City due to announce plans for station on powerhouse rail line

AMBITIONS FOR a new high speed rail station for Bradford could take a step forward today under plans to unlock the potential of one of Britain’s youngest and fastest growing cities.

Bradford Council’s leader Susan Hinchcliffe is expected to make an announcement over plans for a new station close to St James Wholesale Market which would open in 2030.

Civic and business leaders from across Yorkshire and the North are pressing the Government to uphold past promises by not scaling back ambitions for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) in the city.

Such a move would be the first step towards a high-speed network across the Pennines, and could help create an integrated urban area larger than Birmingham, they argue, creating tens of thousands of jobs and adding billions to the economy.

A new line would cut the travel time between Bradford and Manchester from over an hour to just 20 minutes, while a 20-minute journey to Leeds would become a seven-minute shuttle under the scheme.

Proposals for a new high speed rail line across the Pennines were first announced by former Chancellor George Osborne back in 2014.

Since then, the Government has repeated commitments to deliver the project in full, including in the 2019 General Election manifesto and in a speech by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps at the Great Northern Conference in October.

In February, however, the Government told Transport for the North to hold off on submitting its plans for NPR and there are now fears that Bradford may end up missing out altogether in the upcoming Integrated Rail Plan, which is due to be published later in the year.

Shadow Transport Secretary Jim McMahon claimed there were echoes of “empty promises”, adding: “We first heard the idea for a new high speed rail link across the Pennines in 2014.

“More than five years later, we’re no closer to getting it.

“If Ministers are serious about helping every region of the country rebuild, then that means delivering HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail in full, including direct city centre links between Leeds, Bradford and Manchester.”