BRADFORD Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe has welcomed LNER’s decision not to implement its proposed timetable changes from May next year after all.

Councillor Hinchcliffe wrote to the Transport Minister Grant Shapps and the head of LNER last month to set out her opposition to the plan, which would have seen a reduction in services from Bradford and Shipley to London as part of the timetable changes for the East Coast Main Line.

The government-owned train company’s proposed timetable included a cut to the Bradford Forster Square to King’s Cross service from twice down to once daily.

In her letters to the Transport Minister and LNER’s Managing Director, Cllr Hinchcliffe had said it was “unacceptable to be reducing services from Bradford and Shipley to London and completely at odds with ‘levelling up’ the country’s transport system”.

She also made the case for essential infrastructure improvements and an increase in services in order to support the district’s and region’s ambitious plans for jobs and economic growth.

Grant Shapps wrote back on 15th July to acknowledge her concerns and said it was indeed important that the LNER proposals must be locally supported and that feedback would be carefully considered.

Subsequently LNER has said this week that its proposed new timetable will no longer be introduced in May 2022. The train company said it will instead take the opportunity to thoroughly consider the feedback it received during its consultation, which will inform updated proposals for a new timetable potentially to be introduced a year later than planned in 2023.

Cllr Hinchcliffe said: “I welcome this decision by LNER to take a pause and listen to the significant concerns that we and others have raised. I thank them for listening to everyone’s views and we will be keeping up our representations to ensure that these concerns are reflected in any new proposals.

“Any aspiration to truly level up this country can only succeed if it includes major transport and infrastructure investment in the Bradford district, at the heart of the North. We will keep up our campaign for better transport services to connect our communities with jobs and opportunities within the district, regionally and nationally.”