Council leaders call for improvements to transport network (From Keighley News)
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Call for infrastructure boost ahead of new Leeds-London rail link
7:00am Tuesday 29th January 2013 in News
By Jo Winrow, City Hall Reporter
Coun David Green
Investment in infrastructure is vital if Bradford’s road and rail network is to be “HS2-ready” in time for the new London-Leeds rail link opening, warned the leader of Bradford Council.
Councillor David Green welcomed yesterday’s announcement from the Government about its preferred route for the second stage of the high-speed rail network, which is expected to be up and running by 2033.
But Coun Green reiterated that it was now vital that electrification commitments were maintained and that the funding was put in place to support local infrastructure requirements.
His comments came as it was revealed that the location for a new station in central Leeds is to be the South Bank area of the city centre. It would be joined to the existing station by a pedestrian link and moving walkways.
The service is intended to cut journey times from Leeds to London by 50 minutes to one hour 22 minutes.
He said: “The announcement makes it more important than ever that we get a commitment for the start of the electrification of the Caldervale line and look at the improvements to the direct links north and south from Bradford.
“Clearly there will be some regional benefits which are to be welcomed and people and businesses need to be thinking how we can benefit from these. But in the meantime we have got to have the local and regional infrastructure in place to make sure we can all benefit.”
Other leaders from across the city-region also called for funding for infrastructure to be a top priority.
Leeds Council leader Councillor Keith Wakefield said: “The proposed station offers a unique opportunity to create a striking new gateway into the city centre, but will only work if the interchange links directly into Leeds Station and comes with a significant government package of investment in its infrastructure, road and rail links.”
Metro chairman Councillor James Lewis said it was a huge boost to the local economy. “But for the full potential of HS2 to be felt in Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield and Wakefield and the whole city-region as well as Leeds itself, we need to ensure that by the time high-speed trains start arriving we have a local transport network that is HS2-ready,” he warned.
Leeds City Region LEP chairman, Neil McLean, said: “HS2 will bring real benefits to all our cities by freeing capacity on the existing local rail network and improving connections to the capital and European markets, which in turn will shape business investment decisions and enhance our competitiveness on the world stage."
Comments(15)
webess
says...
8:21am Tue 29 Jan 13
The local road and rail infrastructure is completely clapped out and crying out for investment.
Transport links East/West are dire - try taking the railway from Hull to Liverpool to find out.
It's not possible to fly direct from the UK to some of the fastest growing cities in China
And finally. Our power stations are due to phased out before this scheme comes into action (assuming it's not delayed).
There you go, 4 better ways to spend this money. Not to mention that scientists at Bradford Uni have struggled to raise £3m to fund a significant anti-cancer breakthrough...
Joedavid
says...
8:29am Tue 29 Jan 13
We also need a better bus service to our own airport (LBA) the present bus service is unattractive and not a dedicated shuttle being really a Yeadon village local bus service.
mad matt
says...
8:49am Tue 29 Jan 13
collos25
says...
8:58am Tue 29 Jan 13
Yorkslad
says...
9:24am Tue 29 Jan 13
Joedavid wrote:There is a dedicated service to the aiport from bradford, in fact two bus services go to the airport from interchange...check your facts before posting invalid comments!
Will the Bradford bendi- bus serve this new Leeds Station? We also need a better bus service to our own airport (LBA) the present bus service is unattractive and not a dedicated shuttle being really a Yeadon village local bus service.
Yorkslad
says...
9:25am Tue 29 Jan 13
mad matt wrote:typical ingorant brainless comments form the moaners on this site...
Might help if they could get Metro to run busses on time as well, instead of drivers running early or busses missing altogether!
metro do not run the buses and haven't since October 1986!!
Joedavid
says...
10:21am Tue 29 Jan 13
Yorkslad wrote:Pardon?
Joedavid wrote:There is a dedicated service to the aiport from bradford, in fact two bus services go to the airport from interchange...check your facts before posting invalid comments!
Will the Bradford bendi- bus serve this new Leeds Station? We also need a better bus service to our own airport (LBA) the present bus service is unattractive and not a dedicated shuttle being really a Yeadon village local bus service.
Just recently used it, it is the 747 from BD2 goes to Yeadon village where all but ourselves got off and then went on to LBA.
