The jury is still out as to what real benefit the HS2 high-speed rail link to London will have for Yorkshire in general and the Bradford district specifically.

Questions have to be asked as to whether the improvements that will be seen in journey times can really justify the huge investment and massive environmental impact the scheme will have.

Is it really necessary now we once again have a direct flight link between Leeds Bradford and Heathrow for those who need to get to the capital very quickly?

There will certainly be many people who will be asking how this £32bn scheme can be justified when there are many other aspects of the rail network as it exists that need significant investment.

More carriage space, cheaper fares, a more reliable service, and better quality passenger accommodation on current services would all be issues that commuters would be likely to want addressing if they were given a choice as to how that money should be spent.

And there is also the question of whether we really need to spend so much on a physical transport service with internet communications improving so rapidly that many meetings will be able to take place over virtual space.

But HS2 is happening and the Bradford district needs to make sure it now gets the most of any potential benefits that arise. To do that, we need to make sure there are much better, much faster and more regular services to Leeds so that commuters and passengers from here can connect to the new faster service.

Otherwise, the city will gain little from the huge amount of money to be thrown at this scheme over the next 20 years.