It is encouraging that train operators Grand Central Railway, who were rebuffed by the Office of Rail Regulation when they previously applied to introduce more trains between London and Bradford, have not given up the fight. Let's hope that the amended "wish list" they have come up with has greater success.

It would be excellent for Bradford if the direct rail links with the capital were boosted to the extent that Grand Central is suggesting. Four through trains a day between this city and King's Cross would be a big improvement on the current token direct links provided by GNER. At present the need to change at Leeds throughout most of the day is inconvenient and time-consuming.

Add to those trains a new hourly service between Bradford and Doncaster, calling at Halifax, Brighouse, Wakefield Kirkgate and Pontefract and connecting with trains running up and down the East Coast Main Line, and we are getting rather closer to the national rail links that Bradford needs and deserves. And on top of that is the interesting prospect of a new service between London Euston and Huddersfield and Bradford in three or four years.

Even without that, though, the plans put forward by Grand Central would help to make Bradford more accessible for people seeking to set up businesses here and more attractive for any government departments wanting to move north.

If the company can satisfy the sort of concerns expressed by Terry Rooney MP about their sources of funding, they deserve a chance to show what they can do.