Runs hourly daytime and takes almost half an hour.
June Oh
says...
11:31am Tue 29 Jan 13
Yorkslad wrote:Metro control the running of buses in West Yorkshire.
mad matt wrote:typical ingorant brainless comments form the moaners on this site...
Might help if they could get Metro to run busses on time as well, instead of drivers running early or busses missing altogether!
metro do not run the buses and haven't since October 1986!!
Outraged English Subject
says...
6:38pm Tue 29 Jan 13
MontyLeMar
says...
7:18pm Tue 29 Jan 13
thatsnotmyname wrote:Even better would be to scrap Forster Square and the Exchange station and create a new station in The Hole and electrify the line between Liverpool-Manchester
Pretty obvious we now need the crossrail between foster sq and the interchange for the region to benefit fully.
-Bradford-Leeds-Hull
. Westfield have had their chance and Bradford has all the High Street shops it can ever need just down the line in Leeds or Manchester. Talk of Bradford gearing up to be HS2-ready really is laughable. HS2 is all about Leeds. Companies deserted Bradford in the 80/90's in favour of Leeds because of the excellent rail link to London. If HS2 arrives, even more will want to relocate to Leeds. The best Bradford can hope for is a few crumbs from the top table. Maybe Leeds workers will want to buy our cheaper houses or use office cleaners living in Bradford?
Outraged English Subject
says...
7:39pm Tue 29 Jan 13
MontyLeMar wrote:Unequivocally correct!
thatsnotmyname wrote:Even better would be to scrap Forster Square and the Exchange station and create a new station in The Hole and electrify the line between Liverpool-Manchester
Pretty obvious we now need the crossrail between foster sq and the interchange for the region to benefit fully.
-Bradford-Leeds-Hull
. Westfield have had their chance and Bradford has all the High Street shops it can ever need just down the line in Leeds or Manchester. Talk of Bradford gearing up to be HS2-ready really is laughable. HS2 is all about Leeds. Companies deserted Bradford in the 80/90's in favour of Leeds because of the excellent rail link to London. If HS2 arrives, even more will want to relocate to Leeds. The best Bradford can hope for is a few crumbs from the top table. Maybe Leeds workers will want to buy our cheaper houses or use office cleaners living in Bradford?
webess
says...
8:01am Wed 30 Jan 13
MontyLeMar wrote:Three points
thatsnotmyname wrote:Even better would be to scrap Forster Square and the Exchange station and create a new station in The Hole and electrify the line between Liverpool-Manchester
Pretty obvious we now need the crossrail between foster sq and the interchange for the region to benefit fully.
-Bradford-Leeds-Hull
. Westfield have had their chance and Bradford has all the High Street shops it can ever need just down the line in Leeds or Manchester. Talk of Bradford gearing up to be HS2-ready really is laughable. HS2 is all about Leeds. Companies deserted Bradford in the 80/90's in favour of Leeds because of the excellent rail link to London. If HS2 arrives, even more will want to relocate to Leeds. The best Bradford can hope for is a few crumbs from the top table. Maybe Leeds workers will want to buy our cheaper houses or use office cleaners living in Bradford?
(1) Doncaster has better high speed rail links than Leeds, yet Donnie is clearly not performing well economically.
(2) The jobs created in Leeds in the 80/90's were nearly all in the public sector. No FTSE companies are based in Leeds, outlying areas such as Bradford have to make do with the over taxed & over regulated private sector.
(3) How many people actually travel from the office to London? I've worked in both Leeds and Bradford for decades. I've been to London 100's of times - on no single occasion have I set out from the office. Journey to London has always gone direct from home, therefore rail links from the office site have been irrelevant.
collos25
says...
10:09am Wed 30 Jan 13
Yorkslad wrote:The OP never said there were no buses read what he said ,the bus service at present is abysmal I have tried it its awful.
Joedavid wrote:There is a dedicated service to the aiport from bradford, in fact two bus services go to the airport from interchange...check your facts before posting invalid comments!
Will the Bradford bendi- bus serve this new Leeds Station? We also need a better bus service to our own airport (LBA) the present bus service is unattractive and not a dedicated shuttle being really a Yeadon village local bus service.
johnhem
says...
4:36pm Wed 30 Jan 13
thatsnotmyname says...
8:02am Tue 29 Jan 13