A new railway station at Bradford has moved a step closer thanks to £400,000 awarded by the Department for Transport to the local authority to allow it to start master planning on the project.
Although the funding was announced today, Tuesday, 14 November, it forms part of the West Yorkshire Devolution deal that has already been announced and is in addition to £2bn committed to as part of Network North that will provide unprecedented levels of investment, in roads, buses and railways.
The site of the new station, its design, or the route that it will serve has not yet been decided. However, the planning will take into account how, while improving transport links and cutting journey times, the new station can best support regeneration in the surrounding area and maximise its potential to create new homes, jobs and local economic growth.
After the various requirements for the new station have been established, they will form part of a wider business case for the project that will include details on the station's proposed location and completion date.
Once plans are approved, £2bn will be invested to build the new station and a new line that will result in a significantly faster journey of 30 minutes to Manchester via Huddersfield.
Today's £400,000 announcement is in addition to a further £2.5bn pledged by Network North towards the West Yorkshire Mass Transit System that will improve connections between Leeds and Bradford, Huddersfield and Halifax.
Plans to electrify the Calder Valley Line between Bradford and Leeds are also proceeding which will reduce journey times from 20 minutes down to 12 minutes.
Rail Minister Huw Merriman said: “I have championed the case for a new railway station in Bradford for a long time and the funding announced today will make this commitment one step closer to becoming a reality.
“Bradford is soon to become the UK's ‘City of Culture' and our scheme to deliver a brand new station and railway line will help attract tourism, unlock access to neighbouring cities and provide the area with the huge regeneration opportunities it deserves to boost connectivity and economic growth.”
Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, said: “It is good to see this moving forward, everyone has worked so hard for so long to get this progressed. Improving connectivity for Bradford to the rest of the North is so important to enable greater investment, jobs and opportunities. There can be no successful North without Bradford being successful.”
Bradford wasting money is nothing new. It had the opportunity for years…..and indeed only recently….to link Forster Square and Exchange, but failed at every step of the way.
The disaster of pulling down the old Exchange Station was a blunder by both Bradford Council and BR.
Other disasters have included the Guided Busway and the shopping centre where a new cross city station should have gone.
In a similar vein the Bradford avoiding line from Bowling Jct has been a missed opportunity.
Electrification of the Calder Valley should have been done years ago based on the Third Rail System that ran between Bury and Manchester. Had it been retained it would have provided the basis for a Northern Electrification linking Liverpool to Hull. So Lancashire and Yorkshire linked completely.
The clowns that ran Manchester City Council wanted the Commonwealth Games and so Manchester Victoria was destroyed to make way for a stadium.
Manchester and BR were complicit in this. The additional closure of Manchester Exchange just adding to the disaster that is Manchester Transport.
Exchange and Victoria should have formed a major hub complete with Third Rail electrification.
An extensive Third Rail system could have been done at a fraction of the cost of what is now the Overhead 25kV system.
It could still be done with the present Third Rail system that serves Liverpool and Chester, with its spread eastwards.
At minimal cost and without costly work to install steelwork for the overhead wires, and the raising if bridges, we could have a system every bit as good as the Southern.
Additional sub-stations necessary for DC electrics would not cost a lot and could be incorporated architecturally with local area buildings.
Sadly Government just throws money at Councils who all favour the latest vanity project if they can get it in their area.
Third Rail electricrifucation is more environmentally friendly and attractive, as well as costing far less.
James Hennighan
Yorkshire, England
New third rail schemes are pretty much forbidden by the electricity at work act. Small ‘fill in’ projects can just about go ahead with a fight but large scale schemes are not allowed due to trespass incidents. We can argue about why the railway should care about trespassers but the fact is, no large scale third rail scheme will get the go ahead now. If they were converted to sheathed systems like the DLR there might be a case but then the cost go up, speed goes down and it would still be a fight. As a third rail man, I hate Ole for suburban rail but it allows higher speeds and greater connectivity.
It’s good that NR and the local authority now have the funds to deliver the new station in Bradford and the promised West Yorkshire Metro.
The current Forster Square Station is the most suitable location for the new Bradford City Station with adjacent bus interchange and city viaducts/tunnels to allow fast through services from Leeds to Halifax via Shipley.
The Calder Valley Line from Leeds to Bradford via Pudsey will be retained as an essential part of the West Yorkshire tram/train mass transit network.
Always heartening to see more taxpayers money squandered on a backwater and it will remain that way until a through route between Forster Square and Interchange is built opening up vaste travel opportunities rather than wasting minutes on a reversing entry n exit to/from Interchange n then crews changing ends.
Totally agree Simon. The planned new station is nowhere near the city centre. One through modern station is all that’s needed.
They missed the operturnty to linking the stations when the city centre had a large hole dug in it.
The only way it can be achieved now is to tramtrain the route. Run tramtrains from Addingham to Ilkley then on the rail route to Bradford Forster Square continue through on the streets to Interchange then onto Low Moor, Halifax and Spen Valley. Then add ons to the Airport , Otley, Pudsey and Leeds
Doesn’t need a new station, just a connection between Interchange and Forster Square. That’s where money should be spent. Its ridiculous that after all these years this hasn’t been done. Would also improve services. Bradford has a habit of wasting money on the Interchange.