Overview

Harrogate Bus Station is a quaint bus terminal in the centre of Harrogate, little more than a skip from the train station and bang in the middle of Harrogate city centre. It looks rather old world, but it happens to host the UK's first fully electric bus fleet. There are some thoughtful access features, but one particularly noticeable challenge for those using wheelchairs and power chairs. Read on to learn more.

Transport & Parking

The closest railway station is Harrogate Railway Station, which is 135 metres away and has both a short stay and long stay car park. There is no parking at the bus station, but there are the two locations mentioned above or the Victoria Car Park, which offers free parking for Blue Badge holders and has 27 accessible parking spaces.

Access

Harrogate bus station is open-air, so there are no doors to worry about. The whole station sits on a slope, with bus stand 1 at the higher end and bus stand 13 at the lower. Tactile paving runs right through the station and leads to each bus stop. That’s a positive, but the station takes up all of the pavement, so it doubles as a busy walkway crowded with people waiting for buses as well as those just passing through. There are kiosks at either end. The one at the upper end was closed when I visited. There was a leaflet stand attached to the wall outside, which wasn’t reachable from a seated height, so I had to prop myself against the wall to take one. At the lower end, the kiosk seemed to serve as a security booth. The station has plenty of metal benches, and overhead LED displays show arrival and departure times, so there are plenty of seating options and fairly clear guidance on when the next bus is due. I did note the absence of a hearing loop, which is disappointing. I departed from this station twice on my trip, which highlighted a rather negative aspect of boarding. As the ramp is set down right at the end of the platform, wheelchair users need to turn onto the ramp to board the bus, and because the area is so tight, there isn’t enough room to build momentum, so I needed a push to get on. The staff were kind and helpful, but it would be better if the ramp aided access a little more. This is difficult enough in a manual chair, let alone a power chair. This was frustrating because the other bus stops on the same route, despite being kerbside, were far easier to board from. It’s frustrating that the bus station is less accessible than any other city street the bus stops on. Once on board, though, there was a wheelchair space and a buggy space on either side with USB chargers in each area.

Toilets

There are no accessible toilets at this location, though there is one across the street in the Victoria Shopping Centre, which requires a RADAR key to access and one in the nearby train station, but you'll need to go through the ticket barriers to reach it.

Staff

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Photos