‘Flabbergasted’: Leeds Bradford Airport boss slams West Yorkshire Combined Authority over station delays
The boss of Leeds Bradford Airport has said he has been left “flabbergasted” by delays to West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s plans to build a parkway station to serve passengers.
However, a decade on, combined authority board papers have revealed that it will still take another two to three years to put together a business case for the project.
The estimated cost is £65m, yet the WYCA report revealed that it will be hard just to get two trains an hour to stop at the parkway station.
LBA chief executive Vincent Hodder told The Northern Agenda newsletter: “I'm astonished that's what they've come up with, it's absolutely incredible.
“I do not understand how this could possibly be the case."
"Funding for this railway station was approved by the national government in 2016 and 2017.
“It was supposed to be built and operational by 2021 and five years later, we're being told it's at least three years away, which means that all of the money that has been spent over the last 10 years in countless consultants' reports and business case developments, all of it has been a complete waste of time and money.
"Part of the solution to the problem is we get all of the people who have an interest in the project together.
“We haven't been part of the preparation of this report that's going to the board. They haven't engaged with us at all.
“I'm flabbergasted that they could get to this point and still say we're still two or three years away from having the solution."
There was some discussion about LBA being connected by the long-awaited mass transit plans, however it was not included in the first two routes.
Therefore the earliest a potential tram route to the airport would likely be built would be the 2040s.
A WYCA spokesperson said: “We are working hard to help ensure Leeds Bradford Airport Parkway Station becomes a reality in the coming years.
"Colleagues at the airport were engaged in the creation of this report, and we will continue working collaboratively with all key partners to make this project a success."