When The Night Wind Howls
(Part One of Two)
16 January 2022
ABOVE: Flyer service at Leeds Bradford Airport, 8th January 2022
The wind is blowing fiercely against my hotel window, and the effect is as though there is an owl in the room, hooting at me to get up and ready for another day on the buses.
It's Day Two (Saturday) of my weekend at the Gilbert & Sullivan New Year Festival in Harrogate. There is nothing better than live music, and I'm feeling really invigorated after the previous evening's concert. I have another concert to look forward to this evening, but in the meantime, I have the whole day to explore the region by bus. (Read about my first day's travels here.)
My plan today involves extensive travel on Transdev's network. I have found a very colourful and easy-on-the-eye map of the network online and am setting out today to see what there is to discover. As I start out for the bus station, it's drizzly, breezy, cold and and still dark. And to think I'm doing this for pleasure!
I'm starting on the 'Flyer' network that provides services to Leeds Bradford Airport. But I can't find the timetable on the Harrogate Bus Company website, even though it's on their map.
The secret is to scroll down to the bottom of the page, where all of the various Transdev companies in the region are listed.
But which link do I need? There are nine listed. Keighley Bus Company? York and Country? No, I've spotted that one of them is called "Flyer", and this takes me to the timetables. But perhaps the A2 Flyer timetable should also be on the Harrogate page?
I'm taking the 0800 service on Flyer route A2 down to Bradford via the Airport. The bus, a smart, yellow Optare Versa, is waiting on the stand at Harrogate Bus Station.
I am planning to use the Cityzap Leeds to York service later in the day. Transdev's standard £10 Daytripper ticket, which I consider to be really good value, doesn't cover that service. I need the £17.50 'Daytripper plus', but unfortunately the driver has never heard of it and can't find it on his machine.
It's Day Two (Saturday) of my weekend at the Gilbert & Sullivan New Year Festival in Harrogate. There is nothing better than live music, and I'm feeling really invigorated after the previous evening's concert. I have another concert to look forward to this evening, but in the meantime, I have the whole day to explore the region by bus. (Read about my first day's travels here.)
My plan today involves extensive travel on Transdev's network. I have found a very colourful and easy-on-the-eye map of the network online and am setting out today to see what there is to discover. As I start out for the bus station, it's drizzly, breezy, cold and and still dark. And to think I'm doing this for pleasure!
I'm starting on the 'Flyer' network that provides services to Leeds Bradford Airport. But I can't find the timetable on the Harrogate Bus Company website, even though it's on their map.
The secret is to scroll down to the bottom of the page, where all of the various Transdev companies in the region are listed.
But which link do I need? There are nine listed. Keighley Bus Company? York and Country? No, I've spotted that one of them is called "Flyer", and this takes me to the timetables. But perhaps the A2 Flyer timetable should also be on the Harrogate page?
I'm taking the 0800 service on Flyer route A2 down to Bradford via the Airport. The bus, a smart, yellow Optare Versa, is waiting on the stand at Harrogate Bus Station.
I am planning to use the Cityzap Leeds to York service later in the day. Transdev's standard £10 Daytripper ticket, which I consider to be really good value, doesn't cover that service. I need the £17.50 'Daytripper plus', but unfortunately the driver has never heard of it and can't find it on his machine.
I have been here before, but is it any wonder if the driver is confused? There are 40 different ticket types listed on the Flyer website ticket page - is some rationalisation needed?
I end up asking for a single to Bradford. But the driver then offers me a ticket that he says will also bring me back later in the day. It's called a FLYER 1 and costs just £5.00. As we shall see, it turns out to be a very good value ticket, even though it significantly changes my plans for the day.
I hadn't appreciated that dawn this far north comes a fair way south of 8am, so it's still dark as the driver and two passengers set out for Bradford. We're a couple of minutes late because some awkward idiot has been trying to buy a ticket that the driver has never heard of, but we will soon make up the lost time...
It's still raining, and it's still dark, so the first part of the journey isn't a great voyage of discovery. Despite this, I am still thrilled to be motoring along an unknown stretch of country road, miles from home, at a silly early hour of the morning.
We pass through the village of Weeton, just over halfway to the Airport. There is snow on the ground and fog forming in the air. Fortunately the former is fading fast and the latter doesn't hang around.
