Bradford NPR station site proposed

Gateway to the city: visual of the new St James station proposed by Bradford Council.

Bradford Council has proposed a site for a future Northern Powerhouse Rail station in the city centre.

NPR, Transport for the North’s proposed inter-city network for the region, envisages construction of a new line between Leeds and Manchester via the city. Bradford Council says journey times to Leeds would be cut to seven minutes and to Manchester to 22 minutes. The council says a city centre NPR station is supported by TfN, Network Rail, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Northern Powerhouse Partnership and other organisations and private sector businesses across the North.

The proposed six-acre St James’s Market site is owned by the council and is located just a short walk from Interchange station, which the council says it would eventually replace. A mass transit connection would like the new St James station to Forster Square station. No decisions have yet been made about the route of any NPR line, including through the city.

Council Leader Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, who is also chair of West Yorkshire Combined Authority, said: ‘We understand that Government considers the underground option at the Interchange site too costly for Northern Powerhouse Rail. So we’ve been pragmatic and looked for an alternative central Bradford site which would could be more easily connected to NPR. We now have a station site, on the edge of the city centre and at the heart of our Southern Gateway regeneration area, that is viable, deliverable and within our control.’ She added that work on the station would not start before 2024-25.