Bus firm unveils cut-price rival to Leeds trolleybus

Private operator First’s proposed New Bus for Leeds project is outlined in the company’s submission to the forthcoming inquiry that will decide the fate of the public sector-backed trolleybus plan.

First’s alternative to the New Generation Transport (NGT) trolleybuses would see up to 200 state-of-the-art buses being pressed into service on the streets of Leeds.

Modelled on the latest version of London’s Routemaster double-deckers, they would boast multi-door entry and exit points designed to cut waiting times at bus stops.

The eco-friendly vehicles would have London Oyster card-style ticketing systems to encourage cashless payments by passengers, again with the intention of reducing bus stop waiting times.

Road infrastructure improvements and signal priority measures would aim to speed up journeys still further.

The new fleet of buses would be provided by First, with money for infrastructure and signal work potentially coming from the £1bn West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund.

It is not yet clear how much public money would have to be found from the transport fund.

First is saying, however, that the scheme would offer “huge savings” compared to NGT, which is being spearheaded by Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire passenger transport authority Metro.

The company says its project would operate on a city-wide basis and as a result would benefit more people than the £250 million trolleybus system, which would initially run along a single north-to-south corridor.

First also says the bus masterplan could be delivered faster than what it describes as “outdated” NGT, which would not go live until 2020.

Dave Alexander, regional managing director for the firm in the north of England, said: “A common objective between First, the council and Metro is for Leeds to have a radical improvement in public transport that enhances its image and boosts its status.

“We are concerned that the trolleybus scheme will not achieve this. On the other hand the New Bus for Leeds, combined with other measures, will bring radical improvements to far more passengers, in a much shorter time and with huge savings to the public purse compared with the trolleybus proposals.

“We are keen to work with the council and Metro on our proposals.”

Leeds’s trolleybus plans were given funding approval by the Department for Transport in 2012.

However, the city still needs a Transport Works Act (TWA) Order for permission to build the system. As is normal for a scheme the size of trolleybus, the Government will make a decision on the award of the TWA Order based on the findings of a public inquiry.

The NGT inquiry will get under way on April 29, at the Regus office building on Wellington Place in Leeds.

If it comes through the inquiry process unscathed, the trolleybus network would link Holt Park in the north of the city with Stourton in the south.

NGT bosses say the system would create up to 4,000 new jobs while critics claim the project would offer poor value for money and damage the environment. Leeds East MP George Mudie has branded it “unglamorous”.

The public inquiry could last around two months – and, once completed, it may still take another year for the Government to make a final decision on the TWA Order application.