CONCERNED residents are calling for action to be taken over issues they claim they have faced since a new company took on the running of their bus service.

Yorkshire Tiger took on the 675 route in Shipley from First back in May, but bus users say they have faced a number problems since the switch.

Ward councillors are now calling for a solution to be found for those living on the Higher Coach Road estate.

Councillor Kevin Warnes (Green, Shipley) has written to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to ask for the decision to be reviewed.

He said the new timetable is a “massive reduction” on the previous service and has called for it to be protected as those who use it, many who are elderly, rely heavily on it.

Eric Hudson, 93, said: “As far as I’m concerned, at the moment the way they are running it is rubbish. We don’t know whether they are coming or they are not.”

Bob Miller, 77, added: “They want people to go on buses, but they are driving them into cars.”

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said: “They are just not turning up, after work, before work.”

Councillor Vick Jenkins (Lab, Shipley) said: “Residents raised their concerns with me about the changes to their bus service.

“The community has been treated badly they had no notification of the changes, no printed timetables a much reduced service that does not always turn up and tickets bought in advance were not honoured. The residents are seeking a solution, we are demanding to meet up with the bus companies to resolve the issue and get a bus service that will work for this community as soon as possible.”

Matthew Ashton, area managing director for Yorkshire Tiger said: “As per any tender process we can only bid to operate the actual services and specific routes put out to tender by the local authority. We first announced our plans to operate these services on the 8th May.

“At this point we also published timetable information on our website. We are obviously concerned over comments about reliability. Whilst we do not have any data to suggest this, we will investigate this further as a matter of urgency.”

A West Yorkshire Combined Authority spokesperson said: “When we were informed that bus operator First had decided to stop running the 675 service to Shipley Glen in May and our enquiries showed that no other operators wanted to take it over on a commercial basis, we took steps to identify the gaps the service’s withdrawal would create. In line with our policies to prevent communities becoming isolated, we used data on passenger numbers to draw up a tender for a service that covered the parts of the route without alternative services such as the 626, while also delivering value for money to local Council tax payers.

“This is the new 675 service that was publicised along with all other West Yorkshire bus service changes ahead of their introduction in May. In addition, to counteract the lack of printed timetables due to the short notice we were given of the changes to this service, we made sure we had colleagues out in Shipley market place for the first week to help passengers.

“We would urge passengers to inform us if buses are not running as advertised so that we can take this up in our review of the service with Yorkshire Tiger and would also advise regular travellers needing to buy tickets for more than one operator that they could save money using MCard products which are valid on all services.

“Senior passengers using the service can of course take advantage of free travel on all buses across West Yorkshire after 9.30am Monday to Friday and all day at weekends and on Bank Holidays.”