Direct Wakefield to Bradford trains 'still in pipeline' but remain some way off

Train operator Northern says a service between the two cities remains "in the pipeline", but is impossible to run while work to build a new platform continues at Leeds Station.

Passengers travelling from Wakefield currently have to change at Leeds if they want to go to Bradford.

A direct service would have to go into Leeds and come out again, Northern says, but passengers would not have to get off the train as they do at the moment.

While the 427 and 268A MAX bus services run directly between Wakefield and Bradford, journey times last more than an hour.

Asked at a transport scrutiny meeting last week how far along plans for a direct service are, Northern's representative Pete Myers said: "It's still in the pipeline but the truth of the matter is we can't get the path through Leeds Station with the Platform Zero work that's going on.

"That makes it impossible because the train would need to go into Leeds and then go back out again and there just isn't the space at the moment.

"That work's scheduled to be completed in 2021, so it would be some time after that that service would start running."

Local Democracy Reporting Service