A bus service which enables people from northern towns and cities to travel into the Yorkshire Dales on Sundays and Bank Holidays has been shortlisted for a major national transport award.

The DalesBus service is a network of bus routes linking urban centres with popular walking destinations in the Dales.

It is now one of five projects in the running for the Most Innovative Transport Project category of the National Transport Awards.

The awards, which aim to shine a spotlight on the achievements of local transport projects, will be handed out at a ceremony in London on October 17.

“We are thrilled that the ground-breaking work of the DalesBus has been recognised as a worthy contender for this national award,” said Colin Speakman, director of the Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company, which manages the network.

The DalesBus service aims to provide a joined-up network of public transport options for people from the major conurbations of West Yorkshire, Lancashire and the North East to enable them to travel into the heart of the Dales or to the Nidderdale and Forest of Bowland Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Set up in 2007, the service has grown from a single route replacing a withdrawn bus service between Ilkley, Bolton Abbey and Skipton to a network of 14 routes into the Dales.

Passenger numbers have grown dramatically despite poor summers and economic recession, reaching 45,500 passenger journeys in the last financial year.