POLITICAL leaders will today demand a full commitment from the Government to deliver high-speed rail in West Yorkshire - with a new city centre station for Bradford.

They are calling for “clarity and reassurance” amid rumours that Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) could be scaled back, following the existing Trans-Pennine line through Huddersfield and Dewsbury rather than building a new high-speed rail line between Leeds and Manchester, which would serve Bradford.

Back in 2019 and shortly after becoming Prime Minister, Boris Johnson pledged to fund the latter. While on a visit to Birstall this week and questioned by the Telegraph & Argus if there is still a commitment to NPR with a stop in Bradford city centre, Mr Johnson said: “There is definitely a commitment to Northern Powerhouse Rail and a huge investment in railways in the North. 

“I’m going to have to get back to you to give you the chapter and verse on exactly where the stops are going to be, but we’re going ahead both with HS2 and with Northern Powerhouse Rail.”

Today, Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin and Shadow Transport Secretary Jim McMahon will meet at St James’ Market in Bradford - the proposed ‘hub’ station site - to urge the Government to publish the Integrated Rail Plain (IRP) before the summer recess, committing to building HS2 from Leeds to Sheffield, and a Bradford city centre station on the NPR line. 

Next week, Bradford Council’s decision-making Executive is due to discuss the future of the market site, with plans underway to move it to a site at least double the size elsewhere in the city.

This would make way for the NPR station and also allow the market to expand and become a “regional hub” for food trade, creating more jobs and turnover for local people. However, no sites have yet been identified for where the market could be moved to. 

It’s being recommended that when the Council’s Executive meets on July 6 they approve the St James’ Market relocation, plus a £250,000 site search and feasibility study.
The relocation would make way for NPR, existing rail services, as well as bus and mass transit and it’s projected this would save more than £1.5bn compared with the original proposal for an underground option - and could be delivered within a decade.

Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: “Bradford has huge potential as the youngest city in the UK. We are the future workforce of the whole of the North. 

“You can’t have a transformational Northern Powerhouse Rail without including Bradford. I hope the Prime Minister makes the right decision on the route over the next few weeks. We will continue making the case to make sure he does so.”

When concerns first emerged about the route, a Department for Transport (DfT) spokesperson said Transport for the North and the DfT have considered NPR options which are capable of serving both Bradford and Huddersfield.

Ms Brabin also sought reassurance from Transport Secretary Grant Shapps last week and said he had refuted recent reports about scaling back NPR in Bradford and had “reaffirmed his commitment to the city”.

Cllr Hinchcliffe said Bradford is being “held back” by poor transport links to Manchester and Leeds, but a city centre station would add more than £14billion to the economy and bring 14,000 jobs to the city by 2060. 

“We want to work with Government to deliver that vision - but we urgently need clarity and reassurance that our region will get the high-speed rail revolution we were promised,” she said.

The Shadow Transport Secretary added: “We need HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail delivered in full, looping Bradford into the high-speed rail network through a city centre station and connecting people here to opportunities in Manchester, Leeds and in all our great cities and towns across the North and Midlands.”

He said the Prime Minister missed a “massive opportunity” to commit to delivering this while on his visit to the area this week.

It comes as Bradford South MP Judith Cummins will today lead a debate on NPR. She said: “I will be challenging Government to live up to its promises on NPR and urging it to commit to Transport for the North’s proposal for a new rail line and city centre stop in Bradford.”