‘Criticisms of low-cost bus service are unfair’

DRIVER SAYS TIGER HAS EARNED ITS STRIPES WITH VALUE-FOR-MONEY ROUTE

standards of punctuality and reliability.

The driver defended the West Yorkshire-based bus company, saying fares were value for money and investments were being made.

The driver, who does not want to be named, responded to concerns raised in Denby Dale about the 233 service through the village.

He said some people had made “horrible” and “unfair” comments about Yorkshire Tiger on social media.

“Firstly I would like to point out that I absolutely love my job and I do drive the 233 a lot of the time,” he said.

“As public transport is for the public, it can get late; buses do break down and we (drivers) do get annoyed.

“Do we think we should get new buses? Yes.

“But look at it this way – it’s £2.70 from Clayton West to Huddersfield, which to be fair is a great price. If the company spent £1m on new buses, they will have to raise the price of all tickets to cover the cost of the new fleet.

“So tickets may go up to £3.20-plus. Yorkshire Tiger is a low-cost operation of Arriva and a lot of the buses are from Arriva and just sprayed orange.”

He said investments were being made, adding: “They have invested a lot of money on the new machines which will make boarding quicker.

“They are all linked into the timing points so there is little/no chance of a bus running early as the machine tells us not to.”

However, several passengers have complained that Yorkshire Tiger buses have been unreliable.

Jodie Hellawell, commenting on the