Rishi Sunak must green light transformational new railway station for Bradford - here's why: Professor Zahir Irani

The Bradford Breakthrough group supported by the Chamber of Commerce warned the future Prime Minister that dropping the proposed connection was a huge mistake that would cost the district billions of pounds in lost opportunities and could derail our ambitious regional regeneration programme.

In my presentation, I told the Chancellor very clearly the job of levelling up Bradford was not yet done. Like many politicians, he promised to look into it.

Now it appears that Mr Sunak was listening to our plea, as his government has suggested the station could be back on track. Rail Minister Huw Merriman MP told the Transport Select Committee last week that following the comments made by the Prime Minister during the hustings last summer, he had been looking at getting better options for Bradford assessed, enabling Bradford to put forward a new station to help with city centre regeneration.

Mr Merriman added: “That is something that we are very keen to do, which will obviously mean alterations to the Integrated Rail Plan, were we to do that. I believe that would be a positive. We have been working very positively with the Treasury and the Department for Levelling Up with regard to Bradford.”

Last year, the select committee recommended the government reconsider the case for a new station in Bradford and warned the district’s potential as an engine room of the Northern Powerhouse could be squandered if it were not given opportunities to thrive through better connectivity.

Given that Mr Merriman was previously chair of the same committee, he should have a very good understanding of Bradford’s status as the fifth-largest city district in England and, its youngest, with a huge capacity for growth and development, reflected in it being named the UK’s City of Culture for 2025.

The Department for Transport is due to publish its response to the committee’s recommendations before July 20 when the House of Commons rises for the summer recess. Observers expect it is likely to include funding to explore the options for a new railway station in Bradford, which will be a leap forward from our current position.

Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe has publicly welcomed the minister’s comments. She said: “We have never given up on our rail ambitions for Bradford. For them to say they are going to alter the Integrated Rail Plan, which originally left Bradford out, represents significant progress.”

Cllr Hinchcliffe added the council was also pressing the government for improvements to Forster Square station to enable better London connections.

She said the district’s major regeneration projects – notably City Village, One City Park, Darley Street Market and Bradford Live – were attracting interest from private sector investors and “now all they need is the certainty that the government is equally willing to invest in a much-needed future rail solution for Bradford to get us on the mainline”.

Connection to the promised high-speed line between Leeds and Manchester would bring massive social and economic benefits for Bradford, including a £30 billion boost over the next decade, the creation of 27,000 new jobs and a 10 per cent uplift in land values, according to credible forecasts. It would bring 6.7 million people and an area of annual economic output of £167 billion within a 35-minute journey of central Bradford. And it would open up 1.3 million job opportunities within 90 minutes of our district. Simply put, it would be utterly transformational.

As Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bradford, I know the difference it would make to our already successful institution. We literally change lives and equip the district’s young and diverse population with the skills and confidence they need to succeed. We are very proud to have been named England’s leading university for social mobility for 2021 and 2022.

This year, Bradford established itself as the UK’s largest student population for artificial intelligence and data analytics, another first for our institution. To continue to innovate and maintain being a destination of choice, we need to attract and retain talented and versatile staff and students that are mobile. Increasingly, we develop this talent and then see it leave our district.

A new, through railway station would have such a powerful multiplying impact, renewing pride, supporting regeneration and promoting clean growth in Bradford and acting as a catalyst for social, economic and cultural prosperity. It would help create a modern European city that can attract and retain talent, boost productivity, increase employment and leverage our diverse assets, while continuing to build a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient economy. Allows all our communities to thrive and prosper. It would also honour the levelling up promises made during successive electoral campaigns and help restore faith in the political process.

Leaving aside the politics, the principles of levelling up are sound. All of us would agree we need a much more equitable society with equality of opportunity, a greater level of wealth distribution and the opportunity to create more jobs and prosperity. I know from my past work as the chairman of the post-pandemic Bradford District Council Economic Recovery Board that Bradford faces many challenges but it also has enormous potential and a desperate desire to succeed. Improved rail connectivity would surely transform prospects for future generations of people in the district.

It could deliver the biggest upturn in fortunes of any major city in the UK. We just need the chance to succeed.

Professor Zahir Irani is Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Bradford