Bus travel in West Yorkshire will be free for everyone on Sunday June 5 to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The announcement has been made by the Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin who says all bus operators are supporting the day including Arriva, First and Transdev.

No special ticket will be required and passengers can simply hop on board and make as many trips as they like for free on any journey within West Yorkshire.

Ms Brabin said the aim of Free Bus Sunday was to encourage people to attend celebrations to mark a unique anniversary in British history.

She said: “With so many events taking place across the region I wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to attend, which is why I worked with local bus operators to fund our Free Bus Sunday for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

“If you’re attending events in Saltaire, Ripponden, Longwood, Morley or Wrenthorpe, going shopping in one of our town and city centres or just visiting family and friends, there will be buses to take you there and back for free.

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“I often use the bus to travel in West Yorkshire and I hope people who don’t normally do this will take a bus journey and be encouraged to use bus travel more often.

“I want buses to be the first choice for travel in West Yorkshire – not because you don’t have a car but because they’re more affordable, convenient to use and better for the environment. I hope I can see as many people as possible on board on Free Bus Sunday on June 5.”

Ms Brabin is determined to make bus travel cheaper in the longer term and added: “From September we’ll be reducing the cost of the multi-operator, multi-journey WY DaySaver from £5.50 to £4.50, as well as setting a maximum adult fare of £2 for any single journey in West Yorkshire, through our enhanced partnership with bus operators.”

Journeys outside West Yorkshire will be charged at the normal fare for that part of the trip; only the part of the trip wholly within West Yorkshire will be free on June 5.

Links to some of the events people can reach for free on Sunday June 5 are available on the Metro website at www.wymetro.com/jubilee.