A rapid transit network Leeds can actually build
The Weaver Metro is a phased rapid transit network for Leeds and West Yorkshire that uses existing railway infrastructure where it already exists, builds new tram infrastructure only where it does not, and is delivered within the £2.1bn Transport for City Regions funding envelope available for 2027 to 2032.
£1.86bn to £1.93bn
Total programme cost, both phases
£166m to £236m
Headroom against the £2.1bn envelope
£231.2m
Phase 1, deliverable with no new track
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Stations and stops on the completed network
In brief
Leeds is the largest city in Europe without a mass transit system. The case for investment is settled. The question this proposal answers is how that investment should be made so that it is affordable, deliverable and visible to passengers quickly.
Phase 1 raises seven existing rail corridors serving Bradford, Horsforth, Wakefield, Dewsbury and Garforth to metro standard through continuous electrification, station upgrades, leased electric trains and unified branding and ticketing. It requires no new track, and is deliverable within the current mayoral term for £231.2m.
Phase 2 builds the city centre spine those corridors feed, adopting the L1 alignment endorsed at public consultation, and extends the network into communities no railway serves: new stations at Laisterdyke, Armley and Elland Road, tram extensions to Seacroft and Belle Isle, and a direct airport express to the Leeds Bradford Airport terminal. Phase 2 costs £1,633m to £1,703m net.
The combined programme totals £1.86bn to £1.93bn, inside the £2.1bn envelope across the whole of its cost range, with £166m to £236m of headroom held against cost risk.
Explore the proposal
The method has precedent
The approach, take existing or underused railway, raise it to a common standard, unify it under one identity and connect it through the city centre, is exactly how the Docklands Light Railway (opened 1987 for £77m), Manchester Metrolink and the London Overground were built. In each case ridership exceeded what the physical works alone would have predicted.
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