Guiseley railway station is in line for a £250,000 boost following an increase in passengers on the Wharfedale line.

Northern Spirit Ltd and Metro, who are working together on the massive improvement scheme, are seeking planning permission from Leeds City Council but have yet to agree on funding.

The announcement means that during the past two years almost £1m will have been spent on improvements to stations on the Wharfedale line. At present work costing £379,000 is being carried out at Menston and £135,000 has been spent on Burley-in-Wharfedale station. In addition, a new ticket office was built at Ilkley two years ago.

Northern Spirit Ltd is now seeking planning permission to provide a ticket office, waiting room, staff room and a heated waiting room on the Leeds bound line at Guiseley.

The car park has already been extended by 40 car spaces to 100 and a telephone was installed at the station in March.

Howard Keal, spokesman for Northern Spirit Ltd, said it was the company would match the building work with the surrounding area's stone and slate.

Mr Keal said he hoped the scheme at Guiseley would be completed before the Millennium.

"This work is all part of our plans for upgrading the stations on the Wharfedale line. We are looking at the provision of information display screens all along the line by the end of the year," he said.

"We are working to improve services for customers and year on year we are experiencing a 10 per cent increase in people who are using the Wharfedale route."

At Menston work has been carried out on providing extra car parking spaces, the opening of a staffed ticket sales office and the installation of customer information monitors and closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) should be in place within the next couple of months.

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