Harrogate bus firm gets set for Christmas shopping rush

Festive bargains start at your nearest stop! Harrogate bus firm gets set for Christmas shopping rush as £2 fare cap stays in place

Customers urged to plan ahead as seasonal schedules unveiled early

Forget sitting in traffic queues and battling for expensive parking spaces – Harrogate’s leading bus operator The Harrogate Bus Company is preparing to whisk thousands of people direct to the shops for a fraction of the cost.

The Government’s announcement last month (23 October 2023) that the £2 fare cap is to continue means Christmas shoppers can avoid the stress – and cost – of driving into packed city centres while saving money for gifts, by taking the bus straight to the heart of Harrogate and Leeds.

Meanwhile, those with a concessionary travel pass travel free – so with Christmas just five weeks away, the bus operators are encouraging everyone to hop on board and as well as shopping, enjoy the many festive events planned across our region, or to spend more time with family and friends.

The Harrogate Bus Company General Manager Steve Ottley said: “With traffic jams, roadworks and congested car parks to contend with, driving can be a challenge at this time of year – and as many of us are watching the pennies, anything that avoids all that stress and saves money at the same time has to be a good thing.

“To make things easier, we’re releasing details of our services over the festive season earlier than ever this year – and for those who need some inspiration for a day out or just a break from shopping, we’ve produced a colourful guide to the best places to visit across Yorkshire this Christmas, available free on our buses, at travel centres and on our website.”

The Harrogate Bus Company buses will run as follows over the festive period:

• Saturday 23 December – normal Saturday times
• Christmas Eve, Sunday 24 December – normal Sunday times with last buses around 7pm. Additional buses will run on the 1 from Harrogate to Starbeck at 8.15pm and 8.45pm. Last buses will run on the 1A at 7.30pm from Harrogate and 7.48pm from St James Retail Park, and on the 1C at 8pm from Harrogate and 8.19pm from Carmires: all trips on the 1B will run as usual. On the 2, the last bus will leave Harrogate at 7.55pm: the 3 will finish at 8.25pm from Harrogate. Last buses on the 7 will be at 6.20pm from Harrogate to Wetherby and Leeds, and 6.50pm from Leeds to Wetherby and Harrogate; the 7.20pm journey from Harrogate will finish at Wetherby. On the 36, last buses will be at 7.15pm from Leeds and 8.05pm from Harrogate to Ripon: the 7.45pm from Ripon and 8.15pm from Leeds will run to Harrogate, then to Starbeck. Last buses on the X98/X99 will run at 6.59pm from Deighton Bar and 7.05pm from Leeds. The last trips on Flyer A2 will be at 5.25pm from Bradford to Harrogate, via Leeds Bradford Airport at 6.10pm, and at 6.55pm from Harrogate to Bradford, calling at the Airport at 7.27pm.
• Christmas Day, Monday 25 December – no buses will run
• Boxing Day, Tuesday 26 December – the 1C will run every 30 minutes, while the 36 will also run every 30 minutes between Leeds and Harrogate, extending hourly to Ripon. The X98 will run hourly between Leeds and Wetherby.
• Wednesday 27 December to Friday 29 December – buses will run to a Saturday timetable, except for the 59 which will not run. The X6 will run.
• Saturday 30 December – normal Saturday service on all routes
• New Year’s Eve, Sunday 31 December – normal Sunday times with last buses around 7pm, with final departures same as Christmas Eve
• New Year’s Day, Sunday 1 January – no buses will run
• Tuesday 2 January – normal services will resume

Full details of all services are available online at https://www.transdevbus.co.uk/harrogate and via the free Transdev Go mobile app.