Fight to save key Yorkshire transport schemes

Government spending cuts have left officials in the region fearing they may have to find nearly half the money themselves in order to get approval for schemes which are in contention for a slice of a 600m pot of funding.

It means that if the 235m scheme to put trolleybuses on the streets of Leeds is to go ahead, authorities in West Yorkshire could have to find 90m of the cost, far more than the 35m they were initially anticipating.

A revised bid for 18m to build two new rail stations – linked to the major regeneration of the Kirkstall Forge site to the west of Leeds – will now include local contributions of up to 7.5m, nearly double the original proposal.

Officials in South Yorkshire have also told officials from the Department of Transport that they will seek more local funding for their bid to get extra vehicles for Sheffield's Supertram, while they will seek to cut the cost of an express bus route between Sheffield and Rotherham. The schemes are all currently on hold as a result of the Government's spending review, with more than 50 schemes across the country having to submit new bids for funding later this year.

Before the election, projects needed local contributions – from councils, businesses, developers or other sources – of at least 10 per cent of the overall cost.

But now Kieran Preston, the director general of West Yorkshire's Passenger Transport Authority Metro, has revealed that Government officials have indicated that for schemes to go ahead "a local funding contribution in the order of 40 per cent should be sought".

Officials wanting their scheme to be considered had to submit an expression of interest last week before handing over a final bid later this year. Among the other projects in limbo are three park and ride schemes in York, a relief road and park and ride in Beverley and the Bedale-Aiskew-Leeming Bar bypass in North Yorkshire.

Although some decisions will not be made until the end of the year, Metro bosses hope to gain an advantage with an early final bid for the trolleybus scheme so Ministers could make a decision before the summer.

They are spending 250,000 carrying out more work to boost their case for the scheme, as well as seeking a meeting with Transport Secretary Philip Hammond.

Another batch of schemes including a new southern entrance to Leeds station has already been given a provisional green light, and campaigners will hope to get final approval in the next few weeks after cutting costs by five per cent and offering to secure 500,000 from developers.

Pudsey Tory MP Stuart Andrew is lobbying Ministers to ensure Leeds gets a fair hearing after missing out on supertram funding.