First West Yorkshire

First West Yorkshire is the trading name of the four First bus companies serving the area of West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America. The company operates within the area covered by Metro, a public body responsible for helping to co-ordinate public transport services in the West Yorkshire area.

First West Yorkshire is a merger of the four separate First companies that have been operating in West Yorkshire. The company was made up of: ¹Companies run as First Calderdale and Huddersfield from 2003 to 2009.
 * First Bradford
 * First Calderdale¹
 * First Huddersfield¹
 * First Leeds

History
Following bus deregulation in 1986, MetroBus's (the West Yorkshire PTE) fleet was renamed Yorkshire Rider Ltd. The livery changed from verona green and buttermilk to a bright green and cream livery and a new logo with was a stylised "YR" logo, plus the name "Yorkshire Rider", with an area on the logo that incorporated the town in which the garage for that bus was located. In October 1988 Yorkshire Rider was bought by its management for £23 million.

Yorkshire Rider was then bought by Badgerline, a Bristol-based bus company, in 1994. Following the merger of Badgerline with GRT Ltd to form First Bus in 1995, its services were rebranded
 * Leeds City Link -covering the Leeds area with depots in Hunslet, Bramley and Cherry Row Depot
 * Calderline -covering Halifax and Calderdale with garages in Halifax and Todmorden
 * Kingfisher Huddersfield -covering Kirklees with a depot at Old Fieldhouse Lane
 * Bradford Traveller -covering Bradford with a depot at Bowling Back Lane
 * Bradford Traveller -covering Bradford with a depot at Bowling Back Lane

These names were changed again in 1997 to adopt the First Group name, with the companies renamed First Bradford, First Calderline, First Huddersfield and First Leeds and the companies would adopt the First Group standard livery at the turn of the 21st Century.

During the first few years of the 2000s, several First companies were merged. First Quickstep were based at the same Kirkstall Road depot as First Leeds but was a separate organization running several services around the Leeds area until it was merged into First Leeds' operation, while First Calderdale and First Huddersfield merged in 2003 to form First Calderdale and Huddersfield.

In July 2005, First Leeds took over Morley-based Black Prince Buses, a large independent company that was once a rival to Yorkshire Rider and First in the Leeds area. The Morley depot was closed down, the majority of the fleet was sold and services were either incorporated into First Leeds' operation or withdrawn.

On 18 May 2008 First Leeds' Kirkstall Road depot was closed after 111 years of public use and operations moved to a new complex in Hunslet. The site will be redeveloped as part of Leeds City Council's Kirkstall Road Renaissance Area project.

During 2009, the operations of the three First companies in West Yorkshire plus First York came under the control of one body, with Dave Alexander appointed as Mangaing Director of First Yorkshire West and North

Depots
First West Yorkshire runs services from the following locations:
 * Bradford (Bowling Back Lane)
 * Halifax (Skircoat Road)
 * Huddersfield (Old Fieldhouse Lane)
 * Leeds (Henconner Lane, Bramley)
 * Leeds (Donisthorpe Street, Hunslet)
 * Todmorden (Miilwood, Halifax Road)

Services
First West Yorkshire operate the majority of the services in the Bradford, Calderdale, Huddersfield and Leeds areas, consisting of local services serving different areas of towns and cities of Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds and Todmorden, and town-to-town services. The companies also runs services in North Yorkshire (X84), Lancashire (517, 589 and 592) and Greater Manchester (589 and 590). The 184, which operates from Huddersfield to Manchester, was previously a joint operation with First West Yorkshire and First Greater Manchester, however the service is now wholly operated by First Greater Manchester.

Overground
In the last few years, First has introduced Overground services on services with a frequent daytime service. The Overground is now a prominent fixture on all First bus companies in the UK and is based on the London Underground network with each service having its own colour line. The towns and cities of Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield and Leeds each have their own Overground routes, with some services overlapping to another area's Overground map, such as the 184 (Purple Line in Huddersfield and Greater Manchester), 363/X63 (Brown Line in Bradford and Huddersfield), the 503 (Orange Line in Halifax and Huddersfield) and the 576 (Lime Green Line in Halifax and Bradford).

ftr
On 3 January 2007, a new concept of public transport was introduced to Leeds, the ftr, on the Olive Line 4 service from Whinmoor to Pudsey.

