Leeds Bus Station will receive £375,000 to repair its leaking roof

A bus station in West Yorkshire is to receive £375,000 to pay for temporary repairs to its leaking roof.

The funding was approved for Leeds bus station at a meeting of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) transport committee on Friday.

Dave Haskins, WYCA interim director of transportation operations and passenger experience, said remedial work to make the building watertight was not successful.

“We have a passenger environment that I consider less than satisfactory at the moment because of unacceptable levels of water ingress,” he said.

WYCA is expected to release £3.5m for a complete replacement of the 2,200sq m glass roof at Leeds, although it has not been confirmed when this will happen.

The first phase of a major £6.1m refurbishment of the station was completed in September 2022, but did not include a new roof.

WYCA’s transport committee meeting heard the work could not be completed at the time due to “funding constraints” and the “complexity of the roof structure”

A report said: “There has been a long-standing problem with water ingress in wet and severe weather conditions, which has continued to cause disruption to bus passengers and the operational environment.

“The bus station roof is a complex structure that houses a number of critical services, including fire and safety systems.

“Further detailed research is needed to understand the potential scope of the scheme.”

Wakefield councilor Jakob Williamson told the meeting he was “happy to support” the Leeds project but added there were similar issues with Wakefield bus station.

Wakefield station is owned by operator Arriva but could soon become the responsibility of WYCA if bus services are brought back under public control.

In March, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin recommended bus franchising as the best way to improve the region’s network.

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