THERE has been yet more chaos on Bradford's buses this evening - for the second day in a row.
First West Yorkshire announced on X at 5.44pm today that there are heavy delays across its entire Bradford network.
The bus operating company said the services are running up to an hour late and that routes through Thornton Road are the "worst affected".
⚠️SERVICE ALERT - BRADFORD⚠️
— First West Yorks (@FirstWestYorks) May 1, 2024
🕕 Heavy delays of up to 60 minutes across our Bradford network.
🔴 Thornton Road services are worst affected.
During rush hour yesterday, buses on the Bradford network were disrupted and delayed by up to 70 minutes.
The 640 and 641 services were experiencing problems specifically due to temporary traffic lights on Little Horton Lane and were running 50 minutes later than usual.
It comes as the city centre is in the midst of a huge transformation to become more pedestrianised, and a new bus route for it has been launched.
Readers and members of the public heavily criticised the situation on Tuesday and revealed their own tales of woe on the buses.
Roger Stanley said: "It took 90 minutes to travel one and a half miles from Stop S at the cathedral to Great Horton tonight.
"The first 614 came into Bradford as out of service with passengers onboard, it stopped at Nelson St car park and told everyone to get off.
"The second 614 went straight past the bus stop leaving everyone waiting.
"Lastly I caught a 613 but had to stand in the middle of the road to stop the bus."
Mandy Crabtree Mcshera-Emsley declared she will be "shopping elsewhere from now" after her experience.
She said on Facebook: "Went in last week and I will never go again, I was waiting 45 minutes for a bus, nobody seems to know where to go for a bus, it was a lovely place to shop five years ago but now it's gone, it's a scary place to go."
Makdas Rehman said on the same platform: "My daughter arrived over an hour late because of bus delays.
"This is not good enough and putting young people who use public transport at risk."
Meanwhile, Emma Lamb said on social media: "I had to walk miles for the 616 even though there were three bus stops I could have used! Absolute joke."
But one person came out to say it is a long-standing issue rather than being brought about by the works.
Liberty Nicos Rogers said: "But it’s always been like that. That’s why even people can’t afford to drive but they have no choice because buses are not reliable most of the time."
The city centre changes - which were introduced on Sunday, April 14 - caused mass confusion with many labelling the system an "absolute shambles", when the Telegraph & Argus spoke to bus users.
Another regular user of public transport said pedestrianisation could "kill" Bradford city centre, after his own troubles with the services.
One T&A commenter disagreed with that assessment yesterday though.
Donna Carson said: "Cobblers I'm afraid. It's cars that kill city centres.
"In Germany and Poland, city centres are thriving. In the UK, where you shop on a narrow pavement with a queue of cars beside you, they are dying."
Project bosses said in their latest update that the "city centre core works are progressing well."
A West Yorkshire Combined Authority spokesperson said last week: “We recognise that city centre construction works, alongside the closure of the Interchange bus station, are challenging for people in Bradford.
“This is a big change to the city’s bus network — we’re working closely with our partners to minimise disruption wherever possible and will continue to respond to feedback.
“We have this week carried out a follow-up accessibility assessment with disability access groups and Bradford Council and will continue to work with them and look to implement recommendations as soon as possible.”
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