ossett and Chickenley will also see its timings refreshed. From Sunday 26 October some journeys will shift by around five minutes.

Arriva’s 189 between Wakefield, Normanton and Castleford will see a more positive movement. From Sunday 26 October, weekdays will gain two additional early evening journeys, namely an 1805 from Castleford to Wakefield and an 1843 from Wakefield to Castleford. These will sit alongside a broader retiming of many journeys by around five minutes.

Leeds to Castleford

Arriva’s service 168 between Leeds, Woodlesford, Swillington, Allerton Bywater and Castleford will have many journeys retimed by around five to ten minutes from Sunday 26 October.

Dewsbury and Bradford

Arriva’s service 283 to Bradford via Batley and Birstall will have a notable early morning adjustment. From Sunday 26 October, the first morning journey from Dewsbury to Bradford on weekdays and Saturdays will run 30 minutes later than at present. Other early morning journeys towards Bradford will also be significantly revised.

Huddersfield Network

First’s service 328, linking Balmoral Avenue, Huddersfield and Bradley, will gain additional early morning and late evening journeys from Sunday 26 October. Alongside these additions, many journeys will be retimed by five to ten minutes and some will be significantly retimed.

The 343, operated by Team Pennine under Transdev and running between Huddersfield, Ainley Top, Elland, Greetland, West Vale and Halifax, will have some journeys retimed up to 20 minutes later from Sunday 26 October.

Services 370 and 371, also operated by First and covering Rawthorpe or Dalton to New College or Lindley, will see early morning and late evening timetables significantly revised from Sunday 26 October and some additional journeys introduced. There will also be changes in how evening movements are branded, with some evening 370 journeys replaced by 371 journeys. In addition, certain trips will be split at Huddersfield Bus Station. Many journeys across the day will be retimed by around five to fifteen minutes.

Calderdale Radials

Team Pennine’s service 524 between Halifax, Ovenden and Mixenden will have most journeys retimed three minutes later from Sunday 26 October.

Service 534 from Halifax to Northowram via Shibden Dale will be retimed on some journeys by around five to fifteen minutes from the same date.

The 563 and 563A between Halifax, Copley, West Vale, Elland, Rastrick and Brighouse will have some journeys retimed by around five to ten minutes.

Service 574 from Halifax via Sowerby Bridge, Luddendenfoot and Booth will also see some journeys retimed by around five to ten minutes.

First’s 576 between Halifax, Queensbury and Bradford will have many journeys moving by around five to ten minutes.

Team Pennine’s 577, which serves Halifax, Savile Park, Sowerby Bridge, Sowerby and Boulderclough, will see the outbound route from Sowerby Bridge to Sowerby change to operate via Sowerby New Road from Sunday 26 October. The inbound route from Sowerby to Sowerby Bridge will continue to run via Pollit Avenue, Bates Avenue, St Peter’s Avenue and Fore Lane, and the timetable will remain unchanged.

Team Pennine’s inter-urban 587 between Halifax, Sowerby Bridge, Ripponden, Littleborough and Rochdale will have some journeys retimed by around five to fifteen minutes from Sunday 26 October.

Seasonal Changes

From Sunday 26 October, Winter DalesBus services commence. This marks the transition to the winter programme for services that reach into the Yorkshire Dales on Sundays and bank holidays.

Closing Remarks

The late October changes blend several types of adjustment. A handful of services see additions at the edges of the day, such as the new early evening trips on the 189 and the extra morning and late evening journeys on Huddersfield’s 328. There are reductions too, most notably the withdrawal of the 61E evening journeys and the scaling back of the 1 and 1A corridor that also removes direct links through Holt Park and Pinderfields Hospital. Much of the rest comprises retimings in the five to ten minute range, occasionally rising to fifteen or even twenty minutes. A small number of routes adopt different alignments to respond to access issues or to recalibrate the streets served while maintaining coverage of key destinations.