Parts of Skircoat Road Depot to be demolished

[Father Dougal McGuire]

As the title suggests, parts of Skircoat Road depot are set to be demolished this year with works supposedly commencing in March. Can't say I'm surprised, long overdue, not suitable for buses 20 years ago never mind now. The walls and beams have claimed countless mirrors and body panels over the years. Hopefully this will make way for more improvements to the Halifax operation... but bring on franchising I say...
(apologies for all images - cant copy and paste text from the app)

[pricel]

My question is how come first has publicly posted this? I doubt the passengers are interested in the depot but it is handy for some enthusiasts.

[Deleted]

I Agree it's long overdue, going by how rumours about either a replacement depot or Skircoat upgrade have been on/off for at least 10-15 years now.

Hopefully if WY gets franchising we follow Manchesters example & start buying land for both short & long term depot locations.

[jus363]

Feb 26, 2024 0:00:44 GMT 1 pricel said:

My question is how come first has publicly posted this? I doubt the passengers are interested in the depot but it is handy for some enthusiasts.

They haven't it's a staff notice.

[westyorkshirebus]

‘Parts of..’ seems to be underselling the works, Looking at the planning documents, it’s pretty much entirely going to be demolished, including the more modern 60s/70s office building (which is apparently sealed off out of bounds due to asbestos) Only a little bit more modern bit where the bus wash and fuelling is at the back of the site will remain

It looks like all that will remain of the tram sheds is a low wall, like what they did at Todmorden. The disused ‘house’ that fronts onto Skircoat Road will also be demolished

[mattb7tl]

Seems weird to do this now when franchising is on the horizon but then again weird investments have taken place in Manchester, perhaps there's a method behind the madness? 

[Deleted]

Feb 26, 2024 15:37:58 GMT 1 mattb7tl said:

Seems weird to do this now when franchising is on the horizon but then again weird investments have taken place in Manchester, perhaps there's a method behind the madness? 

Fixing the depot could add more market value to it than how much it costs to do the work making it a worthy investment for First, especially as a more open air depot makes it easier to install chargers for electric vehicles in the longer term.

[firstwest]

company update.