Buses every ten miuntes

In the first scheme of its kind in England, bus chiefs today launched a 'revolutionary' shake-up of 36 routes across the district in a bid to offer a quicker, cleaner and more efficient service.

The new First Bradford network - dubbed 'The Overground' because it is modelled on the London Underground route plan - will also see an extra £10m spent on new buses.

The prestigious super-buses - including 'bendy' buses - will run between Bradford city centre and outlying areas, including Thorpe Edge, Allerton, Holme Wood and Buttershaw.

The First Bradford services will run at ten-minute intervals between 7am and 6pm, Monday to Friday and between 10am and 4pm on Saturdays.

The shake-up in First Bradford services is the biggest public transport re-organisation in the district since privatisation in the early 1980s.

But the company has been attacked for its lack of public consultation over the radical changes which come into effect on July 23.

There have also been protests about the withdrawal of the direct Bradford to Ilkley service and circular route taking in Thorpe and Ravenscliffe.

It has also been described as "coldly commercial" because improvements target areas where bus usage is highest.

Today Bradford councillor John Prestage, chairman of the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Consultative Committee, said: "It is a very big investment. It is a very good idea and I hope it can work.

"But we have to make sure services are protected. There are going to be winners and losers."

The company has drawn up an easy to understand map of six main colour-coded routes like the Underground - on top of a shake-up of other routes throughout the district.

It will be displayed on buses and timetables to let passengers see the simple network at a glance.

The First Bus group launched its first Overground system in Glasgow about a year ago, and the Bradford system which follows will be carefully monitored with an eye to extending it elsewhere.

Managing Director Andy Campbell said: "We believe it is good news for the future of Bradford's bus passengers."

He said some services had been changed or withdrawn, but overall there were better services for the vast majority of travellers.

"We have done surveys on the buses for the past two years and we will be providing the services the majority of people want. This is a massive investment and comes on top of the £19 million we have spent on new vehicles over the past three years.

"Once the news gets out about the Overground I am sure many people are going to want to use it, including those who are now using cars."

Bradford Council's Executive Committee member for environment, including transport, Councillor Anne Hawkesworth said: "They are making improvements on very well used routes which are going to make a lot of money for them. It is a highly commercial plan, although it is a lot of investment in Bradford.

"But in Ilkley they are abandoning residents to the trains when people live miles away from the railway station. I think there should be shuttle buses."

Labour shadow transport spokesman Councillor Latif Darr - himself a First Bradford bus driver - said: "It is going to take ages for people to get used to this.

"This has been done simply on a calculated commercial basis and I believe there will be more losers than winners. In some cases where they are said to be every ten minutes in the new system they are actually less than that at present."

Councillor Ann Ozolins (Lib Dem, Idle) said she was disgusted about the loss of services in Idle, Thorpe Edge and Ravenscliffe. "There has been absolutely no consultation about it. The tenants and residents are very fed up about it."

First Bradford will attend a meeting of the passenger consultative committee meeting at City Hall at 2pm tomorrow (Friday) to speak about the changes. Members of the public can attend but are not allowed to speak.

Protesters about the withdrawal of services in the Idle area have organised a public meeting at Eccleshill Upper School at 7pm on July 12.