Bus station to receive £375k to fix leaking roof

Work to replace the roof at Leeds Bus Station is not expected to start for a further 12 months

A bus station in West Yorkshire will receive £375,000 to pay for temporary repairs to its leaking roof.

The funding was approved for Leeds Bus Station at a West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) transport committee meeting on Friday.

Dave Haskins, WYCA interim director and transport operations and passenger experience, said remedial work carried out to make the building waterproof had been unsuccessful.

“We have a passenger environment which I find less than satisfactory at the moment due to unacceptable levels of water ingress,” he said.

The meeting heard the funding will pay for remedial works, as work to replace the roof is not expected to start for a further 12 months, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

WYCA is expected to release £3.5m for a complete replacement of the 23,680 sq ft (2,200 sq m) glass roof at Leeds, although it has not been confirmed when this will happen.

The first phase of a major £6.1m refurbishment of the station was completed in September 2022 but did not include a new roof.

The WYCA’s transport committee meeting heard the work could not be completed at the time due to “funding restraints” and “the complexities of the roof structure”

A report said: “There has been a long-standing problem with water ingress during wet and severe weather conditions, which has continued to cause disruption to bus passengers and the operational environment.

“The bus station roof is a complex structure which houses a number of critical services, including fire and safety systems.

“Further detailed survey work is necessary to understand the potential scope of the scheme.”

Wakefield councillor Jakob Williamson told the meeting he was “happy to support" the project in Leeds, but added there were similar problems with Wakefield bus station.

Wakefield’s station is owned by operator Arriva but could soon become the responsibility of WYCA if bus services are brought back under public control.

In March, West Yorkshire's mayor Tracy Brabin recommended bus franchising as the best way to improve the network across the region.

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