PLANS for six extra trains each day from Bradford to London have been welcomed after the winner of the East Coast rail franchise was announced.

A consortium known as Inter City Railways, involving Virgin Group and transport company Stagecoach have been chosen to operate a new eight-year East Coast franchise starting on March 1 next year.

Under the new deal, the firm will look to seek approval from Network Rail and the Office of Rail Regulation to run six more return trains from Bradford Forster Square to London, via Shipley, from 2019.

Over the next eight years, Inter City Railways will pay the Government around £3.3 billion to operate the franchise.

Inter City Railways will invest £140 million to bring extra benefits to passengers across then East Coast line including complete refurbishment of the existing train fleet.

Rival firm Grand Central Rail, which currently runs four daily services between Bradford Interchange and London Kings Cross, welcomed the move.

Richard McClean, managing director, said: "More trains to and from Bradford to London is great news for the local economy, business and tourism.

"Grand Central's recent licence extension gives us the rights to continue to operate our services until 2026, as well as making capital investments of £7.8m into the comfort and reliability of our fleet of trains."

Mike Cartwright, Bradford Chamber of Commerce policy executive, said: “It seems a good deal on the face of it and will end a period of uncertainty.

"With passenger demand likely to continue to increase, it’s good to see a commitment to additional Bradford-London services, and more seats and reduced travel times on others.

“The investment in stations and infrastructure is welcome although long overdue."

Under the terms of the eight-year franchise there will be 23 new services from London to key destinations, with 75 more station calls a day.

The proposal includes more trains to London from Bradford, Shipley, Edinburgh, Harrogate, Leeds, Lincoln, Newcastle, Stirling and York.

A total of 3,100 extra seats for the morning peak time will be introduced by 2020.

The move will also see 65 state-of-the-art Intercity Express trains brought into service from 2018, which makes up 500 new carriages and 12,200 extra seats which is a 50 per cent increase.

But pro-devolution party Yorkshire First leader Richard Carter said: "Yorkshire First re-states its view that the East Coast rail operation should be publicly-owned, including a stake for a future Yorkshire government, with passenger and employee involvement."

French company Keolis and FirstGroup missed out on the East Coast franchise.

Bradford Council Leader Coun David Green said: "I welcome the proposals by the East Coast Main Line rail franchise winner Stagecoach and Virgin to increase the number of trains from Bradford and Shipley to London and to provide more trains on the regional network.

"Efficient transport links are vital for the economy of the Bradford district and the surrounding area.

"The delivery of the plans would provide more seats for passengers and reduced journey times.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Bradford Telegraph and Argus:

1. We have two really busy stations in Bradford. Usually you have to go from Leeds to travel down to London by train. Having more trains available from Bradford will be good. It’s an additional benefit for everybody - Betty Hayhurst, 76, of Knowles Avenue, Dudley Hill

2. "The extra train links to Bradford are fantastic. This is how it should be. Anything to regenerate Bradford has to be seen as a good thing, like the Westfield development.” - Mick Ward, 58, of Lytton Road, Girlington.

3. "I don’t use the trains very often but I might do a bit more now, going to London." - John O’Reilly, 24, of Wakefield Road, Bradford.

4. "I might go to London a bit more by train now. It will be easier to get to now. I don’t use trains at the moment. It might make me use them more." - Abbey Crompton, 17, of Camellia Court, Shipley.

5. "It will be good to have extra competition among the train companies. People would want to come here a bit more. I go to London by train once every three months." - Kasel Mohammed, 33, of Duckworth Grove, Bradford.

6. "It’s really good. With extra trains a lot more people would travel. There are only a few at the moment. It would put Bradford on the map if there were more trains." - Zoheb Khan, 22, of Storths Road, Birkby, Huddersfield, who works in Bradford.

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