The new Platform 0 at Bradford Forster Square Rail station will officially open on Monday when the first new direct services to London arrive.
The platform will allow more trains to run between Bradford and London Kings Cross, and has been made possible thanks to £35m of funding from Government.
Around seven direct trains a day will now run from the station to the capital – with more services expected to be added in December.
The previous Government announced funding for the new platform in early 2024, saying it would help support Bradford for its 2025 City of Culture year.
The platform will open, and the first LNER services arrive and leave, on Monday when the new rail timetables are introduced nationally.
Members of West Yorkshire Combined Authority were recently given an update on the platform. A report into rail services presented to the committee at their last meeting said: “May will also see the introduction of the much-anticipated step-change to Bradford’s London trains, increasing on weekdays from just two per day to seven, and from one to two on Sundays (further increase to six on Sundays from December) – though at the time of writing this is subject to final confirmation.
“This is enabled by the opening of the new Platform Zero at Forster Square. LNER’s expanded services to Bradford mark a significant boost in connectivity, supporting the city’s UK City of Culture celebrations while driving economic growth and opportunity across the region.”
Speaking shortly before the opening of the platform, Bradford Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: “This is £35m of investment from the Government and we have only got that because Bradford is City of Culture.
“We’d have never got this if not for that.
“We made the case that if you want to make sure the world is connected to Bradford, you have to make sure trains come here.
“There will be seven trains a day from London to Bradford and back again.
“This is a real sign of success for City of Culture.”
She said the new trains will also benefit Shipley – and are due to start stopping at the station’s lengthened platforms in August.
The £35m is believed to include the investment in Forster Square and the longer platforms at Shipley.
This week a team of teenagers working with Bradford City Community Foundation and Peer Action Collective pitched in at Bradford Forster Square, alongside staff from Northern, LNER, ISS and Bradford Council.
They spent the day cleaning and picking up litter in the station, car park and surrounding area ahead of the new platform launch.
The team which run the station are now working to clear an overgrown greenspace next to platform 1, so they can plant a community garden, and install lighting in the railway arches.
By: Chris Young, LDRS
