WHILE efforts to bring high-speed rail to Bradford continue, plans to upgrade another city centre station are still on track.

Bradford Forster Square station is in line for a complete transformation under a £15 million project unveiled by transport bosses last year.

The station building would be rebuilt with a sweeping wood-and-glass roof, two glass-fronted lifts, a cycle hub and shops.

New ‘pods’ housing waiting rooms and other facilities would be built under the railway arches and a piece of scrubland next to the platforms would become a colourful wildflower meadow.

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Pedestrian links to the city centre would also be overhauled and a new public space would be created in front of the station.

The revamp would be funded by the £1 billion West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund, which is overseen by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Bradford Council, station owners Network Rail and operators Arriva, Virgin and Northern Rail are also involved in the plans.

The Combined Authority is expected to officially approve the spending at a meeting in June.

Work on the scheme could start in 2018 to coincide with a major boost to the timetables which will mean direct trains departing to London every two hours. The scheme is due to be finished by 2021.

Meanwhile, separate work to install ticket barriers at Bradford Forster Square station has now begun.

James Vasey, of the Bradford Rail Users Group, welcomed the move.

He said while ticket barriers could sometimes look out-of-place in historic stations, “for commuter stations - and Bradford Forster Square is certainly a commuter station - they are useful for preventing ticketless travel”.

He also said he hoped the machines would work with new-style train tickets, unlike at Leeds station.

He said: “As anybody who has travelled through Leeds is aware, the ticket barriers don’t work with the new tickets. At the moment, they have a lot of people stood there, having a glance at tickets, rather than having a proper check.

“So as long as the barriers accept the new tickets, they will be fine.”

Mr Vasey added that fare-dodgers did not count in the passenger statistics for rail stations, so preventing ticketless travel could benefit Bradford Forster Square.

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