Arriva Yorkshire

Arriva Yorkshire is a division of Arriva which operates bus services around West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and the southern areas of North Yorkshire in England. It is made up of the following previous bus operators - West Riding Buses, Yorkshire Buses, South Yorkshire Road Transport and Selby and District. It is a major bus operator around the Leeds Bradford conurbation.

14 new VDL (formally DAF) DB250's with East Lancs Lowlander bodywork were introduced in summer 2006 for the relaunch of routes 202/3. During the past few years, the number of services operated and therefore the number of buses used has been reduced. Many services have received lower frequencies and many services have been withdrawn.

Investment in 2007 has seen seven ex-Arriva Bus & Coach stock VDL SB200 Wright Commanders enter service on the 126/7 services based at Dewsbury, these services are branded as "Connecting Wakefield & Dewsbury", and 16 high specification Volvo B9TL/Darwen Olympus double deckers on route 110 (Wakefield - Leeds), featuring leather seats. This service is branded as "Connecting Wakefield & Leeds".

Discrimination

There have been repeated accusations that the company discriminates against passengers. In one case, a driver was reported to say, "I'm sick of single mums". In another case, the reason given was, "I'm not taking you with your Paki baby". The most widely reported case concerned a gothic couple, Dani Graves and his fiancee Tasha Maltby, who wears a dog collar and lead.

On the first occasion, the driver allegedly said ""We don't let freaks and dogs like you on" and an off-duty driver allegedly also verbally abused and then physically assaulted the couple by pushing them off the bus. On the second occasion, the bus driver allegedly let them board but then refused to let any other passengers board and asked them to disembark. The couple at first refused but eventually complied when the driver threatened to call the police. On the third occasion, the driver allegedly deliberately drove past the male member of the couple who was waiting at the bus stop and clearly indicated he wished the bus to stop. Arriva Yorkshire has said "We take any allegations of discrimination very seriously" and is investigating the claims and the couple's complaints.

Arriva Yorkshire confirmed the couple were refused travel on two occasions due to "fears for passenger safety". In a statement the company addressed the issue, claiming that the dog lead was potentially dangerous.

Arriva also said they would be writing to Mr Graves "to apologise for any distress caused by the way this matter was handled"

Major locations served

Fleet

The fleet operates out of five depots at Selby, Dewsbury, Belle Isle in Wakefield, Castleford and Heckmondwike. A brief picture of the current fleet is as follows: