WEST YORKSHIRE: LIGHTENING THE HEAVYWEIGHT RAILWAY

While the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) was one of the last of such regional organizations to be established under national legislation, it has since embarked on a program of improved rail services and of looking on buses as complementary rather than competitive, with the trains. It has assumed responsibility for operation of local train services in its region, as well as introducing self-service fare collection, multiple-ride tickets and flash passes, all interchangeable between train and bus. WPTE policy is that heavy commuter flows are moved by rail. As the former British Railways passenger services were taken over, WPTE has been seeking to rationalize them by lightening the heavyweight railway -- retaining the conventional plant but developing simpler and less expensive means of operating it. A first step has been introduction of modular, simple stations and use of at-grade protected pedestrian crossings, rather than overpasses to connect the two platforms. It has been the first to acquire a fleet of the British-developed rail buses, lightweight replacements for heavier multiple-unit trains. National government policies which reduce contributions to local transport subsidies and mandate changes in metropolitan organizations such as WYPTE as well as deregulating private bus competition promise an extended period of uncertainty for the existing integrated bus and train system.