Railways in region on track for £4bn revamp

The plan includes £13.6m to spend on new platforms at Leeds station and £10m to expand capacity at Harrogate station as well as £13m to start pilot “tram train” services in South Yorkshire linking the rail network to the city’s Supertram system.

Yorkshire will also benefit from £240m to be spent on reducing bottlenecks on the East Coast Main Line linking the region to London and a further £77m making the route ready for the next generation of high speed trains known as Intercity Express.

In addition, the plan sets out how Network Rail will honour the Government’s earlier promises to electrify the trans-Pennine route to Manchester and deliver the £560m Northern Hub project which will add an extra 700 services daily across the North.

But in a sign of the pressures on Network Rail to cut costs, the plan forecasts the loss of 300 jobs by 2019 which it hopes to achieve through voluntary redundancies and staff turnover.

Phil Verster, Network Rail’s managing director for the route, said: “Increasingly we have to balance the need to build more infrastructure, run trains on time and manage costs, and in many areas choices will need to be made.”

The spending plans are designed to meet growing demand for rail services in Yorkshire with the number of passengers using Leeds station in the morning rush hour alone set to rise by more than 5,000 in the next five years.

Mark Goldstone, head of policy at the Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Of the more localised schemes, the turn back at Micklefield will make significant improvements to overcrowding in the Leeds area, likewise planned investment at Harrogate and Leeds stations are much needed if we are to make the rail experience in the region more satisfactory.

“The chamber has been a long standing campaigner for improvements to Leeds station, which is one of the busiest in the country; it is plagued by capacity issues and needs a significant facelift if it is to provide the welcome to visitors, commuters and investors that a city like Leeds deserves.”

City of York Council leader James Alexander said: “I’m pleased to hear this investment commitment from Network Rail which dovetails with the work we are involved in, alongside fellow local authorities in the East Coast Mainline Group, to build a business case for further investment in key sites along the line, which will significantly improve its capacity, reliability and connectivity.”

However, the spending announcement comes just days after commuters faced above inflation New Year fare rises.

Richard Hebditch, campaigns director for the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “The Government says fare rises are to pay for new investment and there is new investment going into the railways but the big problem for many is that by increasing the cost of buying tickets fewer people will actually be able to benefit from the investments that have been outlined.

“The result of 10 years of fare rises means the balance of the cost of the railway has moved towards the farepayer. We think it is time to recognise that, as with roads, there is a role for public spending to maintain and improve infrastructure.”