West Yorkshire Mass Transit ‘major consultation exercise’ planned for next month

West Yorkshire Mass Transit will see a new tram line built to link Leeds and Bradford city centres. The region’s recently re-elected mayor, Tracy Brabin, has promised to “break ground” on the project by 2028, and WYCA says this is “on track”.

In a statement, WYCA said its mass transit team is “well resourced and has relevant delivery partners to help build the transformation program that will boost connectivity in the region, create jobs and help deliver commitments on climate change”.

Didn’t respond to nWhathis questions about what the consultation exercise will entail and what details have been decided.

The project so far

The project was proposed by Bradford District Council in 2019 and has been officially in the works since early 2021, when WYCA published its Connectivity Infrastructure Plan and Mass Transit Vision 2040. Jacobs was named principal consultant two months later.

When the Department for Transport launched its The integrated railway plan in November 2021, confirming the cancellation of the High Speed ​​2 (HS2) arm to Leeds, he tried to console the region by committing to building the mass transport scheme. “This work begins now, with £200m of immediate funding to plan the project and start building it, with the first services operational in the second half of this decade,” the document said.

In April 2022, WYCA appointed Jacobs, Mott MacDonald and Turner & Townsend to a framework to support it in various aspects in developing the project’s business case.

In October 2023, the DfT pledged £2.5 billion to the project as part of The North Network document listing allocations for the £36 billion ‘saved’ from scrapping HS2 north of Birmingham. This included £500 million from the WYCA City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement.

The The North Network the document said mass transit would “improve connections between Leeds and Bradford, Huddersfield and Halifax”.

In May this year, WYCA revealed that Jacobs had signed a new £30m contract to become the design delivery partner (engineering and design) for the project.

Change of leadership

With the consultation event on the horizon and the mass transport scheme set to begin, WYCA has announced it is looking for a new director for the project.

Current mass transit director Luke Albanese is stepping down for “family reasons.”

Mass Transit Deputy Director Rob Leech will step into the role on an interim basis “to ensure a smooth transition while a new director is brought on board,” WYCA said.

“Mr Leech has extensive experience of leading major mass transport programs in the UK and Ireland, including the Edinburgh Tram to Newhaven scheme which opened for service in June last year,” the Authority added.

WYCA chief executive for transport Simon Warburton remains at the helm of the Mass Transit project and is ultimately responsible for delivering the program as part of a wider overhaul of the region’s transport network.

Warburton said: “We would like to thank Luke for all his hard work over the past year. His leadership and technical expertise were key to getting the program to where it is today, and we are grateful to him for that.

“We are on track to deliver the mass transit project, which is a key part of our plans for a better-connected region that works for everyone.

“We’d also like to thank Rob Leech for stepping in to help cover the transition period while a successor to Luke is found.”

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