Transport chiefs say a new entrance at Granary Wharf is needed to cope with increasing passenger numbers, but admit it will save people only a four-minute walk to the riverside and canal basin.

The public transport authority Metro and Network Rail are developing the scheme, which will allow people to get in and out of Leeds City Station from both sides of the River Aire around Granary Wharf.

The proposed entrance will be at the side of the Blue flats and will include ticket barriers, closed circuit TV cameras, lifts, escalators and stairs leading to a new concourse at the end of the current station footbridge.

Public exhibitions are being held at the station from today for passengers to comment on the proposals and the designs.

The route director for Network Rail, Richard Lungmuss, said: "More than 100,000 people come through Leeds station on a normal weekday and the number of passengers is steadily increasing.

"This new entrance will not only improve access for those coming into the station from the south, but will also help us to manage future demand.

"This is the first stage in a range of exciting plans for the station which will continue to improve facilities and services for passengers."

The entrance has been carefully designed on a curved theme, minimising its size while remaining "modern, accessible and attractive", according to a Network Rail spokeswoman.

Because two large flats blocks sit either side of the proposed entrance, the designers are proposing to use opaque glass so that commuters cannot see into their properties as they use the escalators.

Concerns of residents and issues around lighting and security have yet to be resolved and are expected to remain contentious.

Rail passengers who would potentially use the southern entrance are forecast to increase by 10 per cent a year until 2011.

Metro has said the entrance will speed up the movement of passengers through the station, which is getting busier every year.

The chairman of Metro, Leeds Liberal Democrat councillor Ryk Downes, claimed the entrance would create a faster route to places such as Holbeck Urban Village and Bridgewater Place.

Coun Downes said: "Together with proposed new stations at Kirkstall Forge, Apperley Bridge and Low Moor, this is a significant investment in local rail travel and the local economy by Metro and Network Rail."

The chairman of the City Centre Partnership Board, Coun Barry Anderson, added: "This administration has been keen to open up the train station to the southern side of the city centre for a number of years.

"With over 17,000 commuters expected to use the southern entrance every day the benefits this would bring to our new and developing schemes, such as Granary Wharf and the Holbeck Urban Village, would be obvious.

"There are still a number of issues to be resolved, such as impact on surrounding residents, lighting and security issues, access for taxis and drop-offs and wider parking space.

"The scheme is still going through the planning process, so I expect these issues to be addressed in due course. Providing some of these issues can be resolved, I am sure that this scheme will bring significant benefits to the city centre and Leeds as a whole."

A planning application is likely to be submitted next month and the council will then conduct a further round of public consultation. If approved, the new entrance could be open by 2012.

If a funding bid is successful, 90 per cent of the £15m will come from the Department for Transport, the remainder being funded locally.

Comments on the scheme can be made at www.wymetro.com/ leedssouthern and exhibitions are taking place at the station today, tomorrow and Monday as well as Monday, August 24 and Tuesday, August 25.


Workers give cool response

Plans for a £15m new entrance at Leeds City Station received a lukewarm response in a straw poll by the Yorkshire Post.

Jo Lanham, 25, on a break from her job as a customer services consultant in Granary Wharf, suggested that the cash would be better invested in "decent trains" to replace "horrible old ones".

However, barman Christian Mercer, 19, who also works in Granary Wharf, was more sympathetic to the plans, saying a new southern entrance would be convenient for visiting hotel users.