‘Big price at stake’ if county fails to build mass transit system

A SENIOR West Yorkshire councillor says there will be “a big cost to be paid in terms of people’s health and inequalities” if leaders do not succeed in finally bringing a mass transit system to the county.

Kim Groves said it was important to “learn the lessons of the past” after several unsuccessful attempts to end Leeds’s status as the largest metro area in Western Europe without a light rail or metro.

And the chair of West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s transport committee told an online event that she wanted to build a strong base of local support so people could “look back with pride” at the transport system created.

Last month, West Yorkshire leaders set out how a new mass transit system “integrated into the urban fabric of every community it serves” could be built in the county by 2040.

The system, serving the county’s towns and cities, could start construction by the mid-2020s as part of a wider programme of transport investment over the next 20 years.

The authority, which leads on transport and economic growth for Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees and Calderdale, is publishing its Connectivity Infrastructure Plan and Mass Transit Vision 2040 and asking people to have their say.

Their plans were boosted in this week’s Budget after the area was awarded £7.4m to develop its bid to be submitted to the Government next year.

Coun Groves said: “It’s really important we learn the lessons of the past. We all know we’ve been here before but it’s more important that we meet the needs of West Yorkshire in the future, economically and environmentally.

“If we don’t get this right, then there’s a big cost to be paid in terms of people’s health and inequalities.”