Bear with us for a few more weeks, say bosses at Leeds station as glimpses of new roof emerge

Network Rail says the scaffolding and protective hoardings that have stood for the past ten months at Leeds station will be removed by the end of August, revealing the new structure in its entirety.

The new transparent roof will be made from ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, a type of light-weight plastic, to replace “dark and tired wooden roof” previously in place above the southern concourse.

Last weekend saw the crash deck panels removed on the project, while the refurbished public toilets - which are now free to use - will reopen early next week. Work to part-pedestrianise New Station Street is also progressing well, says Network Rail.

Officials say the new automatic ticket gates, which are being repositioned into a straight line, will come into use in late-September, in time for the UCI Road World Championships in Harrogate.

The ticket gates will be set further back in the concourse to create more space rather than the bottleneck which currently is seen under the main departure boards.

The idea is for it to be similar to Kings Cross station in London where passengers wait and see what platform their train is leaving from before going through the ticket gates.

Mark Bloor, Programme Manager for Network Rail, said: “Passengers have been extremely patient with us during the past ten months while we’ve been working away behind the hoardings, but I’m delighted that we’re now able to start revealing the new roof.

"In a few weeks the roof, the new ticket gates and New Station Street will all be complete and I ask that passengers continue to bear with us as we finish off this series of projects that are intended to breathe new life into Leeds station.”