Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Bradford Council, in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, is bringing forward a flagship programme of forward-thinking transport schemes, alongside major public space enhancements, that will help us shape and drive forward Bradford’s future regeneration in the city centre and beyond. Our overarching vision is to create a greener, more sustainable, accessible, and vibrant district that has immediate benefits for people living, working, visiting and studying in Bradford today, that also paves the way for future investment across the district.  

The proposals being brought forward by Bradford Council will reduce reliance on car travel and contribute to reducing congestion across the district, providing cleaner air, protecting the health of local people, creating greener, more attractive public spaces and providing opportunities for regeneration. These changes will support Bradford’s ambition of becoming the UK’s leading ‘clean growth’ district and act as an enabler to the City of Culture 2025.

Bradford’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) schemes form an important part of a wider programme of forward-thinking transport and regeneration schemes being brought forward across the district that are helping us shape and drive forward Bradford’s regeneration in the city centre and beyond. 

Through TCF, new public spaces and planting will be created in the city centre, to improve the look and feel of the area and make the city centre an increasingly attractive place to spend time. It will also support more cycling and walking in the city centre to better connect different areas while reducing the impact of major roads that currently dominate parts of key areas in the city centre. Achieving this is crucial to attracting more people to live, work and socialise in the city centre – increasing vibrancy, and attracting new employers to the district, bringing jobs and investment.

Bradford’s TCF programme is also essential to reducing the current reliance on car travel and subsequent congestion across the wider district, ensuring our air is cleaner air to protect people’s health. This will be crucial in fulfilling our ambition of becoming the UK’s leading ‘clean growth’ district and the wider region’s ambitions of becoming a net zero carbon economy by 2038.

Investing to improve sustainable transport options in Bradford is in everyone’s interests, making it easier for more people to get about, allowing us to grow the economy and create jobs, increase the vibrancy of our city centre, and support us as we become the City of Culture 2025. 

As a key destination and transport hub in the city centre, Bradford Interchange is integral to the plans for the city centre. Through the Bradford Interchange initiative, Bradford Council plans to deliver a series of improvements at the Interchange which will complement the City Centre Walking and Cycling scheme proposals and help to transform the environment in the city centre, whilst improving access to the Interchange and the city’s transport offer. 

The Bradford Interchange Station Access scheme will focus on creating a new high-quality gateway to the Interchange which would dramatically improve how it connects with and ties into the heart of the city centre. The proposed new approach to the station will begin from a newly pedestrianised Hall Ings and expanded Norfolk Gardens green space, transforming the arrival in the city centre for visitors to City Park, Broadway and the Cultural Quarter. 

There would also be lighting columns and CCTV around the pocket park, walkway and entrance to the Interchange to give a feeling of safety and security, particularly at night.

Bradford Council purchased the NCP car park on Hall Ings in 2017 with the intention of demolishing it to improve access to the Interchange. Demolishing the NCP car park is due to commence in November 2022 and would allow a new, high-quality approach to the Interchange to be created.

To accommodate a pedestrianised front entrance to the Interchange, the current taxi rank would be relocated to Bridge Street. These changes are in conjunction with the City Centre Walking and Cycling Improvements Scheme. A turning circle would be built at Bridge Street’s junction with Hall Ings, allowing taxis and private vehicles to drop off and pick up easily.

Bradford Council are developing a programme of works that will provide new and upgraded facilities at the Interchange to improve the overall user experience. Wider improvements would include:

• New furniture and places to sit as well as planting inside the building
• new and repaired signage and tactile signage for people with visual impairments
• safety and security improvements, such as a new Help Point, new internal and external lighting and lit handrails
• Additional facilities such as baby changing, a multi-faith room and new ‘Changing Places’ facilities for those with disabilities
• Improvements to make the Interchange more sustainable, with new, reduced-flush toilets and an Electric Vehicle charge point for maintenance vehicles.

