A GROUP of MPs has visited Bradford to hear the argument that the city should get a new high speed rail station.

In November there was widespread disappointment when the Government announced that its planned Northern Powerhouse Rail line - which would link the East and West of the UK, would effectively be scrapped.

The announcement meant that Bradford would not be getting a stop on the line - plans had been in place to build a new station at the St James' Market site on Wakefield Road if the Government were to announce a Bradford stop.

It was part of the Government's Integrated Rail Plan.

On Thursday the Transport Select Committee, a cross party group of MPs, visited Bradford as part of their review into the IRP.

Bradford Council bosses showed the committee the existing rail stations in the city, and the site of the proposed NPR station.

One of the arguments made by Government in scrapping the planned line was that Bradford's proposed stations site was not suitable, and too far from the city centre.

After the visit Huw Merriman, Conservative MP for Bexhill and Battle and Chair of the Select Committee, told the Telegraph & Argus: "We were taken up to see the site where the station should have been built. One argument was that it was too far out of the city centre. We walked there from the Interchange, it was not far at all. There are major roads to cross, but they'd likely be reconfigured if the station was built.

"It was a good chance to see the site, see the regeneration it would bring and how it would fit into other plans in the city."

Rail plan slammed as a 'betrayal of Bradford'

He said the Select Committee would be making recommendations to the Government, which could include the reinstatement of NPR and a Bradford stop.

Those recommendations would not necessarily be taken on by Government, however.

He added: "We don't necessarily agree with certain things - we don't agree with the claim that this would be an out of town station.

"Today has been a really, helpful exercise."

He suggested that what the Government had proposed - to upgrade the existing line between Leeds and Manchester, could end up being much more disruptive than creating a new NPR line.

He added: "Bradford is the seventh largest city in the UK, and is a very young city.

"Bradford very much feels like a middle child - it gets left out with everything going to Leeds or Manchester. If other places get something and Bradford doesn't then it sends out the message that Bradford isn't worth investing in.

"When you look at the Integrated Rail Plan, Bradford quite clearly loses out, and I worry at the message that sends out."

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe said: "It has been great having the select committee here. We were able to show them the business case that still exists for putting Bradford on a main line train line.

Plans for brand-new Bradford railway station on NPR revealed

"The evidence is clear, and anyone who looks at it agrees that key investment needs to be made.

"We had businesses from Bradford here today too, making the case for commercial viability of the plan - how it will allow them to access more customers and service clients in Manchester, Liverpool and beyond.

"It is all part of making sure our case is made repeatedly to Government. They have to learn that what they have proposed does not work for West Yorkshire."

Mandy Ridyard owner of Baildon based manufacturing company Produmax, also attended the visit. she said a new rail line would be vital to "funnel talent into and out of Bradford."

She said: "We employ people from outside Bradford, ,and we need to make it easier for them to get to Produmax.

"It is commented on that businesses in the North have lower productivity and a big part of that is driven by the fact it takes longer to get things into and out of the area than it does in the South."

She said the preferred plan by Government, to upgrade the existing Transpennine line, would cause a huge amount of disruption on the rail line - much more than creating a new rail line.

She said: "That would push more traffic onto the M62. It means from a business point of view that any freignt getting to ports is going to take a lot longer to get there and be much more expensive.

"We're not asking for anything other than ensuring we can improve productivity and better use the talents we have in Bradford. We want our fair share of investment in line with what other regions get. If you unlock Bradford you unlock the North."