Steps are underway to build a new railway station at Apperley Bridge, according to the county's transport chiefs.

The town was one of five areas identified by the West Yorkshire Passenger Tran-sport Authority, or Metro, as 'priority zones' for new stations because of their location and suitability for 'park and ride'.

A spokesman said: "Metro has proposals for a new rail station at Apperley Bridge, between Leeds and Shipley on the Airedale line.

"The proposed station will provide a strategic park and ride facility for passengers wishing to travel to Leeds, Bradford and stations to Skipton and beyond.

"Technical feasibility studies and time-tabling works have been completed and outline design work has

also been carried out.

"However, the feasibility studies have identified a number of current train capacity issues on the line and these will need to be resolved before Metro can progress further with this proposal."

It is now working closely with the Strategic Rail Authority and Northern Rail - the new operator of the Northern rail franchise from December 2004 - to discuss additional trains that will be necessary before the station proposals can be developed further.

The news comes just as another one of the 'priority zone' areas, Glasshoughton, near Castleford, has celebrated opening its new £2.3 million station.

It has a 100-space car park with disabled spaces and has been designed to fully meet Disability Discrimination Act accessibility requirements.

Speaking at Glasshoughton station's official opening, Metro chairman and Bradford councillor Stanley King underlined his commitment to pushing the other new stations forward.

He said: "MetroTrain, the network of local train services in West Yorkshire, has been a major local public transport success story.

"Patronage has increased steadily to more than double the numbers of ten years ago, with nearly 20 million passenger journeys made.

"Metro has plans to incr-ease that capacity further and will continue to work closely with it partners and press for the investment that makes initiatives such as Glasshoughton a reality."

The news that the Apperley Bridge plan is moving forward will encourage passengers in Horsforth, as Horsforth Woodside is on Metro's new station 'hit

list' too.

But a spokesman for the transport authority said there was still a long way to go for Apperley Bridge and that increasing the capacity on the line would be an essential hurdle to clear.

She said: "The new stations are major, complex projects and Horsforth Woodside is also in line for one, but it's dependent on rolling stock being there - it would be very remiss of us to open a station and then there not being the trains to meet the demand."