Bradford Council leader calls for new PM to deliver on rail pledge

A report found Bradford had the worst rail connections of any major British conurbation

Bradford Council's boss has called for a meeting with new prime minister Liz Truss to discuss her pledge to bring Northern Powerhouse Rail to the city.

Ms Truss previously said she would reverse the government's decision to curtail much of the proposed high speed rail line, including its Bradford stop.

Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said she would "hold her to account".

A Bradford stop on the planned route would boost the city's economy by £30bn over 10 years, leaders have claimed.

Transport for the North, which advises the Department for Transport, had earlier recommended a whole new line being built between Liverpool and Leeds.

Bradford had hoped for a new station as part of a Northern Powerhouse Rail high speed line

It would have seen Bradford, one of the UK's worst-connected cities, linked up on a high speed route to regional neighbours.

But, the Integrated Rail Plan announced in November only made provision for a new line between Warrington in Cheshire and Marsden in West Yorkshire, with upgrades to the existing network planned elsewhere.

However, speaking in July during the first official hustings of the Tory leadership campaign, Ms Truss told an audience in West Yorkshire: "I will get Northern Powerhouse Rail built."

Calling for a meeting with the new prime minister, Ms Hinchcliffe said a Bradford city centre stop on a high speed line connecting northern cities would "generate transformational economic growth of £30bn, create 27,000 new jobs and unlock a regeneration site three times the size of Canary Wharf".

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She added: "Our capacity for economic growth has seen Bradford ranked as the country's number one levelling-up opportunity.

"Locally we are investing in a pipeline of projects to stimulate regeneration in our city and town centres.

"We do, however, need support from government at a time when the cost of living crisis is hitting households and businesses so hard, and it is also putting unprecedented pressure on council budgets."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, Labour's Tracy Brabin, has backed Ms Hinchcliffe's call.

She asked Ms Truss to "deliver on her pledge to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail in full, with that vital new station in Bradford".