More trains between Bradford and London confirmed using budget funding
They'll be introduced next May
Last updated 4th Nov 2024
MORE trains between Bradford and London will be introduced in May after funding for Bradford Forster Square Station was included in the Government’s Autumn Budget.
The station was mentioned during Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ speech in the House of Commons last Wednesday.
However it was initially unclear what the investment in the station was.
Bradford Council’s Leader has now confirmed that the investment will be in the form of new trains between Bradford and London.
Earlier this year the Conservative Government announced £24m of funding to create a new platform at the station that would allow an increased number of trains between Bradford and the capital.
It could mean an extra five LNER trains stopping at the station each day.
But that infrastructure funding did not include the funding to provide those new services.
Bradford Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe said the funding announced in the budget was for those extra services.
When then-rail minister Huw Merriman visited the station to announce the new platform in January he said it would “improve rail journeys, increase rail services and better connect passengers”.
The new services were due to be introduced during 2025 – when Bradford celebrates its year as City of Culture.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after a meeting of West Yorkshire Combined Authority on Thursday, during which the budget was discussed, Cllr Hinchcliffe said: “I’m pleased that this is going to be in place for City of Culture. I’m sure we would not have got this investment without being City of Culture. It has focused minds.”
She said the new services will be introduced in the May 2025 timetable changes.
She said the funding for the Transpennine Express upgrade mentioned in the Budget was also positive for the district, as the new £100m rail depot being built in Shipley was linked to this upgrade.
News on whether the £2bn investment for a new station in Bradford pledged by the Conservatives will still go ahead is expected in a Government spending review to take place next year, Cllr Hinchcliffe added.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted the Department for Transport for more information about the investment, but has yet to receive a response.
West Yorkshire’s Mass Transit system, which will see a tram line between Bradford and Leeds, was also supported in the budget.
Work on the new platform at Forster Square is well underway, and is expected to be completed by Spring.