Harrogate Bus Company launches free buses to vaccination centre

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Harrogate’s leading bus operator, The Harrogate Bus Company, is to provide a free bus service to make travel easier for Covid-19 jab appointments at the town’s vaccination centre.

The special service begins tomorrow, Tuesday, January 26, and will run every 30 minutes on days the centre is open – this week on Tuesday to Friday, and again on Sunday.

The first journey leaves Harrogate Bus Station at 7.50am and the last trip returning from the vaccination venue at the Yorkshire Event Centre on the Great Yorkshire Showground at 8.05pm.

Journeys on the free service will be run using one of the bus firm’s Harrogate Electrics buses, making the bus a safe, easy and environment-friendly choice for those with NHS appointments to travel to and from their vaccination.

News of the special bus link is being welcomed by Harrogate MP Andrew Jones, who said: “This is an excellent initiative by The Harrogate Bus Company which will make travel to and from the NHS vaccination centre easier for everyone, while freeing up staff and volunteers to give the best possible care to all who attend.

“This valuable additional service will help to keep everyone safe by helping those with a vaccination appointment to travel to and from the venue independently by bus, instead of potentially relying on lifts from others – and by catching an electric bus, everyone who uses the special bus will also be helping to reduce pollution and congestion on our roads.

“We expect numbers attending the vaccination centre to rise as we continue to ramp up our vaccinations programme.

"This bus service will play a vitally important part in helping to ensure that those with appointments are able to attend and receive their jabs as planned.”

Vaccinations at the Yorkshire Event Centre are being co-ordinated by the North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and as the venue is expected to become busier in the weeks and months ahead, it’s hoped the dedicated bus service will help make travelling there easier for everyone.

The Harrogate Bus Company’s CEO Alex Hornby said: “We wanted to do everything possible to support the amazing NHS staff and volunteers who are running Harrogate’s vaccination centre, by making travel to and from the venue easy and safe for everyone.

“All our buses are clean, safe and ready to go, and provide a comfortable and secure way to travel to and from a jab appointment. Easy connections can be made with our Harrogate bus network at the bus station, bringing the vaccination centre into easy reach of every stop on our regular bus routes.

“Our team at the bus station will also be on hand to help with travel advice and information, and the whole experience will be delivered in a COVID-secure way, as we have throughout the pandemic. It’s one more way we can help the community here in Harrogate to travel seven days a week.”

The NHS will contact those eligible when it is their turn to receive a vaccination. More information is available on the NHS website here: https://bit.ly/3sEVPw2

Full details of the dedicated free bus service to and from the vaccination centre are available online at www.harrogatebus.co.uk and from the shop at Harrogate Bus Station.

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