RAIL and bus passengers are expected to be promised a new ‘London-style’ travelcard for the district, in today's pre-election Budget.

The move is likely to be the centrepiece of a long-promised devolution deal for West Yorkshire, to be announced by Chancellor George Osborne.

The agreement will also focus on cutting Whitehall red tape, allowing the combined authority to shift funds around more quickly to fund infrastructure schemes and skills programmes.

But it will fall way short of the radical devolution pledged to Manchester, after council chiefs rejected the Chancellor’s attempts to impose a single ‘metro mayor’ on West Yorkshire.

As a result, the district will only be given a deal similar to the one signed by Sheffield and neighbouring South Yorkshire authorities, which was widely criticised as a second best.

In contrast, Manchester – which did agree to a mayor – will run its bus services, keep £1 million a year from economic growth and be free to integrate health and social care services.

Councillor David Green, leader of Labour-run Bradford Council, has described a limited Sheffield-style deal as only a “baby step forward”, although talks were continuing down to the wire.

Today, Mr Green said it was vital that the five authorities – Bradford, Calderdale, Wakefield, Leeds and Wakefield – were given “devolution, rather than delegation”.

He said: “The danger is getting something that’s just administering national schemes at a local level, rather than the power to actually spend money to meet local needs.”

Mr Osborne is also expected to use his Budget speech to push forward his promise of a ‘Northern Powerhouse’, creating an economic rival to London.

He is under pressure to fund the £15bn ‘One North’ investment plan, which includes a proposed light-rail link, probably between Bradford Forster Square station and the airport.

The ambitious plan was given a warm welcome by the Chancellor last summer, but there is currently no budget to deliver it.

And Mr Osborne is likely to give more details of plans for a faster cross-Pennine rail route, dubbed ‘HS3’.

Last year, he asked Sir David Higgins, the chairman of the HS2 project, to put an interim report on his desk this month, setting out a proposed route.

However, rail chiefs have already suggested they favour the Manchester- Huddersfield-Leeds link by planning to electrify it – which would leave older, diesel trains on the Bradford line.

Meanwhile, the Chancellor is today expected to announce “the end of the annual tax return as we know it”, with the introduction of new digital tax accounts.

By 2020, people and small businesses will be able to manage their tax affairs at any time from a smartphone, computer or tablet, like an online bank account.