Transport bosses to reveal mass transit system route options

Proposed route options for the first phase of a new West Yorkshire mass transit system has been revealed.

Transcript

00:00which is two routes, two corridors, tram corridors, the Bradford line, so Bradford to Leeds,

00:07and the Leeds line leads down to the South Bank heading towards Kirklees.

00:12So it's a consultation, we want people to get involved, businesses, the public, students, families,

00:19tell us what you think about our proposed options.

00:24And how important is it that the public get involved at this stage and have their say so that there's a real involvement?

00:30Oh, it's vital. What we don't want is people to, in two years' time, go,

00:34oh my goodness, what's happening to my street? I wasn't expecting this.

00:38We need everybody to get involved and to be part of this good new story, because it's going to grow the economy.

00:44And how big a step is today for the future of Leeds and for the future of West Yorkshire?

00:51Yeah, it's pretty epic.

00:52I think it is really important, because whilst the previous Conservative government gave us the money to go ahead,

01:00we were never sure, given the HS2 debacle, that at any given moment they could just lose interest or change their mind.

01:11Whereas I do believe that over the next five years we will have stability,

01:16and we will have a commitment that is unerring about growing the economy, and this is how we'll do it.

01:22Today's announcement is about the consultation on the route for the first two lines of the West Yorkshire tram.

01:30We're looking at options for the route between Leeds City Centre through West Leeds out to Bradford,

01:36so possibly either going up the main road, or we're looking at reopening some of the old railway lines at Doctor Beach and closing in the 1960s.

01:43Those are the options for West Leeds.

01:45We're also looking for the route between St James' Hospital through Leeds City Centre past Ellen Road,

01:53possibly out to White Road Centre as well, and again the options around the different routes there.

01:58It's really important at this stage, as we look to start building it in four or five years' time,

02:03that we're getting people's views now on the routes, on both the opportunities from the routes and the support for it,

02:10but also looking at some of the issues and problems to make sure we're absolutely getting this right for Leeds.