A new railway station is to be built in Bradford as the centrepiece of Northern Powerhouse Rail, in a decision the government says will “transform how people travel across the north”.

The station will be built on the site of the existing Bradford Interchange but, unlike the current terminus, will allow trains to run straight through between Leeds and Manchester. It is expected to be completed by the mid-2030s.

Northern leaders had regarded approval of the station as a critical test of political commitment to better rail links across the north of England, after years of delays to promised upgrades.

Why Bradford matters

Bradford is one of the largest cities in Britain without a through railway station. Trains arriving at Bradford Interchange have to reverse out, adding time to journeys and limiting the number of services that can run across the Pennines.

The Department for Transport said Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) would create a “turn-up-and-go railway” for passengers from Bradford, with trains frequent enough that people would not need to check a timetable.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “Today marks an important milestone for Bradford with a brand-new station that will transform how people travel across the north.”

The station will sit alongside Bradford’s Southern Gateway regeneration project and connect with the proposed West Yorkshire mass transit network, better known as the Leeds tram. Together, Bradford council says, the two schemes will bring more than £1bn in economic benefits, supporting new homes and jobs.

Reaction

Tracy Brabin, mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “Bradford has so much untapped potential, and faster, more frequent trains to Leeds and Manchester, and the transformation of the city centre will help to finally unleash it.”

Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said the decision represented “a long-term commitment to the city and the wider north”. He added: “Confidence is already building here, and this will help build it further.”

A long-promised railway

Northern Powerhouse Rail was first promised by the Conservatives in 2014, but no firm, funded plan emerged for the railway, which is intended to link cities from Liverpool to Hull.

In January the government announced that NPR would be delivered in three stages, with a funding cap of £45bn that could be topped up with local contributions. The scheme begins with improvements to existing lines around Yorkshire and also includes plans for a new line between Liverpool and Manchester.

As mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham – now prime minister – championed a new underground station at Manchester Piccadilly as part of the project, a proposal the Treasury did not approve. The rail industry is also expecting further work on improving links between Manchester and Birmingham to replace the scrapped northern leg of HS2, another cause Burnham long pushed.

Doncaster airport deal

Transport links in the north could be strengthened further after South Yorkshire leaders announced plans to bring Doncaster Sheffield airport into public ownership.

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and Doncaster city council are set to buy the airport from its owner, Peel, with the aim of restarting freight next year and passenger flights by spring 2028. The airport closed in November 2022 after its owners judged it commercially unviable.

Oliver Coppard, the mayor of South Yorkshire, said that, subject to formal approval, the deal “puts the future of DSA back in our hands”. He said the government’s devolution agenda had given local leaders the power to act: “When the airport closed, almost everything was against us; the owners did not want to sell, we had no legal powers to intervene or stop the airport from closing, and no backing from the government at the time. Today, the sky’s the limit.”

Lessons for Scotland

The announcements come as transport policy is under debate north of the border, where the Scottish government has set out plans to bring more bus services under public control. For passengers in Yorkshire, though, the practical benefits remain a decade away: construction of the new Bradford station is not expected to finish until the mid-2030s, and the timetable for the wider NPR network depends on funding decisions still to come.