£24M announced to fund new platform at station in Bradford

Rail minister Huw Merriman has announced Bradford will receive £24M investment to go towards building a new platform at Forster Square station in the city.The new platform will ease congestion and improve access into the city for passengers, commuters and tourists, while reducing delays and futureproofing the station for generations to come, according to the Department for Transport (DfT)Once complete, subject to future funding decisions, the new platform will have the capacity for five more London North Eastern Railway (LNER) services a day, more than tripling the current provision.This announcement comes as Bradford prepares to become the UK’s City of Culture in 2025 and in the face of the West Yorkshire city being revealed to be one of the worst connected conurbations in the UK.To combat this, the DfT put forward £400,000 for the creation of a masterplan for a new £2bn Bradford Station in November last year.A new Bradford station has been on and off the table for several years. It was included in the initial Northern Powerhouse Rail proposal and was hailed by the likes of designer Arup and Mott MacDonald as “essential” for delivering economic growth in the North. However, when the government released its Integrated Rail Plan in November 2021, the plan was cancelled as there was reportedly “no demonstrable business case” for it.Earlier this month, the DfT admitted to it does not yet have a business case or cost calculations to justify its £2bn pledge for the new Bradford station but will continue to develop plans which will see the station become ‘the King’s Cross of the North’.Merriman said: “Bradford is benefitting from serious investment in rail infrastructure with £24 million towards a new platform for Forster Square Station helping to improve rail journeys, increase rail services and better connect passengers.“This investment follows £2bn for Bradford to better connect the city, including with a new station, and to facilitate faster rail journeys to Manchester via Huddersfield as part of our Network North plan, with further funding recently announced to help with the planning work for that station – demonstrating this government’s plan to invest in rail infrastructure in the region.”Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: “I’m really pleased we’ve been able to secure this new investment from government. It’s good to see they now recognise the value of Bradford being better connected to the entire Northern economy.“The new platform at Forster Square Station will provide much-needed additional capacity and connectivity for Bradford in time for the district’s year as City of Culture in 2025 and for generations to come, enabling greater mobility and access to opportunity across the district.”Network Rail North and East route route director Matt Rice said: “This funding will enable us to deliver extra platform capacity at Bradford Forster Square and allow for improved rail connections for passengers in the future.“We look forward to working with the DfT, Bradford Council and other stakeholders to deliver these upgrades for people travelling to and from the city.“The announcement comes on top of £500M previously committed to upgrade and electrify the railway between Bradford and Leeds and a further £2.5bn Network North pledge to support the West Yorkshire Mass Transit System, which will improve connections between Leeds and Bradford, Huddersfield and Halifax.”Like what you’ve read?