The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) expects to finalise round one bus franchise contract awards in June, with work also ongoing to procure new zero-emission buses to a Weaver Network specification for use by winning bidders.
That position is within a report to a WYCA meeting on 12 March. Tendering for round one contracts began in October 2025, with final Invitation to Tender documents now issued. Evaluation will take place in April and May, with the expectation that the first contracts will be entered into at the end of June.
Captured by round one are Dewsbury, Huddersfield, and one of two Leeds zones. Under a structure previously outlined, each zone will have a large Tier A contract operated from a Combined Authority-owned depot alongside smaller Tier B and Tier C awards. The latter will capture home-to-school services. WYCA will not own depots for Tier B and Tier C contracts.
Round one will launch on 4 April 2027. Two more rounds will follow with completion of rollout across the region due in late 2028. Round two captures the second Leeds zone, Wakefield, and the ‘five towns’ of Castleford, Featherstone, Knottingley, Normanton and Pontefract. Round three will see Bradford, Calderdale and Keighley come under scope.
Procurement of new WYCA-owned zero-emission buses for round one Tier A contracts sits alongside development of an internal specification for vehicles bought by the authority. On 12 March, it will be asked to approve delegation of the finalisation of that specification to its CEO in consultation with Mayor Tracy Brabin.
The Combined Authority expects to need a large number of new buses across the three rounds in view of a significant volume of late-life vehicles that remain in service in the region and plans to eventually move to an all-zero-emission fleet, it previously said.
In October 2025, a £30 million “deposit” on the new buses for round one to secure build slots and delivery in time for start of those franchised services was approved. Around £100 million is estimated as the total required for that procurement.
On wider fleet work, development of a residual value mechanism for WYCA-owned buses to allow their transfer between outgoing and incoming operators is continuing. For the first franchise contracts, WYCA will own vehicles used within Tier A awards only.
For depots, the Combined Authority remains in negotiation with owners of existing operating centres that are required for Tier A contracts, with compulsory purchase in hand as a fall-back.
The business case for a new Tier A depot in Wakefield has moved forward, something that became necessary after buildings at the existing Arriva premises there were condemned. WYCA is at an “advanced stage” of acquiring an alternative.
To support planned investment in battery-electric buses, infrastructure work at Tier A depots in Bradford and Huddersfield is being accelerated with funding from a variety of sources, including Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas money originally allocated to 47 battery-electric buses for use at the existing depot in Wakefield.
Release of further funding for Tier A depot electrification preparation – including £5.5 million for Halifax – is now sought. Once Huddersfield is complete it will be able to support 115 battery-electric buses, while Bradford will support 160. Work at Bradford and Huddersfield is due to wrap up in February 2027.
