Leeds's new post-trolleybus transport masterplan is '˜on the verge of being delivered to Ministers'

Transport bosses have spent many months putting together detailed proposals which will re-state the city’s case to secure £173.5m of Government funding following the scrapping of the NGT scheme last summer.

At the latest session of a wide-ranging cross-party inquiry into the failed scheme, as well as its predecessor the Supertram, senior Department of Transport civil servant Bob Collins told councillors: “We have had quite a few meetings with the [council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority] team for the emerging proposals.

“At the moment we are in the middle of considering those and having discussions with the department.

“We are on course to provide advice to Ministers within the next few weeks on the decision to be made.”

As previously reported in the YEP, landmark plans to build a new station serving Leeds Bradford Airport are part of a brand new £270m transport investment blueprint being backed by city leaders. The proposed upgrades by Leeds City Council also include new railway stations to be built at the city’s White Rose Shopping Centre and Thorpe Park areas.

The ambitious proposals come after Leeds’s trolleybus scheme – allocated £173.5m Government funding to be spent by 2021 – was abandoned after being rejected by the Department for Transport in May last year. It is hoped the money from the failed trolleybus scheme will now be used partly to fund the latest planned improvements.

However, critics have argued that Leeds still risk lagging behind other major cities as the plans mean it will continue to be the largest city in western Europe without a rapid transit system.