Network Rail has announced their £161m investment plan to improve and increase capacity at the station, including a new platform.

Serving nearly 30 million passengers a year, Leeds station is the third busiest railway station outside of London in Britain.

A new transparent roof, made of Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene, or ETFE for short, is to be installed above the Southern concourse to improve the passenger experience. The structure will replace the dark and tired wooden roof currently sitting above the main concourse that exits on to New Station Street.

With a dedicated design and construction team in place, the project is expected to be complete in under a year, and most importantly in time for the UCI Road World Championship in Autumn 2019.

Construction on the new roof is set to begin late November / early December 2018, any changes to walking routes through the station will be clearly signposted with staff on hand to assist those who need it.

Network Rail also announced this week that a new ‘platform 0′ will be added to the station, which already has the most platforms outside of London. In addition to this, there are plans to extend the length of platforms 1 – 6 to cater for longer trains, as well as a major overhaul of the whole station’s signalling system and track alignment.

In order to allow space for the new platform, the number of long stay car park spaces will be reduced in phases from December 2018 until May 2019, when the car park will close completely until the platform is complete in 2021; Network Rail are working alongside Leeds City Council to promote alternative parking sites. Contractor parking spaces will remain.

Another major project, being funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, is the pedestrianisation of parts of New Station Street, in an effort to ease congestion and improve the flow of people through the station entrance. Construction is set to begin in early 2019.

What did the officials say?

Route Managing Director for Network Rail, Rob McIntosh said:

‘This trio of projects is the biggest investment seen in the station since ‘Leeds First’ in the early 2000s.” He continued to say: “I am delighted that we will start delivering benefits for passengers and the city as early as next autumn.”

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