A fleet of electric buses recently introduced in York was deemed too high to pass under a major railway bridge, leading to the diversion of a popular local bus service, leaving residents outraged.
The unexpected error threw the city’s transportation plans into disarray and drew harsh criticism from both residents and authorities.
The new single-decker “e-buses”, part of a First York’s £100m green transport initiativewere intended to revolutionize public transport in the city. But despite their green credentials, the buses have one fatal flaw: they cannot pass under the 12-foot (3.9-meter) railway bridge on Leeman Road.
As a result, the city’s number 10 bus service was forced to divert from its usual route, leaving many residents without their regular public transport option.
“It’s ridiculous that Leeman Road has lost another bus service,” said Kallum Taylor, a councillor for Holgate. “Not because of financial pressure, but because First’s single-decker electric buses are too big to fit under a bridge.”
The accident only added to growing concerns about dwindling local transportation options in York. Taylor stressed that the bus problem is part of a wider pattern, with other services also being cut or altered, further isolating residents.
“Cleaner buses are great,” he added, “but it seems that in the excitement this has caused for those involved, this community has again been forgotten. It’s not even close to being good enough.”
Residents also expressed their dissatisfaction on social media.
“This should have been taken into consideration when the buses were ordered,” said one resident. “They must have been aware of the height of the buses, so they needed to find a lower version or consider using the old ones for the routes in question.”
Another resident summed up the general sentiment with a pointed observation: “Didn’t they think to measure before they built the buses? How stupid.”
The tunnel in question has a notorious reputation. Taylor recalled a previous incident in which a double-decker bus crashed into the bridge, resulting in the destruction of the entire upper deck.
“That tunnel is well known to be a problem,” he said. “I’m not sure how First made their decision… If they didn’t check it, then that’s terrible – but if they did check it and then went ahead without getting a replacement bus service, that’s still bad.”
A First York spokesperson said: “The changes we introduced in June included a rerouting and extension of the 59 service and a new 10L to mitigate the change to the 10 service in this area.
“This has resulted in more journeys into the city centre, but we recognise that connectivity to Boroughbridge Road has been impacted as the 59 is a limited stop service.”
The spokesperson added that discussions are ongoing with the City of York Council transport staff have been asked to address the issue. However, residents have been told a solution could take several weeks to implement.