New safe travel measures on buses in York

Following the Government’s announcement that schools and shops will begin a phased reopening during June, local bus operators, rail operators and City of York Council are making changes to ensure that safe travel options are available for residents.

More buses and trains will be operating and appropriate health and safety measures will be in place to ensure that social distancing guidelines can be adhered to, which may mean reduced capacity on board.

To help support essential journeys, on peak times, please plan ahead and travel outside of the busiest times, particularly first thing in the morning.

Changes on board

Bus operators are putting in place new safety measures to protect staff and customers. These include reducing the number of available seats on board each bus, encouraging the wearing of face coverings, ensuring alighting passengers are clear of the bus before anyone else boards and keeping a safe distance when boarding.

Please be patient and observe all the safety measures when travelling.  You should not leave your house if you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, including a high temperature, a new, continuous cough and loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.

For further information on how to travel safely, please visit https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-travel-guidance-for-passengers

Changes at bus stops

Customer safety information will be displayed at bus stops. When queueing please maintain a 2 metre distance between yourself and other passengers. Additional measures may be put in place at stops to manage social distancing.

Paying for your ticket

To help prevent unnecessary contact, please use cashless payment methods, such as contactless debit cards, smartcards or M-ticket apps wherever possible.

Return to normal concessionary travel arrangements

To help support essential journeys on peak time buses, normal concessionary travel rules will apply from Monday 1st June. Bus passes will be accepted for concessionary travel only after 09:00 on weekdays and at any time on weekends, with the exception of blind persons who are permitted to travel at any time of day in York. 

Getting live bus information

Bus operators and the council are working to update timetables as quickly as possible. Please note that due to the short notice nature of these service changes, some timetables on journey planning websites, apps and real-time information screens may not be updated immediately. Please visit bus operator websites for the latest timetable information.

Park & Ride

• Services 2A, 7 and 9 (Rawcliffe Bar, Designer Outlet and Monks Cross) will run every 10 minutes at peak times, 15 minutes during the day and every hour during the evening. A half hourly service will be provided on Sundays.
• Last Park & Ride buses from the city centre will depart at 22:15 (service 2A), 22:45 (service 7), 20:05 (service 9, Mon-Sat) or 19:00 (service 9, Sundays).
• The Designer Outlet car park remains closed until further notice- service 7 is using the same stop as service 415 (on the roundabout).
• Services 3, 8 and 59 (Askham Bar, Grimston Bar and Poppleton Bar P&R) will remain suspended until further notice.

See www.itravelyork.info/park-and-ride for further information.

Find out how to help support social distancing by using Park & Pedal from Monks Cross or Rawcliffe Bar: www.itravelyork.info/park-and-ride/cycling-with-park-and-ride

 Summary of all bus service changes

Please visit https://www.itravelyork.info/news/coronavirus-travel-information for further information.

Summary of rail service changes

Rail service levels are also gradually being increased. Please use contactless card payments wherever possible and note that most rail services now require seat reservations before travelling.

Crosscountry - see www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/coronavirus for the latest updates.

Grand Central - see www.grandcentralrail.com/coronavirus-travel-information for details.

LNER – see www.lner.co.uk/travel-information/coronavirus-travel-information for details.

Northern – see media.northernrailway.co.uk/news/coronavirus-travel-information for details.

Transpennine Express - see www.tpexpress.co.uk/travel-updates/corona-virus-travel-info for details.