Yorkshire-Luton service 300 timetable from the National Travel (NBC) Limited Coach Guide - Winter 1973/1974

The National Bus Company's 'National' coach branding had recently been launched and the first coach guide to be published with that image was for the Winter period 1973/1974. The Yorkshire-Luton service had been given service number 300 in the newly established National service numbering scheme and commenced at Bradford. The feeder line from Halifax was covered by the London service 303 and that from Leeds was covered by service 223, the 'South West Clipper'. Another 'South West Clipper' service acted as a feeder into Barnsley from York. The lack arrival times at Barnsley and of any notes or arrows between the columns in this timetable didn't make it overwhelmingly obvious that connectional facilities existed. The arrival time at Barnsley from the Halifax side was incorrect, it reads the same as that from Wakefield (0815 in both cases).

The road service licences remained in the names of the different operators for some time prior to being pulled together under National Travel and National Express. Circled codes are shown at the bottom of each timetable column to indicate the licenced operator(s). In this table we actually see two codes, 'YS' for the Yorkshire Services pool whose members were East Midland Motor Services, East Yorkshire Motor Services, West Yorkshire Road Car Company, Yorkshire Traction Company and Yorkshire Woollen District Transport).

The other code is 'SB' for the 'South West Clipper' joint services which were operated by Associated Motorways, East Midland Motor Services, East Yorkshire Motor Services, Hebble Motor Services (as successor to Yorkshire Woollen District Transport), J W Kitchin and Sons, Wallace Arnold Tours, West Yorkshire Road Car Company, Yorkshire Traction Company, Yelloway Motor Services. A collection of nine operators although if one was counting interested parties that number rises to eighteen when you consider that Associated Motorways comprised a pool of ten operators in itself!