It is the second scheme to be introduced by First Group after the first scheme in York. However the scheme in York has faced many troubles like underpowering of the engine and ticket machine problems. However the engine problems have been rectified and "Customer Service Hosts" have been employed who will issue tickets to passengers. Also unlike York where the 4 service was converted to ftr vehicle operation within a day. First decided to drip feed the ftr vehicles onto the service so passengers could get used to it and also minimise all other troubles that occurred in York.

The ftr are based on Wright StreetCar body which is on a Volvo B7LA chassis, but the chassis on the StreetCars are different from the conventional B7LA, with no "closet" at the rear of vehicle. The livery is designed by Ray Stenning's Best Impressions design agency.

FreeCityBus and LeedsCityBus
and First West Yorkshire run the FreeCityBus service in the city of Bradford and the LeedsCityBus service in Leeds, providing links between the bus and rail stations, shops and universities.

Late Night Buses
First Leeds operated two night bus services every Friday and Saturday night, the 921 and 928 until those services were withdrawn in April 2009. First also run night buses along daytime bus routes 56 and 95. Unilink Route 95 runs Monday to Saturday Nights and Route 56 (Turquoise Line) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday Nights.

HolmfirthCONNECTION
From 29 October 2006, buses running between Huddersfield and Holmfirth were re-branded as part of the HolmfirthCONNECTION. This was a service that was run in partnership with First Calderdale & Huddersfield and Transpennine Express. It was designed to provide a direct bus to train link for passengers travelling from the Holme Valley on the bus to Huddersfield railway station to connect with trains to Leeds, Dewsbury and Manchester on Transpennine Express services.

Buses 309-316 had their timetables changed and their terminus in Huddersfield moved from the bus station (buses still serve the bus station on journeys towards Holmfirth) to the railway station. The timetable changed to co-ordinate with the trains and included the introduction of a couple of late night journeys between Huddersfield and Holmfirth running after midnight. These service are currently the 314 and X10.

Passengers are able to buy tickets on the bus as normal when travelling between the Holme Valley and Huddersfield but were also able to buy tickets on the bus for their train journey as well. The tickets can be bought to be used on the day or for a week. The weekly ticket provides unlimited travel for that week on First buses in the Calderdale and Kirklees areas and on the trains from Huddersfield to Leeds, Dewsbury or Manchester.

The offer is an attractive one for people living in the Holme Valley as Holmfirth doesn't have a railway station anymore and their connections to the trains at Huddersfield railway station is made easier as passengers are able to walk off the bus, into the station and onto the train without having to queue up for another ticket.

This offer is that train travel is restricted to Transpennine Express services and is not valid on any Northern Rail train running along the same routes. The other is that the offer is only available for passengers travelling from the Holme Valley and is not available for people starting their journey on Transpennine Express services from Dewsbury, Leeds or Manchester.

In December 2007, First made several changes to its HolmfirthCONNECTION services, withdrawing the 309, 310 and 311 services, extending the daytime 312 service and the 314 service to Holme, extending the 316 service to Parkhead and re-routing the 313 service via Thongsbridge to Holmfirth before continuing to Hepworth. Three express services were introduced, the X10 from Holme to Huddersfield, plus 1 journey each on the X13 from Hepworth to Huddersfield and the X16 from Parkhead to Huddersfield.

The changes were originally proposed for October 2007 but was delayed following complaints from local residents who were unhappy with some of the changes, especially the 313 service as Jackson Bridge would be left unserved by First. This led to a protest outside Holmfirth bus station. Following consulation with First and Metro, First agreed to provide some buses to run via Jackson Bridge and introduce some peak time express journeys. Also as some compensation, First offered free travel to all passengers of services 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, X10, X13 and X16 on its first weekday service, on 10 December 2007.

HolmfirthCONNECTION services underwent changes again in July 2008, with the Monday-Saturday daytime service on service 312 and all journeys on service 315 withdrawn and replaced by new service 308. More changes took place in April 2009, with the 308 terminating at Holmfirth instead of Parkhead, the 314 re-routed between Holmfirth and Holme, the 316 serving Parkhead instead of Holme and the X10 and X16 services replaced by a new X11 service, while in July 2009, all 313A journeys were re-numbered 313.

