Government urged to deliver on West Yorkshire mass transit promises

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin said it was “outrageous” Leeds remained the largest city in Western Europe without a light rail or metro network, despite numerous Government promises, and Mr Hunt has an opportunity to put that right in next week’s Spring budget.

But it comes as the Government is looking to cut the cost of major infrastructure projects. Transport Secretary Mark Harper announced yesterday the Birmingham to Crewe leg of HS2 will be delayed by two years to save money.

Under the current plans, construction on the £2bn mass transit network, that will link towns and cities across West Yorkshire, is due to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2040.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) is currently considering a number of possible routes, looking at how it can acquire the land that will be required and trying to decide whether trams, tram-train vehicles or modified buses should be used.

The Government has already provided £200m that is being used to draw up detailed plans for the transport network and WYCA is due to submit a business case requesting more funding next year.

If funding is approved, a line linking Leeds, Bradford Cleckheaton, Heckmondwike and Dewsbury could be completed and open to passengers, as part of phase one of the project, in 2031.

Ms Brabin said: “We are determined to create a better connected West Yorkshire with a cheaper, simpler and more reliable public transport network in order to get people out of their car to help address the climate emergency and boost our economy.

"But anyone who regularly uses public transport in our region knows we have some way to go to achieve that – with rail operators cancelling up to a third of their services, and bus companies working for a profit rather than the community.

“A mass transit system would help us modernise our public transport network and provide a better service for passengers. It would work in conjunction with our current network of buses and trains.”

She added: “I have written to the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt urging him to use next week's Budget to commit fully to building the West Yorkshire mass transit system, like his party said it would in its manifesto. And just like they have with Crossrail in London.

"We are currently working on our initial plans and design work for this project, but we need the Government to continue backing us with the funding.”

It is the third attempt to bring a mass transit system back to West Yorkshire, since Leeds’s tram network was shut down in 1959.

Plans for Leeds Supertram were abandoned by Tony Blair’s Government in 2005, due to concerns about the soaring cost, before a controversial bid to bring a £250m trolleybus network to the city was scrapped in 2016.

In a report, WYCA said those projects “did not succeed” but there “appears to be a strong political will to proceed this time”.

It added: “It will require long-term government backing, and the Mayor sought assurances from both major parties that they would continue to support the scheme.”

The Government’s £96bn Integrated Rail Plan promises to deliver a mass transit system.

“Bringing local transport systems outside London to the standards of the capital is a critical part of levelling up, driving growth and prosperity,” the plan stated.

“A mass transit system could transform local travel in and around Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Pontefract, Huddersfield and the whole of West Yorkshire.”