THE announcement that the Prime Minister is backing proposals for a trans-Pennine high-speed rail link, dubbed HS3, brought with it the now par-for-the-course snub for Bradford. It would, we were told, boost journey times between “the great northern cities - Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield....” No mention, of course, for the UK’s fourth largest metropolitan district.

And therein lies the rub. What, exactly, might HS3 do for Bradford? If this proposal is about reducing the current 60-minute journey time between Manchester and Leeds to the quoted 26 minutes, then the answer is likely to be “not very much” - because it will still be quicker to drive across the Pennines for most Bradfordians. And, so far, the phrase “improving connectivity” seems mainly to relate to linking Leeds to Manchester and Sheffield and Manchester to Liverpool, again with little or no benefit to Bradford.

And then there’s the question about where the money’s going to come from? There is every possibility that the further devolution of regional transport funding, that West Yorkshire council leaders are so keen to encourage, could actually mean badly-needed funds being sucked into a central pot to pay for HS3 at the expense of the further deterioration of our already crumbling and overcrowded road network.

But if a route could be found to take a high-speed link through Bradford, thereby improving this great northern city’s connectivity and journey times, and if the Government would be willing to guarantee that our existing transport funding would be increased and ring-fenced at the same time, HS3 might, at a push, be worth a look....