Q1
West & North Yorkshire Business
34 TRANSPORT
Rail – reflections on a decade long campaign January saw completion of £161m of investment into Leeds station. Upgrades include the new platform 0 along with lengthening of other platforms to accommodate more trains per hour. This follows more than a decade of campaigning by the Chamber for Network Rail and Government to recognise the role of Leeds station as the gateway into Yorkshire’s largest economic centre. It was June 2011 when Network Rail’s then Director of Property addressed Chamber members, informing them “Not to expect a St Pancras in Leeds” and proceeded to make them aware of a series of what later were described as ‘maintenance projects’. The backlash from this session was strong and the Chamber was provided in no uncertain terms with a mandate to represent businesses across the Leeds City Region. Working with Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the Leeds Rail Programme Board was established. This group brought together key rail stakeholders and continues to meet regularly to ensure the business and civic leadership of the city are able to contribute to conversations and decision making. The Chamber welcomed the completion of the station upgrades with Chair of West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, Amanda Beresford, saying, “The investments made to Leeds Station are hugely important in demonstrating a commitment to realising the potential contained within the city. The £161m upgrades have already begun to improve regional connectivity, service reliability and passenger experience.” Despite these improvements, Leeds Station remains the third largest cause of delays to the national rail network, with impacts felt as far away as Plymouth and Aberdeen. The recently published, and hugely disappointing, Integrated Rail Plan was an opportunity to fix the problems but fell far short of what was promised and expected from Government. The Chamber is still of the view that additional improvements are needed and the building of new high speed infrastructure will free up capacity and create more connectivity to ensure inter-city, commuter services and freight movements can operate efficiently and effectively. Rail investment will continue to be a priority for the Chamber as we believe it will be a key component to levelling up the north.
