More than £4 million is to be spent putting on more bus services between Huddersfield and Halifax.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority is to work with two bus operators to improve services between the two towns with a focus on better connecting Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital.

Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin is working on the changes with First West Yorkshire and Transdev Blazefield with an extra £4.3 million over three years coming from the Bus Service Improvement Programme (BSIP).

It is part of the Combined Authority’s plan to create a better-connected West Yorkshire with cheaper, more reliable and more sustainable bus services.

In the longer-term Mayor Brabin wants to bring bus services back under public control.

People in Kirklees and Calderdale will benefit from more express services between Huddersfield and Halifax, as well as better links between the district’s hospitals. Precise details on how the scheme will work are being finalised with the operators.

The Combined Authority was awarded nearly £70 million last year to support the delivery of its BSIP.

The authority will fund the enhanced services for the first three years, with operators agreeing to take commercial risk in years four and five, with the aim of making them financially sustainable in the longer term.

It is hoped that the new schemes will be operational from September 2023 onwards.

Clr Manisha Kaushik, deputy chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee and a Kirklees councillor for Crosland Moor & Netherton, said: “This is fantastic news for people in Kirklees and Calderdale.

“This investment will result in more express services between Huddersfield and Halifax, while also providing better links between the district’s hospitals.

“This announcement shows that we are working with operators to put customers at the heart of more reliable, cheaper and sustainable bus services.”