The future’s bright, the future’s pink – and it’s nearly here! That’s the message to bus users in the Kirklees and Calderdale districts of West Yorkshire in the UK as Transdev launched its new Team Pennine on July 25.
Team Pennine is destined to become a familiar brand name to thousands of customers in and around Huddersfield and Halifax when parent firm Transdev takes over bus services previously run by Yorkshire Tiger.
Earlier this year, Transdev signed an agreement to buy the old Yorkshire Tiger business for an undisclosed sum from its owners Arriva – not only securing 163 existing jobs at two depots at Elland, near Halifax, and Waterloo in Huddersfield, but also creating more work as the newcomer looks to expand its presence across the region.
Transdev’s new company has already begun advertising locally and further afield for bus drivers to join Team Pennine’s mission to transform bus services across Kirklees and Calderdale.
Drivers and support staff who transferred into the new Team Pennine business from on July 25 will join Transdev’s existing family of 1,200 people based at its eight existing operating centres across Yorkshire and Lancashire.
The new Team Pennine brand identity and distinctive pink livery will be progressively introduced on a route-by-route basis as part of a company-wide transformation plan over the next 18 months. Key routes will also be branded individually to raise their profile and attract new customers, starting on Sunday with an all-new ‘Denby Darts’ linking Denby Dale, Clayton West and Skelmanthorpe with Huddersfield.
Right from day one we’re all about making a positive impact for our new customers and being a company that reflects the spirit of the locations and people we serve. We will invest in the quality of service immediately by replacing one in three of the old Yorkshire Tiger bus fleet by the end of October, as part of our mission to create buses people will be proud to be seen on.
Denby Darts will be our first new branded bus route, launching on the first day we start running as Team Pennine. Its buses will be the first in our new bright pink livery – and on the inside, there’ll be free Wi-Fi, USB power for mobile devices at each seat, audio visual next stop announcements to make sure no-one misses their stop, and comfortable seats with leather headrests.
In the coming weeks we’ll also be revealing upgrades to further routes in the Huddersfield and Holmfirth areas, while a brand-new fleet of Mercedes minibuses will land in the Halifax area too. And all this will come at no extra cost to customers, with fares unchanged plus a new range of day, week and longer period tickets available alongside our popular go-anywhere Transdev tickets from our Daytripper and Gold ranges.
Our experience elsewhere has shown that forming strong and close links with the communities we serve is vital to our success in delivering real, positive and lasting change for bus users, and ensuring the bus is placed front and centre in enabling real improvements to everyday living in Kirklees and Calderdale. We’re already engaging with councils and community leaders, with further announcements to follow in the coming weeks.
We can’t wait to welcome our first new customers onto the new Team Pennine this Sunday – the name will be symbolic of our local and people-focused approach, with the long-term view of growing bus use firmly in mind.
Alex Hornby, Transdev UK CEO
