A Bus makes its way along a
Yorkshire Dales road

A SUNDAY bus service will once again operate in Swaledale from this weekend.

From Sunday (17th May) the "Northern Dalesman" bus service number 831 will run from Ribblehead Station and Hawes via the Buttertubs Pass to Muker and Reeth and on to Leyburn.

The bus will run every Sunday and Bank Holiday until 18th October, connecting with the train from Leeds at Ribblehead Station and leaving Ribblehead at 1035, Hawes at 1110, Muker at 1145 and Reeth at 1215 arriving in Leyburn at 1240.

The bus will then run from Leyburn at 1255 back to Reeth, returning from Reeth at 1515, before leaving Leyburn at 1555, Reeth at 1625, Muker at 1655 and Hawes at 1730 for the run back to Ribblehead.

The new service is provided by the Dales & Bowland Community Interest Company, which is based in Settle, and operated by Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire.

The timetable has been planned to provide useful connections for visitors to the area, and for local residents. Funding to provide the service has been raised from a wide variety of organisations, namely Northern Trains, the Friends of the Settle Carlisle Line, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the Yorkshire Dales Public Transport Users Group and the Yorkshire Dales Society.

The service runs as an ordinary bus service, so there's no need to book in advance, and English National Concessionary Passes are available for free travel. A day return ticket between Leyburn and Reeth is £3.50, and up to two children may travel free with each fare-paying adult.

A spokesman for the User Group commented, "We know that many people were disappointed when Dalesbus 803 to Swaledale was withdrawn, and we've been campaigning for a replacement service for some time. We're therefore really pleased to have this opportunity to help support the new service, and hope that it will prove popular with local residents as well as visitors to Swaledale."

Full timetable details are available from Leyburn Tourist Information Centre and Reeth National Park Centre, from Traveline on 0871 200 22 33 and online at www.dalesbus.org