The X33 White Rose Express

Once upon a time, there was a regular daily legendary limited stop bus service that ran from Bradford to Sheffield called the X33 White Rose Express via the m606, Cleckheaton, Spen Baths, Hecky, Dewsbury, the Ossett Bypass, Wakefield, Barnsley to Sheffield. It was an extremely well used service, and ran seven days a week hourly from early morning until late at night. It used to be operated by several companies, including Yorkshire Traction, First Bradford and Arriva. Then one day, First Bradford decided to cancel most of their longer distance journeys, and likewise Yorkshire Traction, so they handed over the service to Arriva. At one point, in the early 2000s, Arriva increased the service to half hourly, between Bradford and Wakefield Monday to Saturday. And the passengers filled the buses. Like First, Arriva Yorkshire decided to pull their longer distance journeys, so in 2006, they timed the service to run every 90 minutes, so passengers never knew what time the bus was leaving. This was believed to be a deliberate act to destroy the route. Officially, Arriva said they cancelled the route in 2007 because of supposedly improved trains between Wakefield and Sheffield, however most passengers were from the Heavy Woollen area and Bradford with no direct rail service, who now have to rely upon the Snail, sorry "Max" 268 service, which is no "Mad Max" as it crawls along like a "slow coach / bus" in traffic, stopping at all stops between Bradford and Wakefield. Whilst Meadowhall used to delay the buses sometimes at peak times, the service should be reinstated between Barnsley or Wakefield and Bradford, or even start an X68, an hourly express version of the 268 running on the m606 and the Ossett bypass, otherwise nobody will ditch their cars. It would be extremely popular with shoppers, workers and retired people like myself. It presently can take half an hour from Cleckheaton to Bradford on the 268, or over an hour to Wakefield with stopping at all stops, and not using bypasses. I don't know how much notice Metro will take of myself and other pro-X33 comments, but we do need the X33 back. Please do this! No consultations taking place in Cleckheaton does not help!