DalesBus is a bus network serving the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

and managed by Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company, a volunteer-run subsidiary of the Yorkshire Dales Society. Services are funded by organisations, including the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

West Yorkshire Metro Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE), at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yo ...

Yorkshire Dales National Park The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a national park in England which covers most of the Yorkshire Dales, the Howgill Fells, and the Orton Fells. The Nidderdale area of the Yorkshire Dales is not within the national park, and has instead ...

, and community groups. Over 30,000 passengers used the network in 2019/20. Some services only operate at weekends and on bank holidays, from Easter until late October, though others are year-round. The DalesBus Ramblers organise a programme of guided walks in the Yorkshire Dales.

History

The service began in 2007 with a single route between

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...

and

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

Controversy

In 2015,

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the ...

withdrew

English National Concessionary Travel Scheme The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme is a national scheme by the Department for Transport in conjunction with local authorities across England. The scheme extended the provision of free bus travel within individual local authorities ...

payments for some of these services, regarding them as only for "tourist use" and therefore outside of statutory provision. In the following year,

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashire is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Blackburn with Dar ...

made the decision to follow suit, citing similar reasons to do so.

Services and operators

As of 2025, the following services are operated under the DalesBus brand.

In popular culture

In 2016, route 830's commentary free journey through

Swaledale Swaledale is a valley in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Dales, which are part of the Pennines, and within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is named after the River Swale, which runs through it. Swaledale is the mo ...

, was an episode of television series ''

BBC Four Goes Slow ''BBC Four Goes Slow'' is a series of slow television programmes made for BBC Four, each without narration or underscore. The channel's editor, Cassian Harrison, stated that the series is an "antidote ... to the conventional grammar of televisi ...

'' entitled ''All Aboard! The Country Bus''. The episode saw a series record audience of 800,000.

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.dalesbus.org/index.html, name=DalesBus website Bus operators in North Yorkshire Bus transport brands Transport in Yorkshire Yorkshire Dales