Pictured: £300m to turn Leeds into 'King's Cross-style station' allocated in Budget
Leeds Station has long struggled with capacity issues, and has been the worst in the UK for delays in recent years.
The Chancellor’s £300m in funding will turn Leeds Station into “a really beautiful, European-quality, King’s Cross-style” transport hub, according to Mayor Tracy Brabin.
John Healey injected an additional £200m in yesterday’s Budget, taking the total investment up to £303m for the refurbishment.
Leeds Station has long struggled with capacity issues, and has been the worst in the UK for delays in recent years.
It currently has around 30m passengers a year, but this will rise to 50m in 2040 after the completion of the Transpennine Route Upgrade and the additional Northern Powerhouse Rail trains.
The funding will help add three new entrances and exits to Leeds South Bank, the site of one of the Government’s new towns.
It will also create better flow of passengers, with a number of additional bridges added.
Ms Brabin said: “It’s making it a really beautiful, European-quality, Kings Cross-style station in Leeds.”
Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, added: "Leeds station is the gateway to West Yorkshire, and this extra £200m investment will turn it into a station this city can be proud of: modern, welcoming and built for the people who rely on it every single day.”
Mr Healey also announced that £15m was going to the Leeds College of Building, to accommodate more than 2,000 additional students.
This was celebrated by the MPs which cover LCB’s two campuses.
Leeds North West’s Katie White told The Yorkshire Post this was “fantastic news for our city and a major victory for Team Leeds.
“By investing in modern training facilities, we can equip more people with the skills needed for the jobs of the future, helping to address skills shortages and support the delivery of housing, infrastructure, retrofit and net zero projects.
“It will also play an important role in meeting the national goal of training 40,000 additional workers in high-demand trades by 2029. Putting Leeds at the forefront of tackling this issue.
“This is exactly what the Prime Minister meant when he promised good growth in every postcode: investing in people, creating opportunity, and backing Leeds to succeed.”
Leeds Central and Headingley MP Alex Sobel added: “This is a transformative package for students, staff, and those who work with the only specialist building college in the UK.
“Opportunities for young people to develop lifelong skills to build more homes could dramatically increase as a consequence.
“Leeds now has the opportunity to become the building capital of the UK.”