'Cities like Leeds are falling behind': Pro-growth group backs plans for mass transit system in West Yorkshire

Britain Remade, the country’s leading pro-growth campaign group with over 38,000 supporters, has today urged Sir Keir Starmer to give England’s metro mayors the power to approve, fund and deliver major transport infrastructure projects.

It comes after new analysis comparing Leeds and the West Yorkshire mayoral region with its twin cities of Lille and Dortmund revealed a major gap in transport investment.

Despite having smaller populations than the West Yorkshire Combined Authority area - 1.1 million people in Lille and just over 600,000 in Dortmund - the French and German cities have been able to build extensive mass transit networks, which Leeds currently lacks.

Sam Richards, founder of Britain Remade, said: “Cities like Lille and Dortmund trust their local leaders to build the transport systems their economies need. But in England, mayors still have to go cap in hand to the Treasury and the Department for Transport before anything major can get built.

“That’s one reason cities like Leeds are falling behind comparable places in Europe. Directly elected mayors know what their areas need far better than officials in Whitehall.”

While Leeds has no metro or tram system at all, Lille has developed a fully automated metro with extensive track and station coverage, giving residents far greater access to rapid transit. Dortmund has similarly built a large network that includes both underground and overground stations, with multiple lines connecting the wider city region.

Leeds remains the largest city in Western Europe without a tram system, and after numerous false dawns plans to build a highly-anticipated mass transit system West Yorkshire have been delayed by several years to the late 2030s.

Britain Remade, which campaigns to make it quicker, easier and cheaper, to build the infrastructure needed to boost growth across the country says the reason for the gap is simple: mayors in cities like Lille and Dortmund have the authority to plan and deliver transport systems locally, while English mayors do not.

“If the Government wants cities like Leeds to compete with the best in Europe, it needs to trust local leaders to get on and build,” Mr Richards explained.

“The Prime Minister should use this bill going through Parliament to give mayors the power to approve, fund and deliver the transport projects their regions need. Only then will local leaders be able to unleash the full potential of their regions.”

Currently regional leaders like West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin must rely on approval from Westminster before major projects can move forward, and Britain Remade this centralised system is one of the reasons the UK has struggled to build the clean transport infrastructure modern cities need.

The pro-growth group wants to see the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, amended to give all 14 of England’s directly elected mayors the power to approve, fund and deliver transport infrastructure themselves.

Leeds has been without a light rail or mass transit system since its original tram network was axed in 1959. Plans to restore them were first proposed in 1991 and have included the Supertram scheme that was shelved in 2005 and a proposed trolleybus network that was rejected in 2016.