ONE of Bradford's most important rail services will resume from tomorrow, with the North described as being "well placed" to lead post-lockdown recovery in the industry.

Grand Central trains will welcome passengers back for the first time since January 9 from Saturday.

The long-distance rail company, which is based in York, operates a direct service from Bradford Interchange to London Kings Cross.

This, and all its other services, ground to a halt at the start of the year when the country was plunged into another lockdown.

But some of Grand Central's services on its West Riding and North East routes - which includes travel from Bradford to the capital - are being relaunched this weekend.

Managing Director, Richard McClean, said the return to service would be gradual, but he is determined to see Grand Central "back for good" following 12 months of Covid-related disruption.

He added: “This is something positive for our customers following a really tough year.

“Other than a few months of relative normality during the summer, the disruption from Covid on society made it financially unviable for us to run services.

“While it’s going to be so good to see GC trains heading out again on Saturday we have to make our return a measured, gradual and sensible one.

"This is very much about rebuilding passenger confidence and ramping up services when the time is right."

Rebuilding passenger confidence is a key component that is going to have to be reestablished right across the country's rail networks as restrictions ease.

Leaders from local authorities across the North met this week to discuss what needs to be done to re-start passenger traffic on the region’s railways.

Members of Transport for the North’s Rail North Committee heard that the North is "well placed" to lead on recovery from the pandemic, with a mixed-use rail network which is strongly based around leisure travel as well as commuting.

The aim is to promote confidence in passengers again, to avoid seeing more people revert to their cars and damage the North's ambitions for decarbonisation.

Demand for rail services are still at only around 20 per cent of pre-Covid levels, with services running at around two-thirds of the normal level.

Network Rail and the region’s two main train operators, Northern Trains and TransPennine Express, will be running comprehensive campaigns to help drive a return to rail when the time is right.

David Hoggarth, Strategic Rail Director for Transport for the North (TfN), said: “We plan to take a co-ordinating and pro-active role and work with all operators across the North as we go forward. It has to be a combined effort.

“As we approach opening up travel again, this is all about being prepared.

"Many people haven’t travelled for a while and we need to help rebuild confidence.

"We also need to keep the reliability we now have on the railway.

"Fortunately, we have a mixed rail market, and we have strong leisure market.

"There will be opportunities to build around things like staycations, but in a Covid-safe way.

"We need to rise to the challenge and build in flexibility so we can do this in an agile way.”