Transport Changes
Mayor's Fares, the Weaver Network bus takeover and the tram — what each one is, where it stands, and the honest dates.
Three transport stories run on top of each other in Leeds: capped fares now, a public takeover of the buses from 2027, and a tram with real money behind it but distant dates. This board says what each one is, where it stands, and what changes next.
Mayor's Fares cap
In force nowIn force — £2.50 a single, £6 for a DaySaver, set 30 March 2025 and continued through the franchising transition.
Every single bus fare across West Yorkshire is capped at £2.50, and £6 buys a DaySaver — unlimited journeys for the day on any operator's buses. The cap is the Combined Authority subsidising fares the private operators set, so the price is the same whoever runs the bus.
Until franchising arrives the buses themselves are still run by private companies — mostly First Bus in Leeds — so complaints about a late or missing bus go to the operator, not the Combined Authority.
Weaver Network bus franchising
ComingFirst franchised routes start May 2027 — one of the two Leeds zones is in the first wave — and all of West Yorkshire follows by late 2028.
Franchising means the Combined Authority, not private companies, decides routes, timetables and fares — the model London and Greater Manchester already use. Buses, tickets and complaints all come under one public body, branded the Weaver Network.
The region is split into nine zones, and Leeds is big enough to get two of them. The Heavy Woollen District, Kirklees and the west Leeds zone go first in May 2027; the rest follow zone by zone until the whole network is publicly controlled by the end of 2028. From then on, when a bus doesn't turn up, there is one organisation to hold responsible.
Mass transit (the tram)
ComingEarly works pledged for 2028; the official opening moved from the mid-2030s to the late 2030s in December 2025.
The current proposal is two tram lines: St James's Hospital through the city centre to White Rose, and Leeds to Bradford. The mayor's pledge to get 'spades in the ground' on early preparatory works by 2028 still stands.
The opening date moved: in December 2025, after a government review said the business case must be finished before planning work starts, the official line went from trams running in the mid-2030s to the late 2030s. Leeds has been here before — Supertram was cancelled in 2005, the trolleybus in 2016 — so treat every date on this card as published, not promised.
The dates, in order
During 2026
Tram: business case goes to government, routes consulted again
The Combined Authority plans to submit the tram's outline business case in 2026, with a further public consultation on routes to follow.
May 2027
First Weaver Network franchised buses
The Heavy Woollen District, Kirklees and the west Leeds zone switch to public control first.
2028
Tram early works pledged to start
The mayor's 'spades in the ground' pledge covers preparatory work, not track-laying.
Late 2028
Every West Yorkshire bus under public control
Franchising completes zone by zone. From here, service complaints land with the Combined Authority instead of the operators.
Late 2030s
Trams running — on the current official timeline
Moved back from the mid-2030s in December 2025. Published, not promised.