Buses take too long and are unreliable

From: David Dutton, Leeds.

I’M a retired bus driver aged 64, not yet eligible for a free bus pass, but fit enough to walk, run or ride a bike.

I agree it is the Leeds transport infrastructure which fails our buses. A dedicated bus lane the full length of Kirkstall Road would help, and cars could be diverted to other roads to enable uninterrupted bus flow along all major routes.

I live in Horsforth and have many transport options into Leeds centre.

My preferred transport is to bike along the towpath. It is free, reliable and pretty safe. At a steady 10mph I know I can be in town 35 minutes later.

To have a choice between bus routes 33, 34, 50 and 50A is great, but they all take too long: at least one hour including walking from home to bus stop.

The single fare is £3.30, but a lot less with the smartphone app and for many retired folk passage is free of charge. The fares alone are not a deterrent, but the unreliability of travel times. Only occasionally can the advertised journey times be adhered to, and when buses become too delayed they are taken out of service at their destination and put back into service further along the route.

From: MP Ward, Swithens Drive, Rothwell, Leeds.

I AM getting very turned off with the repeated negative moaning about Leeds trains and buses.

The people at the top should listen to experienced railwaymen, and not opposition politicians and union bosses.

There are some good ideas about reopening former stations. The railway is congested and extra lines are needed. Roll on the next two years when the new Platform 0 is opened at Leeds.

My dad was a signalman in various boxes in the area and if he could come back, he would be amazed at the amount of movements going on at the same time in Leeds Station.

There are extra paths in the system now that we are not transporting coal by rail so much. The paths are being filled rapidly. The only way for things to get better is an underground.

From: Peter Hyde, Driffield.

IF half of what HS2 has cost so far had been spent on upgrading current lines and rolling stock, we would have a rail system to be proud of. David Cameron’s grandiose ideas will continue to leak money. Stop it right now and change direction. independence referendum in 2014. Unfortunately she now appears unable to grasp the meaning of the word “generation” (The Yorkshire Post, January 15). If she looks in her dictionary, she will see that this is a period of around 35 years.

It is time for her to shut up about another referendum and get on with the job for which she was elected.