Leeds Station: Demolition uncovers 'piece of history' and paves the way for 'fantastic gateway to the city'

The road outside the station, on New Station Street, has been demolished and will now be replaced by a pedestrian walkway, with landscaped areas and outdoor seating, as part of a £46.1m project that is due to be completed in September 2025.

A new taxi rank and cycle lanes will be built on Bishopgate Street and two lifts will also be installed, to allow passengers to travel up to the new entrance of the busiest station in the North of England.

An underground cycle hub, with spaces for 480 bikes, will be built in a former goit – a channel which diverted water from the River Aire to mills in the city centre. When the station was originally constructed by the Victorians in 1869, they drained the goit and built New Station Street above it.

The road was demolished by Balfour Beatty contractors in October and 13 iron beams, each weighing up to 41 tonnes, were removed from the foundations the following month. They will be replaced with stronger steel beams, which will support the new entrance, in the summer.

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin said: “These works are laying the foundation for a fantastic gateway to the city, which is better-connected, more people-friendly and can accommodate growing rail passenger numbers.”

She also said people who arrive at Leeds Station can walk straight into a vibrant public space, after the roads around City Square were shut last year so it could be extended.

Network Rail and Leeds City Council are using money from the government's Transforming Cities Fund to complete the redevelopment project.

Anna Weeks, Principal Programme Sponsor for Network Rail’s North route, said: “For the first time in a generation, light shines into Mill Goit under the front of Leeds station.

"Our teams are working incredibly hard to turn this piece of history into a sustainable, accessible, passenger-focused gateway to the city’s railway station.

“This is just one of the improvement projects that Network Rail is carrying out at Leeds station to improve passengers’ experience as they travel by train in the years to come.”

Network Rail is due to apply for funding for the Leeds Existing Station Programme (LESP), which aims to address long-standing capacity issues, by submitting a business case to the government at the end of 2024.

It is also planning to extend platform 17, to accommodate longer trains from Castleford and Woodlesford, and exploring plans to build another line for these services.

A £161m redevelopment of the station was completed last year. It saw workers build the new platform zero and upgrade the tracks to improve reliability. The roof was also replaced, new ticket gates were installed and the toilets were refurbished.