The new lane, which runs along York Road between Jossey Lane and St Mary's gyratory, follows the successful launch of a bus lane to the south of Doncaster along Bawtry Road, where passengers are already seeing reductions of up to 20 minutes in their journey time.

From Monday both the northern and southern stretches of the A638 bus corridor will be served by park and ride sites, on Green Lane to the north and at Parrott's Corner to the south, allowing visitors to leave their car on the outskirts of the city and travel in by bus.

Some of the project's £15.3m budget has also been put towards refurbishing traffic signals and pelican crossings, improving street lighting, and building more modern bus stops with improved access for people with disabilities.

Bus operators have also invested significantly in the scheme, providing state-of-the-art buses with low-emission engines to run along the new corridor.

David Young, head of transport integration at South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), the body responsible for the county's public transport service, said: "I am delighted to see the next phase of this major scheme open.

"This will bring further time-saving benefits to the people of Doncaster."

Further works to improve traffic lights are likely to result in lane closures, diversions and the use of temporary traffic lights for another a month.

Businesses based along the route have complained over the last year that customers have been put off from visiting by hold-ups caused by the creation of the bus corridor.

Work on a third and final bus lane between Cantley Lane and Racecourse Roundabout, which began in July this year, are scheduled to finish in April.