A BUSINESS group says plans for a new railway station in Bradford will be a great benefit to the city’s future as people can have their say at a series of events.

Transport for the North (TfN) has started a 13-week consultation on its Strategic Transport Plan for the North, with Bradford due to get a station on the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) line, it was announced last month.

TfN has outlined its vision for NPR, a rail network between the North of England’s six biggest cities and other economic centres. NPR, which would see a new railway line linking Leeds with Manchester via Bradford as well as much faster connections between Leeds and Sheffield, Newcastle and Hull, would mean that an extra 46 per cent of the population, more than 1.4 million residents, would be able to access three major cities within 90 minutes from home.

The announcement delighted campaigners, including the Next Stop Bradford group, who have previously said bringing high-speed rail to Bradford city centre would boost the local economy by £1.3 billion, improve journey times and increase capacity on the railway network.

It is not yet clear whether the new station will be in the city centre or at an out-of-town parkway location.

The proposals have been backed by business bosses in Bradford, who have urged people to attend consultation roadshows in Bradford and Halifax this month.

The Bradford event will take place on Wednesday, February 21, between 4pm and 7pm, at Bradford College, Randall Well Street. A further consultation will be held on Thursday, February 15, between 4pm and 7pm, at Viaduct Cafe, Dean Clough Limited, Halifax. Both events will include a drop-in questions and answer session and a presentation by a TfN representative.

Mike Cartwright, West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce’s policy and representation executive, said: “We would urge people to come along to the events.

“The chamber is fully behind the campaign to bring a new railway station into the heart of the city.

“An infrastructure project such as this can be a great benefit to Bradford’s future prosperity and its overall economic development.

“The city needs to be better connected into, and beyond, Yorkshire and we will be responding to the TfN consultation in detail.”

The consultation on the draft Strategic Transport Plan will run until April 17.

For more information, go to transportforthenorth.com/calendar/stp-bradford.Email mail@ nextstopbradford.com about details on Next Stop’s work.