The current services that form the HolmfirthCONNECTION are:

MelthamCONNECTION
From 27 July 2008, buses running between Huddersfield, Netherton, Marten Nest and Meltham are to be re-branded as part of the MelthamCONNECTION. It is based on the HolmfirthCONNECTION services that was introduced in 2006 to services running between the Holme Valley and Huddersfield. It is designed to provide a direct bus to train link for passengers travelling from Meltham, Marten Nest and Netherton on the bus to Huddersfield railway station to connect with trains to Leeds, Dewsbury and Manchester on Transpennine Express services. Buses 321, 323 and 324 will have their timetables changed but unlike the HolmfirthCONNECTION, their terminus in Huddersfield will stay at the bus station and not serve the railway station in Huddersfield. Passengers are able to buy tickets on the bus as normal when travelling to Huddersfield but were also able to buy tickets on the bus for their train journey as well. The tickets can be bought to be used on the day or for a week. The weekly ticket provides unlimited travel for that week on First buses in the Calderdale and Kirklees areas and on the trains from Huddersfield to Leeds, Dewsbury or Manchester.

The offer is an attractive one for people living in the Meltham and Netherton areas as they don't have a railway station and their connections to the trains at Huddersfield railway station is made easier as passengers are able to walk off the bus, into the rail station and onto the train without having to queue up for another ticket.

The services that will form the MelthamCONNECTION are:

Fleet
The First West Yorkshire fleet, as of November 2012, is as follows:

Hunslet Park Depot:
 * Volvo B7LA Wright Eclipse Fusion
 * Volvo B9TL Wright Gemini 2
 * Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini
 * Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini
 * Volvo B5LH Wright Gemini 2 (Hybrid)
 * Optare Solo
 * Scania L94UB Wright Axcess-Floline
 * Scania L113CRL Wright Axcess-Ultralow

Bramley Depot:
 * Volvo B7LA Wright StreetCar
 * Volvo B7TL Alexander Dennis ALX400
 * Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini
 * Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini
 * Volvo B6BLE Wright Crusader
 * Scania L94UB Wright Axcess-Floline
 * Scania L113CRL Wright Axcess-Ultralow
 * Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban

Bradford Depot:
 * Volvo Olympian Alexander Royale
 * Volvo B7TL Alexander Dennis ALX400
 * Volvo Olympian Alexander RH
 * Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini
 * Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini
 * Optare Solo
 * Volvo B10BLE Wright Renown
 * Volvo B7L Wright Eclipse Urban
 * Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban

Halifax Depot:
 * Volvo Olympian Alexander Royale
 * Volvo B7TL Alexander Dennis ALX400
 * Volvo Olympian Alexander RH
 * Volvo Olympian Northern Counties Palatine
 * Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini
 * Dennis Dart Marshall Capital
 * Volvo B10BLE Wright Renown
 * Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban

Huddersfield Depot:
 * Volvo Olympian Alexander Royale
 * Volvo Olympian Northern Counties Palatine
 * Volvo B7TL Alexander Dennis ALX400
 * Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini
 * Dennis Dart Plaxton Pointer
 * Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban
 * Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban II

First Card
First Card was a cashless way of paying for fares within the Bradford area. Similar to the Oyster Card scheme in London, you could store cash to pay for your fare, an annual pass available in daily, weekly, monthly and yearly subscriptions or a combination of both.

The scheme operated from 2000 until 2 March 2012, when it was withdrawn in anticipation of a new ITSO compliant smart card usable across all FirstGroup UK public transport companies.

Bradford Guided Busway
Bradford's Manchester Road Quality Bus Initiative is a £12m ground breaking project developed and funded by a public & private sector partnership consisting of Bradford Council, Metro -with the benefit of Department for Transport Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) funding through the local Transport Plan and First who also invested £1m in the scheme's infrastructure.

Extending along 2.3 miles of one of the City's main arteries the initiative aims to deliver significant improvements to Public Transport in the South Bradford area and ease congestion on the City's main southern approach. The initiative includes 1.4 miles of guided busway & 1,320 yards of dedicated bus lanes.

The work to create the guiedway took over a year to complete The combination of bus-only guideways, dedicated bus lanes, modern bus stops and shelters, and a fleet of modern, low floor buses specially adapted to run in the guideways, will mean passengers can enjoy more reliable services, improved surroundings, better ride quality and quicker journey times.

The Manchester Road scheme consists of a combination of Guided Busways and Bus Lanes together with pedestrian and cycling facilities. The inbound section of Bus Lane run from Croft Street to Bowling Old Lane and Mayo Avenue to Odsal Top and the outbound guideway runs from Bowling Old Lane to Mayo Avenue. The points where buses leave these facilities to enter into the general traffic on the approach to junctions are controlled by traffic signals.

Measures improving bus stops, shelters, lighting and information about bus services are part of the development. First are committed to providing modern buses on the corridor, which will give them priority to bypass congestion and minimise delays often experienced at junctions.