Phase 1: metro standard on existing corridors

Scope

Phase 1 makes use of existing rails and stations, upgrading the stations, the lines, the rolling stock, the branding and the ticketing in order to expand ridership and capacity. It requires no new track. This permits much faster delivery and substantially lower cost than any new-build alternative, and it can proceed in parallel with the design and consenting of the city centre works described in Phase 2.

Phase 1 is anticipated to be complete before the city centre section is delivered, with provision made throughout for integration with it. At £231.2m it is separately fundable and deliverable, and does not depend on any Phase 2 decision.

Routes

Seven corridors form the Phase 1 network. All operate today on existing infrastructure.

On completion and commissioning of the new White Rose Centre station, Cottingley station is expected to close.

Rolling stock

Phase 1 is operated by conventional electric multiple units of a type already in service in large numbers on the British network. Continuous electrification of all seven corridors means no specialist vehicle is required. The units are leased from the rolling stock company market rather than purchased. Electric multiple unit availability is expected to improve through the late 2020s as cascades from other electrification programmes release stock, and lease negotiation runs on a shorter timescale than a new-build order, which keeps fleet supply off the critical path.

Tram-train vehicles are specified at one point in the programme only: the Leeds Bradford Airport express described in Phase 2, where the gradient from the Harrogate line to the airport plateau exceeds what conventional heavy rail can climb. That fleet is dedicated to a single service and is costed within the airport scheme.

Electrification

Electric traction accelerates considerably faster than diesel. This shortens journeys and reduces headway, which is constrained in large part by how long it takes the preceding train to clear a signalling section. Electrification is therefore a capacity intervention as much as a journey-time one, and it is what makes turn-up-and-go operation possible on these corridors. This proposal specifies continuous electrification of every corridor in the Phase 1 network, bringing restrictive structures into scope rather than leaving them unwired, and leaving future rolling stock choice unconstrained.

Costs are stated at the RIA complex project ceiling of £2.03m per single-track kilometre in 2025/26 prices, with a 30% margin applied to each corridor. All three corridors requiring works involve Victorian structures, restricted clearances or complex junction layouts, and continuous wiring brings those features into scope.

Two of the seven corridors are already electrified, Bradford to Leeds (Airedale) and Wakefield to Leeds (Westgate). Two more are being electrified under existing committed programmes: Dewsbury to Leeds and Micklefield to Leeds, both under the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU). The remaining three corridors require electrification under this proposal and are delivered here.

Bradford to Leeds (Calder Valley)

This line is not electrified and relies entirely on diesel rolling stock. The proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) programme explicitly schedules electrification of this corridor among its phase 1 upgrades in the 2030s; under this proposal it is brought forward and delivered to the same continuous standard. The corridor comprises 18 single-track kilometres. At £2.03m per stkm this gives £36.5m, or £47.4m with a 30% margin applied.

• Current local stopping services take 20 to 22 minutes between Leeds and Bradford Interchange.
• Electrification reduces this to approximately 15 minutes for stopping services and 12 minutes for direct services.
• Headways can fall substantially, with service frequency then limited by demand rather than by infrastructure capability.

Wakefield to Leeds (Kirkgate)

This corridor is 11.5 miles, or 18.5km, presenting 37 single-track kilometres. Normanton presents a complex junction with diverging tracks and low-clearance bridges. Those structures are addressed rather than avoided, and this corridor is the clearest case for applying the complex project rate. At £2.03m per stkm across 37 stkm the cost is £74.9m, or £97.4m with a 30% margin.

• Current stopping services, including Northern's Hallam and Pontefract trains, take 22 to 25 minutes over the 11.5 miles. This falls to 17 to 19 minutes.
• Headway can be reduced from 8 to 10 minutes to as low as 4 to 5 minutes at peak, as trains clear signalling sections faster.

Horsforth to Leeds

This corridor is 5 miles, presenting 16 single-track kilometres. Several tightly constrained brick overbridges and a steep cutting on the approach to Horsforth make this a complex site, and clearance works at those structures are included in scope. At £2.03m per stkm across 16 stkm the cost is £32.4m, or £42.1m with a 30% margin.

• Current journey times of 12 to 14 minutes fall to 9 to 10 minutes.
• Headways can be compressed to as low as 3 minutes, with restrictions on capacity at Leeds likely to constrain it to higher headways than this.
• Continuous wiring to Horsforth is a precondition for the airport spur described in Phase 2, which diverges north of Horsforth.

Electrification summary

Electrification of these three corridors shortens journeys, reduces headway and increases capacity. Its most important effect is qualitative: it permits a turn-up-and-go service in which passengers arrive without consulting a timetable and can be confident of a place on the next train. The total cost of electrification, inclusive of contingency, is £186.9m. On completion, all seven Phase 1 corridors are continuously wired to a common standard.

Station upgrades

Station upgrades deliver longer platforms, step-free access, improved passenger comfort and parking. In certain locations, station and public realm investment can also drive transit-oriented development. Phase 1 proposes upgrades that take advantage of work already completed under the Transpennine Route Upgrade rather than duplicating it.

Three stations on the network are new or near-new and require no intervention: White Rose Centre, Kirkstall Forge and Apperley Bridge. A further group has already been upgraded, or is scheduled for upgrade, under the Transpennine Route Upgrade: Dewsbury, Batley, Morley, Cross Gates, Garforth, East Garforth and Micklefield. Bradford Forster Square has recently undergone improvement including a £35m platform expansion, and a proposed £17.3m gateway rebuild can now proceed immediately and independently, since metro services run from Forster Square on existing rails. Leeds, Wakefield Westgate and Bradford Interchange are already complete to a high standard or have recently been upgraded under other schemes.

Nine stations remain. This proposal makes, at minimum, modest upgrades to each to bring them to the Network Rail design guidance standard for medium to small stations. The nine are New Pudsey, Bramley, Shipley, Frizinghall, Burley Park, Headingley, Woodlesford, Normanton and Outwood.

These are all smaller local stations and would be amply covered by the Category D hub station design costings, which put the cost at £2.46m per station. Allowing that cost to double, to accommodate cost inflation and additional spend on public realm and community elements, places the cost at £4.92m per station. Across the 9 stations identified, total station improvement cost is £44.3m. The doubling of the Network Rail costing is treated as the buffer for optimism bias and unforeseen scope.

Phase 1 cost summary

All figures at 2025/26 prices and inclusive of the contingency margins described above. Rolling stock lease charges fall to operating expenditure and are not capitalised here.