Forster Square lined up for £24m investment
The Department for Transport has confirmed that the Bradford railway station is to receive a new platform, reducing congestion and opening up the possibility of tripling London services.
Visiting the city today, rail Minister Huw Merriman confirmed the funding as part of a plan to reduce delays and futureproof the station for “generations to come”.
The new platform will ease congestion and improve access into the city for passengers, commuters and tourists.
Once complete – and subject to future funding decisions – this could result in an extra five LNER services a day, more than tripling the current provision.
The Forster Square news follows other work to improve Bradford’s connectivity, the West Yorkshire city being one of the worst-connected conurbations in England. A new station is being masterplanned, following a £400,000 funding slug from the DfT in November.
Merriman said: “Bradford is benefitting from serious investment in rail infrastructure, with £24m towards a new platform for Forster Square Station helping to improve rail journeys, increase rail services and better connect passengers.
“This investment follows £2bn for Bradford to better connect the city including with a new station and to facilitate faster rail journeys to Manchester via Huddersfield as part of our Network North plan, with further funding recently announced to help with the planning work for that station – demonstrating this Government’s plan to invest in rail infrastructure in the region.”
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council said: “I’m really pleased we’ve been able to secure this new investment from Government.
“It’s good to see they now recognise the value of Bradford being better connected to the entire Northern economy. The new platform at Forster Square Station will provide much needed additional capacity and connectivity for Bradford in time for the district’s year as City of Culture in 2025 and for generations to come enabling greater mobility and access to opportunity across the district.”
The station currently records around 2m journeys a year.
