Proposals for a £22m railway station at Elland – opening by 2022 at the latest – have been hailed as “a major step forward”.
The Halifax and District Rail Action Group (HADRAG) welcomed a decision by the West Yorkshire Transport Fund Investment Panel (WYTFIP) last week to progress the scheme.
The plan is for Elland to have a transport hub - a new station on the Calder Valley line; pedestrian, cycle and public space improvements to link the station to Elland town centre; a new footbridge over the River Calder linking with the Calder Valley Greenway.
There will also be areas earmarked for housing and employment growth; a bus-rail interchange at the railway station; and a car park with park-and-ride.
Elland station would have regular direct trains to Leeds, Huddersfield, Bradford, Halifax, the Upper Calder Valley and Manchester.
HADRAG chair Stephen Waring said: “We are delighted to hear that plans for Elland station have taken a massive step forward and we should now see it constructed, hopefully in no more than five years’ time, with investment from the West Yorkshire Transport Fund.
“At first sight, the top-end estimate of £22m in the budget may sound high but this clearly reflects the increased ambition of the project. This is no longer just a small train halt, but a significant local sustainable transport hub, genuinely multi-modal in providing for high-quality access to the railway on foot, by bike, by bus and by car.
“In fact, it reflects the kind of vision that HADRAG put forward when we produced our own paper on Elland several years ago. The car park potentially makes this a really useful park-and-ride serving a big area encompassing Stainland, Greetland and parts of south-east Halifax as well as Elland itself.
“This is a catchment area with a population of well over 20 000 – possibly the biggest urban area in Yorkshire still waiting for its own train station. Since Brighouse station opened 17 years ago, we know people in Elland have felt frustrated at not having their own station. Now we can have real confidence that it’s going to happen.”
A report to WYTFIP, which is a group of all West Yorkshire councils, said the lack of a railway station at Elland was “holding the town back from its economic potential”.
They believe improving access to the Calder Valley line from Elland would also improve links to Halifax, Bradford, Leeds and Manchester and improve Elland’s competitiveness as an economic centre.
The previous Elland railway station closed in 1962.
