Pioneering plans to introduce the country's first motorway car share lane on Bradford's M606 have been unveiled.

Details of the £2.5 million lane along the M606 and M62 were announced by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling today, in a bid to improve the overloaded commuter route.

It is claimed the new one-mile lane will see journey times cut by an average of eight minutes during peak times when it comes into effect in 2007.

Vehicles carrying more than one person will be able to bypass congestion at the Chain Bar junction and gain priority entry on to the eastbound M62.

Other vehicles on the M606 and M62 will not suffer from additional delays and should also benefit from improved journey times, the Government says.

At the moment, southbound traffic on the M606 experiences delays of up to 15 minutes when joining the M62.

According to the Highways Agency 84 per cent of vehicles using the motorway at this point carry only the driver.

Last week the Telegraph & Argus reported plans by the Highways Agency to introduce traffic lights on the eastbound slip road of the M62 at Chain Bar to control vehicles joining the motorway at peak times.

Mr Darling, who was at the M606 early today to make the announcement, said: "Car sharing can help make journeys quicker and more reliable on this very busy stretch of motorway."

He added: "This will be good for drivers and good for the environment.

"We are committed to continuing the investment in our road network,

adding new capacity where needed and building world class public transport systems.

"These measures alone will not solve the underlying problem of congestion.

"That is why we are looking at the possible benefits that road pricing might bring in tackling congestion on our roads."

The M62 car-sharing scheme is the second to be announced.

The first to be unveiled was the M1 between junctions seven and ten and is expected to be working by 2008.