By KLTV Newsdesk –
Northern bus company Transdev today announced it has signed an agreement to buy the West Yorkshire-based Yorkshire Tiger bus operations from Arriva UK Bus, with completion expected in the Summer.
It is said the purchase will not affect local bus services and Arriva employees are set to transition over to Transdev as part of the sale agreement.
The sale includes Arriva’s two depots at Elland, near Halifax and Waterloo in Huddersfield, as well as 61 buses.
The agreement will also see Arriva’s 163 drivers, engineers, cleaning and support colleagues based at the two depots join Transdev.
The sole exceptions are the 231 and 232 Huddersfield – Wakefield routes, which are planned to remain within Arriva as part of its Yorkshire business.
Yorkshire Tiger’s current day and season passes are expected to be integrated into Transdev’s own range of tickets, while West Yorkshire Metro’s range of multi-operator tickets will continue to be valid on all its services.
Speaking on the agreement, Transdev CEO Alex Hornby, said: “We are thrilled to be growing our team and our company, and are really looking forward to serving this part of West Yorkshire for the first time.
“At this critical time for the bus, we believe [we] can play a key role in enabling our economic recovery, both locally and nationally.
“This presents a hugely exciting opportunity to all work together and improve the quality of bus travel further across Halifax and Huddersfield.”
Arriva Area Managing Director Patrick Sibley said: “Although we will be sad to hand over operations of our Tiger business, we are delighted that it will be in the hands of Transdev, a well-known local bus company, who will take good care of the depots, customers and all employees.”
Both Transdev and Arriva say they are committed to working together to ensure a smooth and effective transition for customers and colleagues over the coming months.