Better Buses for All

This section is a collection of our arguments against the changes made to the Denby Dale Corridor bus services from Wakefield to Denby Dale and Holmfirth

The Numbers don't Add up - The Budget is suspect | A Closer Look at the 935 and 435 Routes

On this Page: Routes - Why skip the Main Road to Wakefield? - Departure Times: Even Longer Waits!

Wakefield Road - The one place that doesn't lead to Wakefield! 

One of the first things that stuck in my mind once the issues of us Holmfirthers allegedly never using the 935 at peak times had been rectified, was the fact that the 435 not only follows almost exactly the same route as the 448 (the 448 route being the one which, according to Arriva's own report to Metro, was not profitable and was the cause for the 448 being scrapped in the first place!).

For route maps, please see this page

Arriva's "Reasoning" behind the Routing

Route Problems:

1) It is not that much longer than the 935 route, but because it crawls through empty countryside (between Skelmanthorpe and Denby Dale) and in particular because it takes a left turn into Clayton West coming from Wakefield - a part of the route which can be walked to in a couple of minutes yet it takes the bus up to 10 minutes to get around there due to the small roads and lack of space - the 435 route is considerably slower than the former 935 one.

Where the journey to and from Wakefield used to take just 50-55 minutes from Holmfirth (compared to just over 1 hour 15 minutes by First bus and train!), and 30-35 minutes from Denby Dale. This now takes a stonking 1hour 20-odd minutes or 1 hour respectively - that means adding up to half an hour to each way, and a full hour to your daily commute! Not only does this make some people's journeys no longer feasible, but it also makes daytime and weekend shopping trips to Wakefield considerably less attractive to daytime passengers, too!



435 route in green - the red line indicates the large chunks of the journey missed out by the 435 and served just 3 times a day in each direction by the X41. The Denby Dale & Clayton West stretches are served by Stagecoach buses to and from Huddersfield (causing people to go there instead of Wakefield for shopping etc. & to seek employment & further education away from Wakefield). The lengthy stretch between Bretton Roundabout and Calder Grove is not served by any other buses - it contains housing, a few shops as well as a paintball range and an acclaimed farm shop.

2) Wakefield Road, the main road leading towards Wakefield from Denby Dale Interchange through past Clayton West, is now for about 95% of that stretch no longer served by buses to and from Wakefield, aside from 3 X41s going each way on weekdays.

Now of course they are withing walking distance (even if some of them are 10-20 minutes' walk away!) of the three stops where the 435 intersects with Wakefield Road, but considering that the journey already takes much longer and people tend to have to take a bus 45 minutes later than the 935 they used to catch, this is simply too much!

Also, aside from being an inconvenience to the many people who work or do their banking & shopping in Wakefield, cutting one of the busiest bus lines in the area out of the picture and routing the replacement far away from these main road estates and businesses, this is bound to affect local businesses too!

Because of the drastically increased journey time, after 1510 departures from Wakefield had to be moved 15 minutes earlier in order for the bus to arrive in Holmfirth about 5-10 minutes after the 935 used to. As a result, most people who used to catch the 1625 bus are not able to leave work or school/college etc. in time for the 1610, and the same goes for the 1725 bus - although there is thankfully the 1735 X41*. These were the two busiest runs of the 935 from Wakefield to Holmfirth, and the nearest 448 was also quite busy some days.

Yet nowadays on the 435 there are just a handful of people on the 1610 and 1710 435 buses - it seems Arriva have managed to chase most of us onto private transport, our of Wakefield or onto Stagecoach and First buses instead!

Also, even though the X41 always used to get to Wakefield early, the addition of Leeds General Infirmary to the route means Arriva now make the bus, driver & any passengers travelling past Wakefield wait up to 15 minutes at Wakefield BS on the return journey - it's almost as if they were trying to put people off longer journeys! 

* Without Neil Holt's intervention on our behalf however, the X41 would not have been extended to Holmfirth even on the two occasions it does go there now!