Once complete users of the Interchange will benefit from an improved customer offering through the provision of new, modern facilities that also serve to make the Interchange safer, more accessible, and a more efficient facility to run. 

There would also be a new entrance to the car park which sits below the bus deck of the Interchange. The entrance would be located towards the back of the pocket park and would reconfigure the façade of the entrance to have more air and light. This would make it easier and safer to get between the car park and the Interchange.

A new secure cycle hub is also proposed in the vicinity of the Interchange to encourage more people to reach the Interchange by cycling.

The cycle hub is planned to have space for up to 75 cycles with the exact location of the hub to be determined during the detailed design phase of the project.

The aims of the Bradford Interchange Station Access scheme are to:

• Increase passenger capacity and the experience of using the Interchange to encourage more people to travel by train, bus, walking and cycling
• Create a high-quality pedestrian access to the Interchange which would dramatically improve how it connects with and ties into the heart of the city centre
• Create a new open and landscaped pedestrian approach to the Interchange, transforming the arrival in the city centre for visitors to City Park, Broadway and the emerging Cultural Quarter
• Improve the overall user experience by making improvements to the inside of the Interchange

Although Bradford Interchange acts as a gateway for accessing the district, it is currently poorly connected to the city centre via Bridge Street and the current environment provides an uninspiring welcome and experience. Providing a good first impression to visitors is important, particularly when we become the UK City of Culture in 2025.

Improving the pedestrian access to the Interchange would complement a series of other transformational changes being proposed to improve the environment in Bradford city centre through the Walking and Cycling Improvements Scheme and transform the ways in which people get about. The scheme would also sit alongside the new Bradford Live, Darley Street Market, Top of the Town Improvements and City Village. It would also help attract new businesses to the city the new offices in One City Park.

The development of this scheme enhances the area should future changes be made to the Interchange site, for example through Northern Powerhouse Rail which is now back on the government’s agenda, and represents our ambition to provide quality infrastructure in the city centre.

Encouraging more people to walk, cycle or use public transport to travel into and around the city centre will ultimately help improve localised air quality, especially if these trips have previously been made by private car. The TCF programme has also been developed closely alongside wider plans to improve air quality across the city and contribute to Bradford’s move towards becoming net zero carbon.  

The demolition of the NCP on Hall Ings in line with Bradford Council and Combined Authority policies relating to the reduction of reliance on the private car in response to the climate emergency and the introduction of the future mass transit system.

Bradford Council has held the freehold on the building since 2017 and it was purchased with the intention of demolishing the car park to improve access to the Interchange.

The demolition was included in the local development plan and was consulted on in summer 2021 during the initial round of consultation on the Interchange Station Access Improvements scheme.

The NCP on Hall Ings is considerably underused and there is significant other parking capacity within the central area. 

The NCP car park will be demolished in the next months and will act as a site compound for the City Centre Walking and Cycling Improvements Scheme with the concrete from the car park being used to fill in the Jacobs Well roundabout.

Businesses located inside the Interchange will be allowed to remain open for the duration of the works and there will be no costs borne to existing tenants of the Interchange.

All bus and train services will carry on as normal during the works.

Access to through traffic would be removed on Hall Ings from the Jacobs Well roundabout to Bridge Street to accommodate the expansion of Norfolk Gardens and creation of a new pedestrianised approach to the Interchange. Sunbridge Road, Bridge Street, Broadway and Market Street would also be closed to through traffic as part of the wider Bradford TCF city centre plans. Vehicles will instead be able to loop round via Croft Street and Manchester Road.

You would still be able to drop-off and pick-up on both Bridge Street and Nelson Street.

While through traffic will be removed from these roads, access for deliveries will be maintained – although current access arrangements may change. Where there are new areas of pedestrianisation, we currently anticipate access for deliveries will be available during specified periods. We will consult with businesses and the various teams responsible for city centre security to ensure our final proposals are safe and effective.  

All of the proposed changes have been subject to theoretical traffic modelling to demonstrate the potential the impact the changes will have on surrounding roads. After analysis, we have concluded that any displacement of traffic can be accommodated by the surrounding road network.

