LEADERS of the Yorkshire Dales National Park are set to call for a ‘significant increase’ in the frequency of bus services plus better coordination between bus and rail operators.

The park authority is also likely to call for an increased use of rail travel, more evenly spaced service and better capacity for cycles on trains at a meeting attended by all members next week.

It is estimated that the national park has around five million visitors every year. Latest statistics show that 82 per cent travel to the park in their own cars, while just four per cent come by bus or coach and two per cent by train.

The park authority is not responsible for public transport, and has no statutory powers or resources to determine the level of provision. But, it hopes to persuade local transport authorities - including North Yorkshire County Council, which on April 1 will be replaced by the new North Yorkshire Council - to make the national park more accessible to people without a car and also to encourage car owners to choose public transport to visit the Dales.

At a meeting in September last year, the authority adopted the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)’s ‘route map to carbon negative’, which included an ambition to reduce private car usage by 48 per cent by 2030 and increase the use of buses and trains.

Mark Corner, the authority’s member champion for the natural environment, said: “Public transport is not an area for which the national park authority is responsible. However, it’s increasingly clear that for reasons of climate mitigation and accessibility, we need those bodies who are responsible to bring about a situation where people use cars less and public transport more.”

He added: “We want visitors to be able to access the countryside for the benefit of their mental and physical wellbeing, and we want them to be able to do that, easily and sustainably.

“In addition we need to support people who live and work (in the national park) to help reduce their own carbon footprint by having the access to better public transport. It is well understood that some local people often have to travel long distances to access services and facilities.

“We are looking to set out our position on public transport in anticipation of working closely in partnership with local bodies that have responsibility for public transport - the new North Yorkshire Council (and others in the national park area) – to bring about a change in how people travel to the national park and move around within it.”

A report to Tuesday’s (March 28) full meeting of the authority in Bainbridge by its chief executive David Butterworth states: “public transport currently provides a basic level of coverage across many areas of the national park, but services are generally poorly integrated, and severely limited in terms of frequency and capacity in many areas, and do not effectively meet the needs of either visitors or residents.

“For example, the Leeds-Settle Carlisle railway line is generally regarded as one of the most scenic lines in the UK. However, the line fails to fulfil its potential for communities or tourism due to the lack of bus connectivity to and from the intermediate stations along the line.”

In addition, ‘bus services in the national park are limited and fragmented’, he says.

“Significant funding reductions by transport authorities locally and over the whole of the UK over the past ten years have resulted in a much depleted network. Volunteer-run community organisations try to cover gaps but their funding is limited and insecure.

“Many services only operate off-peak on Mondays to Fridays. North Yorkshire Council currently does not support services operating primarily for leisure or tourism or for those operating on a Sunday or during the evenings. Several popular visitor destinations are not served every weekday even during high summer.”

Mr Butterworth concludes: “Setting out an authority statement on public transport could be beneficial in discussions and potential future partnership working with those bodies that have responsibility for public transport within the national park.

“It could also assist in lobbying for improved public transport to the park, but this will be much more difficult. Such a statement will certainly be helpful as the authority and its partners set out their objectives for the area in the next management plan, which will run from 2025 to 2030.”