What West Yorkshire Bus Franchising Means for Leeds

The first Weaver Network contracts are close to being signed, marking the biggest shake-up of the region’s buses in 40 years

West Yorkshire bus franchising has taken a significant step forward, with the Combined Authority confirming the first operators lined up to run services under its new Weaver Network. First West Yorkshire and TransDev have been named as the intended winners of the first large contracts, ahead of signing expected from 29 August. It is an early milestone in the biggest overhaul of the region’s buses in nearly 40 years, which will bring routes, fares and timetables back under public control. For Leeds businesses and commuters, the changes start to arrive from spring 2027.

Why This Matters For Leeds

Buses are the backbone of how most people get to work in West Yorkshire so who runs them, and how well, is a genuine economic issue. Reliable, affordable services widen the labour pool employers can recruit from and help staff reach jobs, shops and venues. For Leeds businesses, better-connected workers and customers are the prize.

How West Yorkshire Bus Franchising Will Work

Franchising hands control of the bus network to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which will set routes, frequencies, fares and standards and pay operators to run services on its behalf, the model already used in London and Greater Manchester. It replaces a deregulated system, in place since the 1980s, in which private operators decided routes and prices commercially. The change is being rolled out in three phases across the region, each covering a geographical zone. The first services are due to launch in spring 2027 with the second round following in early 2028, and the whole network fully franchised by the end of 2028. Fares income will be reinvested in the network and the Combined Authority says the system will be built around passengers’ needs rather than private profit. Under the branding of the Weaver Network, it is designed to knit buses together with trains, mass transit, walking and cycling into a single system.

“This investment demonstrates our commitment to building a better-connected West Yorkshire with a bus network that is fit for the future.”

— Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire

The Investment Behind the Buses

The programme is backed by substantial public investment. The Combined Authority is buying a fleet of publicly owned, zero-emission electric buses, with the first two rounds valued at just over £120m for around 256 vehicles, and a total of roughly 576 new buses expected across all three phases. Alongside the vehicles, tens of millions of pounds are going into depots and bus stations, including a new zero-emission-ready depot in Wakefield, a £28m refurbishment of Huddersfield bus station and access improvements on routes such as Woodhouse Lane and Beckett Street in Leeds. There is even a local supply-chain angle: West Yorkshire textile firms have been contracted to upholster the new fleet. For business, the significance of West Yorkshire bus franchising is less about who runs which route and more about how this scale of investment will deliver the reliable network the region’s economy needs.