Stimulating more trips using public transport, walking and cycling will reduce overall traffic and deliver substantial benefits, allowing the city centre to become more people-focused and attractive.

Although the NCP car park on Hall Ings will be demolished, parking will still be available in a number of locations across the city centre including Jacobs Well car park which is being returned as a car park after becoming a Covid vaccination centre during the pandemic, the Upper George Street car park, on Sharpe Street and on Britannia Street.

The nature of the changes that may impact you depends on your location. Access for deliveries will be maintained in all circumstances, albeit timed to specific hours. Please send us further details of the specific location of your property/unit to info@future-bradford.co.uk and we can provide more details.

The taxi rank and car park will be relocated to Bridge Street, allowing taxis and private cars to continue dropping people off. There will be disabled parking provision on Bridge Street.

The NCP car park on Hall Ings will be demolished and a new high-quality pocket park with new planting and greenery would be created in its place. Bradford Council purchased the NCP car park on Hall Ings in 2017 with the intention of demolishing it to improve access to the Interchange.

The pocket park would be complete with places to sit and relax, and there may be some opportunities to include artwork throughout the pocket park.

There are no plans to remove any trees to accommodate the scheme. New street trees will be planted within the new pocket park, and if as the scheme designs develop there becomes a need to remove any trees, the loss will be more than offset by planting new ones.

Bradford Council are developing a programme of works that will provide new and upgraded facilities at the Interchange to improve the overall user experience. Wider improvements would include:

• a new modern Travel Centre which will be located on the upper concourse with improved facilities to make information more accessible and reduce waiting times
• a new public address system
• new and repaired tactile signage for people with visual impairments
• safety and security improvements, such as a new Help Point, pedestrian barriers, and warning beacons
• Improvements to make the Interchange more sustainable, with new, reduced-flush toilets and an Electric Vehicle charge point for maintenance vehicles

Once complete, users of the Interchange will benefit from an improved new, modern facilities that will make the Interchange safer and more accessible.

People will still be able to be picked up and dropped off by taxis wherever it is safe to do so. In the case of taxis, these can go wherever buses and cars go. Taxis will not be able to drop off on the newly pedestrianised sections of Sunbridge Road, Bridge Street, Broadway, Market Street or Hall Ings but provision will be made on the edges of those areas to facilitate access. Other than that, access will be as it is now. Bus stops will be located as close to the centre as possible, in convenient places.

Overall, we hope the plans will make it better for older and vulnerable people to enjoy the city centre. Our plans would see reduced traffic in and around key shopping areas of the city, including new areas of pedestrianisation. Our aim is to also make the city centre more attractive and the increase in public space will feature benches for people to rest and relax across the area.

Seven new bus hubs are also proposed around the core of the city centre through the City Centre Walking and Cycling Improvements scheme. The new hubs would feature improved facilities for waiting passengers, including features such as high quality shelter and seating and real time bus information. The planned hubs would be located at Forster Square, Rawson Square, Goitside, City Park/Entertainment Quarter, Market Street, Cathedral and Little Germany/Broadway, allowing people to be dropped off at key locations close to the shops and leisure destinations.

Now that Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted, we are once again able to hold face-to-face events as part of the consultation on the Bradford Interchange Station Access Improvements Scheme. Public drop-in sessions will be held at the Interchange on 

• Tuesday 15th November 2022, 3pm - 7pm
• Tuesday 22nd November 2022, 11am - 2pm

Everyone is welcome to attend to find out more and ask any questions you may have.

We will soon be proceeding with demolition of the NCP car park to ensure we can begin delivery of the full Bradford Interchange Station Access Improvements Scheme as soon as our designs are finalised following the conclusion of this consultation, and we are ready to begin construction. 

