Bid for millions in funds for transport

REGIONS: Transport bosses in Yorkshire have submitted a bid to Ministers for hundreds of millions of pounds of funding to pay for improvements including a new railway station in the city.

The Leeds City Region bid to the Department for Transport is asking for half a billion pounds of improvements through the Transforming Cities Fund.

TRANSPORT BOSSES in Yorkshire have submitted a bid to Ministers for hundreds of millions of pounds of funding to pay for improvements including a new railway station in Leeds, two new bus park and rides, six priority bus routes and 800 new cycle parking spaces.

The Leeds City Region bid to the Department for Transport is asking for just under half a billion pounds worth of improvements through the Transforming Cities Fund, first announced under the Theresa May government in 2017.

It was submitted to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on November 28 but has only been revealed now the General Election “purdah” period is over.

The total value of the fund is now £2.45bn, but half is reserved for the areas of the country with fully-implemented devolution deals, meaning the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Sheffield City Region have to bid for the remainder.

The Government is expected to announce the results of the bids in March. The Sheffield City Region combined authority, led by metro mayor Dan Jarvis, has submitted a bid worth £220m.

According to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, its funding bid, if successful, will result in more than 1,100 new jobs being created, £1bn being added to the local economy and a reduction of up to 15,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from transport by 2036.

Kim Groves, the chair of the Combined Authority Transport Committee, said: “Our Transforming Cities Fund bid aims to engender a transformational change in behaviour.”

Transport bosses claim better access to rail stations, bus priority along key transport corridors and improved facilities will mean 33 million rail journeys a year made easier for local passengers, and more than eight million additional journeys on West Yorkshire’s buses.

Among the schemes are:

■ Major works to the front of Leeds station to improve access for people travelling by foot or bike, including a 700-space secure cycle parking facility.

■ A new rail station at the White Rose shopping centre in Leeds.

■ Skipton railway station and bus station in Craven district will have better connections for people walking and travelling by bicycle and there would also be

Our bid aims to engender a transformational change to behaviour. Kim Groves, West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

enhanced cycling and walking routes.

■ Access to Harrogate rail and bus stations will be improved by the creation of a more pedestrianfriendly environment.

■ A refurbishment of Huddersfield bus station and an upgrade of the town’s rail station will improve public transport access.

■ Wakefield city centre will be transformed and traffic in the Northern and Civic Quarters reduced.

Leaders are also asking for £20m to continue work on finding a mass transit solution, with Leeds the biggest city in Western Europe not to have such a system.

And a bid has been submitted for £23m to stop the collapse of the Queensbury Tunnel between Bradford and Halifax and allow it