BUS wars which saw two companies fighting over the lucrative student market in York appear to have ended with one firm withdrawing its service.

Transdev is to stop running its Unibus 44 service from the city centre to the University of York campuses in Heslington, although the buses will keep running between the centre and Acomb with support from City of York Council.

Transdev announced the move in a statement on its website, saying: “We tried, but it’s time to move on”. It also confirmed the Unibus will stop running on December 4.

The company used to have the University of York’s contract for buses to and from the Heslington campuses, but lost out in 2015 to rivals First.

However, Transdev soon announced their routes were “here to stay”, and launched a commercial Unibus service to compete with First’s new UoY66 and UoY56 routes.

Transdev went on to complain about being excluded from university events such as the Freshers’ Fair, but spokespeople for the university said the tender process had been fair and open, and that once First won Transdev were treated in exactly the same way that First had been treated when they did not have the contract.

Transdev’s recent statement says: “Even when the university decided not to award us the new transport contract, despite what you told them in all of their own surveys, we decided to go it alone and run Unibus without their financial support.

“We wanted to keep on providing you with that amazing friendly service for which we have become known across the city. We refreshed our buses, and we were the first to offer amazing features such as free WiFi and USB power points on all of our buses.

“However, with lots of other buses running along the route, often copying what we do with the back-up of the university, it has made life very difficult for us. Sadly, no business can keep on running without making any money.”

The “friendly faces” of the Unibus drivers will be seen on other routes in the city, it added, and the firm will be refocussing its efforts elsewhere, like the City Zap service between York and Leeds.