By Sonia Koren
A petition calling for the reinstatement of the 508 bus service through Farsley has gathered over 1,100 signatures as concerns over accessibility and connectivity for passengers grow.
The 508 was rerouted last year amid a series of changes to bus services in Leeds to operate along the ring road and Stanningley Bypass, but miss out Farsley.
The campaign, launched in November 2024 by resident Simon Banoub, highlights how the removal of the direct service has left Farsley residents inconvenienced.
“This is more than just a bus route – it’s a lifeline for many in our community,” said Mr Banoub. “The removal of the 508 has forced people into unnecessary journeys, extra costs, and even giving up jobs.”
Despite the petition’s growing support, First Bus has not announced any plans to restore the service. The company has stated that it is ‘monitoring demand’ but Mr Banoub says the company has not shared further details with him.
“First Bus has ignored us at every step despite overwhelming support for bringing the service back,” said Banoub. “We need them to listen and act.”
Calverley & Farsley’s councillors, have written to both First Bus and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA).
Councillors Peter Carlill and Craig Timmins (both Lab, Calverley & Farsley) said: “Thanks to all who continue to campaign on this issue. It was made clear to First Bus at the time how unpopular this change would be – but they went ahead anyway.
“We joined with councillors from Bramley and Stanningley to oppose these changes, and have continued to actively do so ever since. This campaign led to the creation of the 60a route alongside Transdev/Keighley Bus with funding from the Mayor’s office, which helped return some of the connections lost, but clearly does not replace the 508.
“When First Bus originally made the change they said it was hoped speeding up the route would increase passengers, however following our last letter asking them to once again review this decision, we found unsurprisingly that the service is now carrying fewer people than it was before.
“We would again ask that First Bus take account of the real impacts this loss of service is having on our community as clearly displayed in the petition, and think again – especially in an area already impacted by poor provision and connectivity.”
Cllr Andrew Carter (Cons, Calverley & Farsley) said: “Simon Banoub is doing a great job in continuing to raise awareness of the fact that the 508 bus service re-route still does not properly serve the Farsley area.
“As he rightly says, First Bus are simply not listening, but worse than that, neither is the Mayor or the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. All we get is ‘promises of jam tomorrow’, which is just not good enough.”
A spokesperson for First confirmed the company was not currently looking to reinstate the 508 in Farsley.
“There is an alternative bus service in place to support customers travelling from Farsley to Leeds,” the spokesperson said. “This weakens the potential for the passenger usage that would be required to make a re-instated service sustainable.
“We are not planning to make any changes to the 508 service but will continue to monitor demand. We are also aware the Combined Authority has responded to the complaint regarding service 508 and explained its policy position relative to existing bus services in the area.”
The petition to find a solution to restore the transport link can be found here.
The 508 is a halifax bus, for the people of Halifax, not a leeds, for the people of Leeds. Its purpose is to connect LS1 with HX1. It is a lengthy route up to 2 hours. Why should it go through Farsley? It shouldn’t. Petition for a new bus. For the people travelling to Halifax and back it already takes long enough. That route through Farsley was ridiculous, silly little winding roads through nowhere. Its like the X6 or the 72 going through Morley. Absolute nonsense.
Daniel. Why not simplify every bus route and stop them picking up passengers altogether?
Farsley is a thriving business hub as well as a major residential centre. It needs connectivity. Alas it no longer has a bus to Bradford or to Halifax both of which it has enjoyed in the past and which people built their working and social lives around.
For people requiring speedy travel from Leeds City Centre direct to Halifax there is a regular train service.
Daniel – you’re in luck, there’s already a good public transport solution that connects LS1 with HX1. It’s called the train, and it runs in about half an hour instead of two hours! If everybody who wants to travel between Leeds and Halifax directly takes that, this allows a bit of leeway for the bus routes to take in different outlying areas.
The 508 route took over the old Halifax Queen* bus service that ran for donkeys years before the 1974 formation of WYPTE.
It was never meant to be diverted via Farsley.
*Dunno why it had that name, it was green white and gold and Halifax based, and operated a ” limited stop” service within the old Leeds boundary.
Sorry to bore you, with the miserable weather I have to find sommat to do!
The reason the 508 was diverted through Farsley in the first place was to replace part of the connectivity lost when the old 15 route was axed back in the mid-2000s, not to be confused with the current 15 route which is completely different. The original 15 route was a half-hourly service from Bradford to Leeds via Farsley and Kirskstall. The current 508 has reverted back to its original route by bypassing Farsley, but Farsley’s connectivity to both Bradford and Kirkstall has not been replaced.
I find it galling that a Conservative politician has criticised the WY Mayor – the Combined Authority has voted to end deregulation but it’s the previous Conservative government that dictated the obstacle course and timescales for this to happen, and of course it was the Conservatives who deregulated the buses in the first place, leading to the current scenario of a private monopoly calling the shots with zero quality control. As a country, we spend a fraction on public transport compared to countries of comparable wealth in the rest of Europe, and a huge proportion of that spending goes to London and the south-east. Little wonder then, that the only part of Britain that doesn’t have falling passenger numbers is the one part of Britain that was exempt from deregulation in the first place – London.
I remember the old Halifax buses. Their colors were green and orange and from the 1950s my gran and I used this service to visit my aunt in Halifax. It always came along the old route and never into Farsley. Buses are no longer treated as a public service but as a money making thing. I do sympathize with the people of Farsley as my local bus (38) ran for over 60 years and was withdrawn as it wasn’t ‘financially viable’…and just look at the performance over the Horsforth to Pudsey service which was sorted out eventually due to public pressure…