Leeds

First Spends Millions on New Buses in Leeds

First spends millions on buses in Leeds and plans enhanced routes across the city.

A major overhaul of the First bus network in Leeds will come into effect next month as the regions biggest bus operator looks to invest millions of pounds in new buses in the city.

Bus passengers are expected to benefit from enhanced services on key routes, notably services to and from St Jamess Hospital, as an estimated £10.5m will be spent on new buses in Leeds in the next few months.

A raft of service changes will come into effect on Sunday February 1st after First commissioned a team of independent transport consultants to look at ways of improving services, particularly those that dont serve the city centre (known as orbital services).

The consultants have come up with changes to the Leeds bus network which include:

· Extra buses will be placed on Service 91 which links West and North Leeds to St Jamess Hospital.
· Service 86 (Bramley to Hunslet) will be rerouted to take in St Jamess Hospital and will operate a 20-minute service.
· Enhancements to Service 61 which links Leeds General Infirmary with St James Hospital and will provide an hourly service between Bramley, Armley, Holbeck, Beeston and Hunslet to Cross Green.
· Services 8 (Leeds Ring Road-Seacroft Bus Station) and 38 (White Rose Centre to Gledhow) will cease to be run commercially by First with Metro looking to tender these services.

A full list of service changes can be found online at www.firstgroup.com/leeds.

Investment by First in Leeds includes:

· An order worth £7.4m has been placed for 41 double-deckers and 4 single deckers to be used on the East Leeds Guideway Service 56 (Whinmoor-Moor Grange), and Service 96 (Leeds-Cookridge via Headingley).
· Some of these buses will also be used on Service X84 (Leeds-Skipton via Otley and Ilkley) and will have the latest in leather seating for customer comfort.
· A further 23 single deckers worth £3.1m will be ordered through 2009 and placed on other routes in Leeds.

This latest investment by First follows on from an investment in £3m in 22 new buses for Scott Hall Road in Leeds at the end of 2008 as well as the £10m opening of a new bus HQ in Hunslet and brings Firsts investment in Leeds to £24m in 12 months.

Managing Director Dave Alexander said: "This is an exciting time for the bus industry as we try to encourage people to make more use of the bus.

We have reviewed our network to ensure we can provide more buses and more frequent journey times in areas where people are using our services. We are particularly delighted to offer a better service to passengers who are looking to use our buses to travel to and from St Jamess Hospital.

We are proud to have made this significant financial contribution to bus services in Leeds, particularly at a time when businesses are facing severe financial pressures. For a full list of service changes bus passengers are advised to visit the First website www.firstgroup.com/leeds or go to their nearest First travelshop.'