Leeds City Council plans to invest £270m in transport improvements including building a new parkway rail station connecting to Leeds Bradford Airport and £180m for bus services.
The council said the new parkway station would be built on the existing Leeds to Harrogate line, connecting to the wider rail network and supporting the airport’s development.
It would also act as a park and ride station to be used by commuters to Leeds and Harrogate. Two other new rail stations are proposed at White Rose Shopping Centre and Office Park Thorpe Park to support job creation and housing growth along the East Leeds Extension.
A new transport strategy for the city also includes spending of more than £180m in bus services in Leeds to double passenger numbers within 10 years and improve air quality.
Leeds City Council leader Judith Blake said: ‘We have been given a clear message that people want improvements to be made to benefit all areas of the city as soon as possible, not in another 10 or 15 years’ time but now. I am very pleased to say that everything we are putting forward in this plan is deliverable in the short to medium-term.’
As well as bus infrastructure improvements funded by the council, operator First West Yorkshire has pledged to invest £71m to provide 284 new Euro VI or zero-emissions buses for its Leeds fleet by the end of 2020, reducing NOx emissions by 87%.
Funding for the strategy includes £173.5m retained by the city after trolleybus project was scrapped, and additional cash from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and private sector stakeholders, which increased the pot to more than £270m.
The council said it and its partners will continue to consider options for a mass transit scheme for Leeds, but this would ‘require significant additional investment and would not be deliverable by 2021’.
Work will also progress on preparing the city for high-speed HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail (formerly HS3), with the masterplan for the remodelled Leeds Station being developed.
If the plans are approved by an executive board meeting next week, they will go to the DfT for consideration.
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