URGENT work is needed to improve local rail capacity - and failure to do so could damage the local economy.

Bradford Forster Square is among the stations that need to be improved if the area is to reach its potential - according to a new report.

At a meeting of West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Transport Committee on Friday, members will discuss the findings of a recent study by Network Rail on the need to boost capacity in and around Leeds.

It says longer platforms, extra tracks leading to stations and improved rail junctions will be needed in the near future.

Previous meetings of the Committee - made up of Councillors from local authorities, have heard that capacity issues at Leeds have led to a number of planned services to and from Bradford failing to materialise.

Until the capacity at Leeds Station is improved, including the construction of a Platform 0 - Bradford is unlikely to improve rail services by any great measure.

Bradford rail services suffer due to lack of capacity in Leeds

As well as improvements to Leeds Station, key works identified to increase capacity include expanded platforms at Bradford Forster Square Station, particularly Platform 3, and the rail stations at Keighley, Shipley and Keighley.

The report going to the committee says: “the current infrastructure in and around Leeds is already insufficient to cater for present-day levels of demand and for the services that ought, according to the specifications of the franchises let in 2016, to have been operating by December 2019.

“Network Rail is also progressing the development of a series of high priority schemes for delivery as a matter of urgency, to unlock the most pressing issues at Leeds and on the approaches to the station.

“Key areas identified as constraints in the study are platform capacity at Leeds, Bradford Forster Square and Castleford stations, constraints on both the western and eastern approaches to Leeds Station, platform lengths across the study area and line capacity constraints between Armley Junction and Springs Junction.”

Members will be told that 80 per cent of services in the West Yorkshire area originate or terminate in Leeds Station.

The number of rail passengers travelling to Leeds is predicted to increase by 34 per cent by 2026 and by 81 per cent to 2043.

The report adds: “It is forecasted that the station will reach capacity by 2026 and urgent intervention is required to ensure this does not become a barrier to regional growth.”

Councillor Kim Groves, chair of the Transport Committee, said: “The station will be busier than London Kings Cross by 2023. Leeds Station needs to be a world class gateway for West Yorkshire. A big problem has also been capacity. I get correspondence from passengers saying things like they have not been able to get from one side of the station to the other due to the overcrowding.”

The logistics of expanding Leeds Station would prove difficult, as it is surrounded by the River Aire, Leeds Liverpool Canal and a number of historic buildings.

The Combined Authority will be advised to support any capacity improvements, with the report saying: “The result would be a phased and consistent set of interventions that will in a logical fashion provide the capacity and connectivity on the rail network that are needed now and will support its growth over the next two decades.”