Bradford Forster Square Station: New rail platform set to add £4million a year to local economy

Platform 0 opened at Bradford Forster Square Station on Monday, when the first of the new Bradford to Kings Cross services departed at 11.17am.

It follows a £35m investment from Government.

The opening of the long-awaited platform was accompanied by a performance from the Bantam of the Opera choir and soprano Lesley Garrett, as well as a ukulele band.

At the same time musicians from Bradford were in Kings Cross ahead of the train’s arrival, giving spirited performances for commuters in the capital.

The new platform will allow LNER to increase the number of direct trains from Bradford to Kings Cross from two a day to seven a day.

The new platform was announced by the Conservative Government early last year as a way to improve access to the city for Bradford’s City of Culture year.

Around £27m has been invested in the new platform, and Shipley is also getting longer platforms so the trains can stop there.

In total the investment from Government has been around £35m.

At the opening of the platform on Monday Dan Bates, Executive Director of Bradford City of Culture, said the new services will allow more people visit the numerous events on in Bradford for the remainder of the year.

This includes the estimated 100,000 people who are expected to attend the Turner Prize exhibition in Cartwright Hall later this year.

The new timetable introduced on Monday means the first weekday train from London King’s Cross to Bradford Forster Square now arrives at 9:52am – compared with 7:30pm previously.

It will also create an extra 1.9 million seats per year on routes between the two cities.

At the launch, Bradford Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe said the new platform would not have come around if not for Government support and Bradford’s status as City of Culture.

She said: “We’ve been trying for 14 years to get more services into Bradford. It shows what you can achieve when everyone comes round the table – the Council, Government, the Mayor, LNER, Network Rail.

“Without all these people working together this wouldn’t have happened.

“Transport is absolutely vital to prosperity. There are two types of city, ones that are well connected and ones that are not. In Bradford we’re trying to get into that first club.”

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin said the platform came at an important time for local transport – with the newly branded “Weaver Network” launched last week ahead of bus franchising.

And the Blunkett review published on Friday suggests a new through rail station in Bradford should be a top priority for Government.

She added: “These extra services will add £4m a year to the local economy in Bradford.

“They will bring skilled jobs and new visitors to Bradford. It will be an absolute game changer.

“One of the biggest game changers will be the tram service between Bradford and Leeds. We’re committed to spades in the ground by 2028.

“It is an incredible project that will allow the Leeds to Bradford rail service to be a direct route, with the stopping service on the trams.”

Mr Bates said the new routes would be a huge boost to City of Culture, helping bring more people to Bradford.

He said: “We want to bring 100,000 people to the Turner prize exhibition in Cartwright Hall.”

David Horne, Managing Director of LNER described the new platform and services as a “huge boost in connectivity, both regionally and nationally.”

He added: “We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for City of Culture – it finally put a reason in place for this to happen.

“Bradford Forster Square had become a station for local traffic and local journeys. This has helped us put in a service to London seven times a day. It makes it much easier for people to make long journeys without the hassle of changing trains.

“We find that when you do that, more people travel by train.”

He said the longer platforms in Shipley should be completed by this Summer – meaning the new services will be able to stop in the Aire Valley town.

He said the £4m injection into the local economy includes money spent by extra visitors as well as money saved by local businesses due to easier and more direct train links.

Minister for Local Transport Simon Lightwood officially opened the platform, and said: “The Government wants Bradford as City of Culture to benefit from better transport links. It will better join the capital of culture with the capital of the country.”

Among those on the new journeys were the Bantam of the Opera choir. They wore Bradford City home kits when they performed with Lesley Garrett at Forster Square before switching into the team’s new alternate pink kits for their performances at Kings Cross.