A MASS transit system is one of the options being investigated to meet the extra demand when Bradford's high-speed rail station is opened.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee is being asked to back a report that recommends starting a consultation with the public and businesses around new transport connections for the region.

The report says the arrival of HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail will have a significant impact on the number of journeys on key local routes and suggests that to meet the level of demand and deliver inclusive growth, mass transit could have a significant role to play as part of an integrated, 21st-Century transport system.

The new station is expected to generate thousands more journeys a day to Bradford Interchange by 2033 and a mass transit system could involve a tram or light rail.

If the report is agreed on Friday, people living and working in West Yorkshire will be able to have their say in the New Year on the role a mass transit system might play in improving local journeys beyond the investment already being made in road, rail and bus services by the Combined Authority and its partners.

Councillor Kim Groves, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, said: “The Combined Authority and our partners are looking carefully at where people will live and work in the coming decades and how their travelling needs could be met.

“In the New Year we plan to speak to the public, businesses and others about the role a mass transit system could play in the future and the communities it could connect.”

The report contains a plan which shows a potential mass transit network stretching from Leeds into Bradford, North Kirklees and the Wakefield district, and how it could operate in tandem with other developments in the transport network.

Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leader of Bradford Council, said: “We have already committed £150 million of investment from our £1 billion West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund to delivering better road, rail and bus journeys across West Yorkshire and the City Region, as well as improved facilities for cycling and walking.

“As we plan for the arrival of HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, we want to ensure that all our communities can benefit from the opportunities these major projects will bring, and this work demonstrates that a mass transit system could play a role.”

The report says the mass transit system would connect high density local communities/labour markets into the national hubs and centres, as part of an integrated public transport system with, for example, bus services feeding the mass transit services. It says buses will continue to have a very important role and adds that research has demonstrated that mass transit systems can bring many wider benefits.