BELEAGUERED passengers on the Wharfedale line have given a tepid response to a new timetable, which will replace some services with buses.

Hardest hit by the new timetable - which came into effect on Tuesday - will be passengers returning home each way between Bradford and Ilkley.

The 6.42pm, 7.19pm, 8.24pm and 9.57pm services from Forster Square have all been replaced by buses.

In the other direction the 7.22pm and 9.14pm are replaced by buses. But there is no substitute for the cancelled 7.53pm train.

Mike Harris, of Hall Close, in Burley-in-Wharfedale, who commutes between his home and Bradford daily, said he hoped the normal service would resume as quickly as

possible.

Mr Harris, a member of Wharfedale Rail Users Group, said: "It is slower and it is less desirable. I will make the effort to go for the earlier train.

"The sooner they get some drivers in and get back to the normal service the better."

Fernando Solano who also regularly commutes to Bradford from Ben Rhydding, said he had much less confidence in the replacement buses.

Mr Solano, 34, of Strathmore Road, Ben Rhydding, said: "It is not the same. The last time I caught a replacement bus it just left me at Leeds Road and did not approach the

station and left people in Main Street, in Burley. I am not convinced about this at all."

A number of trains will also be replaced between Ilkley and Leeds.

Businesses in the town fear they may be hit by the cancellations on Saturdays.

Dee Hartley, who owns the Station News Shop, in the Station Plaza shopping centre, said she feared there would be much less passing trade.

She said: "The whole of Ilkley is suffering. We do not get the same number of visitors as we used to.

"It has happened before when the trains have been disrupted, it does affect the business."

Arriva, which operates trains on the Wharfedale line, said it was looking to have all services running properly by May - and that a compensation package was being

discussed.

A spokeswoman said: "We anticipate that our services will be fully restored, in line with the Leeds First Project, by May."

But Councillor John Prestage, chairman of Bradford Passenger Consultative Committee, said he wanted to see normal service installed by February.

He said: "A lot of people trying to get home will be affected and the company must get things back to normal by February.

"I have heard of some problems with replacement buses in Leeds and it is absolutely essential that there should be no confusion.

"If I hear of one other train being cancelled which is not in the list of revisions I shall take it up immediately. A lot of people will be watching this."

He also called on the company - which has been fined £2 million by the Strategic Rail Authority - for failing passengers between May and September to come up with a package as soon as possible to compensate passengers.

Derrick Joanes, secretary of Wharfedale Rail Users Group, said: "There is no doubt the services between Ilkley and Bradford are worst hit.

"It is certainly going to affect a lot of people's journey home and in one instance there is a gap of an hour and a half between services. We all hope that February will be the maximum length of time and that the revisions are not extended further."

He said he hoped the revised services would be reliable and that at least people knew where they stood.

The company, which was also fined £8 million by the SRA in March for its poor services blames a shortage of drivers for the crisis. But it says it has recruited 170 drivers since the beginning of the year and a further 150 are set to start training.