Just after the Airport, we pass a very inviting Fish & Chip restaurant on the outskirts of Yeadon. It's called "Murgatroyd's" and, if it had been a few hours later, I might well have broken my journey and given it a try. Another time perhaps...
We're soon into Bradford and I take a short break to consider my next move. I want to go to Leeds and had originally been planning to catch one of the First West Yorkshire routes (X6 or 72), even though it would have meant paying a separate fare.
However, now being the proud holder of a FLYER 1 ticket, I have decided to try the other two Flyer routes instead to get me to Leeds - the A3 to the Airport and the A1 from there.
The A3 is due out at 1000. Most of the stops at Bradford Interchange have letters (A-Z), but there are also five numbered stands, and my bus is going from stand 2. So where are the numbered stands in relation to the lettered ones? It's 0955! Sometimes a different style of label implies a different location, such as outside the main facility. However, the numbered stands in this case are in the main interchange, and in fact, right in front of me. My bus is mere yards away!
This one is another modern Optare Versa; although not branded (I suspect it is a standby vehicle). No matter; it's just as smart as the earlier one, with decent legroom for a single-decker. The service follows a different route to the Airport from that of the A2, and continues to Otley; a link which isn't shown on the route diagram on the branded vehicles.
Transdev buses use a display at termini and timing points, stating that the bus is "leaving in X mins". After "leaving in 2 mins", the display changes to "leaving in 60 secs" and counts down every five seconds. On this run, the driver continually uses the "leaving in 60 secs" as his cue to set off - hopefully he has not left any last minute customers behind...
ABOVE: The "Departs in 5 secs" display is just visible as this Flyer leaves Leeds Bradford Airport. The driver of this bus, on 8th January 2022, consistently left stops at the "Departs in 60 secs" stage, so the bus is off the stand and well away here before the official departure time.
Though this is an airport service, it is clear that there is a lot of local custom as well. We leave Bradford with about a dozen people on board, and there's a decent churn as we progress.
There's a man on board having a phone conversation with his son on loudspeaker. I get the impression that the son is living abroad and wants Dad to come over for a visit. Dad seems to be putting all sorts of barriers in the way, from the cost of the flights to the Covid restrictions in force, and I also get the sense that he hasn't had his jabs, and that this is complicating things further.
It's a lengthy conversation, and the son's wife / partner comes on the line, quite agitated, and tries to succeed where the son has failed. Sadly, I don't hear the end of the matter as 'Dad' gets off the bus, still deep in conversation and presumably oblivious to the fact that he has broadcast his private business across the whole bus.
Getting back to the fishy theme, we pass "Murgatroyd's" again, and then head through Guiseley, where Harry Ramsden opened his first chippy in 1928. But it's still too early for lunch and I reach the Airport at 1050, where I alight. The service continues to Otley, leaving 60 seconds before its due time of 1055.
So what time is the A1 to Leeds? Depends where you look. My check of Traveline has suggested that the next service will be at 1110, and that buses are running broadly every half-hour. The poster at the end of the shelter also shows a half-hourly service, but with the next departure at 1105. The timetable inside the shelter shows a 20-minute headway.
To be fair, there is also a QR code to scan for the "temporary times", and I can understand why some bus stop timetable information might be inaccurate at the moment. However, I can't see an excuse for two different timetables - neither of which is right - for the same service, in the same shelter!
Not for the first time, Traveline turns out to be the most accurate. The bus turns up in good time for its 1110 departure. It looks like a new driver is learning the ropes on this journey, as there is a second driver / trainer to keep an eye. He only needs to intervene to help through the myriad of fares and tickets.
We leave the Airport with five passengers, including a couple with cases who have clearly just landed. The bus ducks under the runway itself to exit the airport.
A few minutes down the road, by which time it is raining heavily, a group hail the bus down and ask if it is going down a particular road. On being told that it is, they decide not to board anyway, and stay in the pouring rain for whatever alternative route it is that they have in mind.
The A1 provides a smooth ride, and gets steadily busier as it edges into Leeds, with a full-and-standing load. We lose a few minutes on the final approaches (due 1155, arrive about 1200). Most get off in central Leeds and only a handful stay on to the Bus Station.
Despite a few moans (as above), I've found the Flyer network to be a professional operation, with friendly and safe drivers and modern, clean vehicles. I've enjoyed my morning runs today.
To be continued...