TRANSPORT chiefs have been left bitterly disappointed by a decision to halt plans for a high-speed rail link between Yorkshire and London.
Clr Chris Greaves, new West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority (WYITA) chairman, said he was alarmed by news that the Government has ordered that preparation work for a high-speed rail route to Leeds be put “on hold”.
He said: “Independent research has already shown that high-speed Yorkshire link could generate over £30bn of benefits.
“This decision to delay preparation work for a link through Yorkshire would be a blow to the whole of the east of England, from East Anglia to Tyneside, and a setback to the ports of the Humber and Harwich, which stand to benefit from the new route.
“Anything other than a Y-shaped network that takes in Yorkshire would be wrong because by the time people had snaked backward and forwards across the country to Yorkshire, any benefit of high-speed travel would be lost.”
Research commissioned by Metro and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) last year showed that over £30bn of benefits could be generated from a high-speed rail network serving Sheffield and Leeds.
Senior transport representatives from West and South Yorkshire will be meeting in early July to discuss the evidence provided by the further research.
In its Budget last week, the Government announced continued backing for a scheme of improvements to services between Liverpool and Leeds, which pass through Huddersfield.
