Metro seeks £3m for new rail station

METRO is bidding for £3.3m from a fund managed by Network Rail as it looks to meet the rising costs of the proposed railway station at Low Moor.

Network Rail has asked for bids for cash from its New Stations Fund to help start projects that
are at an advanced stage of planning.

The Low Moor project has already been allocated funding of £5.5m by Metro but it emerged before Christmas that the estimated cost was now £7.2m and could rise by a further £500,000.

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Metro chairman Coun James Lewis said: “Metro and its partners are still fully committed to building a station at Low Moor.

“We all recognise that Low Moor brings strategic, social, regeneration and economic benefits, and will be a much-needed addition to West Yorkshire’s local rail network.

“However, because of the additional costs which would be incurred, we have made a bid for funding from the New Station Fund, which would allow the project to proceed more quickly and with a smaller contribution from council taxpayers.”

The new station is due to be built on the Caldervale Line as an additional stop between the Halifax and Bradford Interchange stations.

The Low Moor area had a station until 1965 when it was closed as part of the Beeching cuts.

The new station is due to open by early 2015.