Apperley Bridge railway station has been given the go ahead by the Government as part of a £5 billion injection to get the economy moving.

Work is expected to start as soon as the summer of 2013 and the station could be operational by the end of 2014.

The Leeds Rail Growth programme, which also includes plans for at station at Kirkstall Forge, was one of 22 schemes the Government last year said it liked, but savings needed to be found.

Yesterday Chancellor George Osborne gave it the green light along with six other projects across the region.

Metro chairman Councillor James Lewis said: “Metro has pushed for the building of these two new stations which will support new jobs, reduce traffic on busy routes between Leeds and Bradford and ease congestion in Leeds city centre.

“Designed with a 300-space car park, a new station at Apperley Bridge will be used by around a million passengers each year and will remove 200,000 car journeys from busy local roads annually. With a new station at Low Moor going ahead as well this means two new rail stations for the Bradford district.”

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