Transport: Improved cross-border services for Pontefract and Wakefield bus users following agreement between Stagecoach and West and South Yorkshire Combined Authorities
Bus passengers travelling from Wakefield or Pontefract to Barnsley can now benefit from improved services following an agreement between Stagecoach and the West and South Yorkshire Combined Authorities.
A new service 38 now operates in addition to service 28 from Pontefract to Barnsley via Hemsworth and Grimethorpe – an increase from hourly to half-hourly services during daytimes from Monday to Saturday.
Services 59 and 59A from Barnsley and Royston to Wakefield have increased from hourly to half-hourly during weekdays daytimes; the evening timetables for these services have also been improved.
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said the improvements acknowledge the links people in West Yorkshire have with South Yorkshire.
She said: “I am proud to be working alongside Stagecoach to bring more cross-border services between Wakefield and Barnsley.
“We recognise people’s lives aren’t neatly contained within one town or city – many people from Wakefield have links to South Yorkshire and vice versa.
"This also reflects our White Rose Agreement commitments to working across borders within Yorkshire.
“While we are working towards a fully-franchised bus system across West Yorkshire by 2028, we will ensure people living in more remote parts of our region keep those vital public transport links.”
The White Rose Agreement was signed by Yorkshire’s three metro mayors in March to encourage collaboration across “key areas where they share mutual priorities.”
South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: “Buses are essential for our communities. They’re not an optional extra.
“That’s why I’m working with Yorkshire Mayors, like Tracy, through our recently signed White Rose Agreement to improve cross-border bus services so we can connect our people to services, to jobs, training and opportunity, and to friends and family.
“It’s also why I took the historic decision back in March to bring our bus services back under public control. Starting in 2027 we’ll begin to take back control of routes, fares and timetables across South Yorkshire.
“Introducing these services between our two regions is just one step on our journey to creating a public transport system that allows people to get where they want to go, when they want to go there."