Arriva Yorkshire has launched 37 new buses, at a family fun day in Castleford.
Over 600 people attended the fun day on 25 June and saw the new ADL Enviro400 MMCs being launched, representing a £8m investment.
The buses are now in service on the 163/166 Castleford-Leeds and 189 Wakefield-Leeds routes.
Jon Croxford, Area MD for Arriva Yorkshire, says: “We are extremely proud to have hosted such a successful community event, which has seen some fantastic feedback from our customers.
“Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped celebrate our £8m fleet investment into West Yorkshire.
“With the help of the local community, and prizes kindly donated from Crossgates Shopping Centre, we have also raised around £1,000 for charity; including donations to the SSAFA (Soldier’s Sailors and Air force charity) as well as Cancer Research UK.”
The family fun day included an unveiling by Top UK Female Bus Driver winner Karen Wilson, a free hog roast/BBQ for customers, a performance by a local Blues Brothers tribute act, a face painter, a balloon maker, a magician, an illusionist, a bouncy castle, eight fun fair stalls, four local business stands, two charity raffles and two VIP bus tours around Castleford.
Customer comments on Facebook and Twitter have described the Family Fun Day as a ‘fantastic day’ with a ‘great community turn out’.
Terry Fisher, Inspector at Arriva’s Castleford depot, was particularly impressed that Dewsbury Bus Museum bought a Leyland Panther 1967 bus and a Leyland PD2 bus to the event, which he passed his driving test in over 45 years ago.
Mr Croxford adds: “This is an incredibly proud moment for everyone at Arriva as we put another multi-million pound investment into the network and increase the journey experience for our customers.
With the new buses going live onto these two routes and the 255/254 it enables us to upgrade our buses in Wakefield on the 444/446 and 425/427 routes too. These will go into service towards the end of July/early August, so watch this space!”