The site of the NCP car park will be used as the construction compound for the Bradford City Centre Walking and Cycling Improvement Scheme while that scheme is being built, then once plans for the Interchange scheme are finalised, construction on the pocket park will commence. The concrete from the demolished Hall Ings car park will be recycled and used in the city centre scheme.

The remaining elements of the Bradford Interchange Station Access Improvements Scheme proposals are still at an early design stage. Although the designs are entering a more detailed phase, there are a number of milestones and review stages that need to take place before they are confirmed and implemented. 

Since the first consultation in 2021, Bradford Council have reviewed the scheme designs and considered the feedback received. We now want to consult on our updated, more detailed proposals. 

This consultation is asking for feedback from the city centre residential community, residents across the city, commuters and visitors to Bradford city centre, local businesses, local groups and organisations, to ensure we have considered all opportunities and possible issues. 

Your feedback will allow us to be confident that our proposals are fit for purpose and make improvements as we enter the detailed design phase of the proposals.

After this public consultation, the plans for the Bradford Interchange Station Access Improvements Scheme will be further developed in line with the feedback received and an Outline Business Case will be produced. This will go to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority for consideration later in the year.

Once the Combined Authority have fed back on the Outline Business Case, a Full Business Case will then be developed and submitted for final approval before any work begins. 

We aim to complete the construction of these proposals by late 2024 in time for Bradford being UK City of Culture 2025.

Workers are preparing the demolition of the NCP Car Park on Hall Ings.

Providing an accessible, attractive and cleaner alternative to car journeys is at the heart of Leeds City Region’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) - a major new programme of transport infrastructure investment secured as part of the West Yorkshire devolution deal.

The £457 million programme, which is being delivered by the Combined Authority in partnership with local authorities, is being paid for with money from the Department for Transport (DfT) and local match funding.

In partnership with local authorities, the Combined Authority will deliver transformational infrastructure, which will dramatically improve people’s access to walking, cycling and public transport.

It is estimated schemes will improve journeys by bus, rail, bike and on foot for up to 1.5 million people, take up to 12 million car trips per year off our roads and reduce CO2 emissions from car travel by up to 15,000 tonnes by 2036. 

Communities across Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby, Wakefield and York are set to benefit from the schemes, which include new or improved bus and rail stations, cycling and walking infrastructure, and new Park and Rides.

The programme will deliver:

• two new Park & Rides
• one new rail station
• four new foot and cycle bridges
• five new or improved bus stations and interchange hubs
• new high quality cycle routes along six corridors
• bus priority along six key bus routes to create more reliable and faster bus journey times
• 800 new cycle parking spaces
• seven improvements to Rail Station Gateways
• new Real Time Information and improved passenger experience across the network.  

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority is working in partnership with local authority colleagues from Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, North Yorkshire, Selby, Wakefield and York councils on the TCF programme.

It is estimated the programme will:

• improve journeys by bus, rail, bike and on foot for up to 1.5 million people
• take up to 12 million car trips per year off our roads by 2036
• make 33 million rail journeys easier by improvements to rail stations
• increase bus, rail, and walking and cycling trips by up to 6%, 4% and 7% respectively by 2036
• reduce CO2 emissions by up to 1.5% / 15,000 tonnes from car travel by 2036
• create more than 1,000 jobs and add up to £1 billion to the economy by 2036
• support connectivity to 650 housing sites and 220 employment sites

The £457 million programme, which is being delivered by the Combined Authority in partnership with local authorities, is being paid for with money from the Department for Transport (DfT) and local match funding.

A range of options are being developed as part of each business case to ensure we deliver the best schemes, while also considering the ongoing impact of inflation, including the rising cost of building materials.

Building on the significant progress already made, the Combined Authority is working in partnership to transform our town and city centres for walking and cycling, improve bus reliability and journey times, and make it easier to travel by train. 

The programme will connect people to jobs, training and education through accessible, affordable and cleaner transport, boosting productivity and helping create healthier and happier communities for the future. 

It will also help us tackle the climate emergency on our way to becoming a net zero carbon economy by 2038.       

We need to reduce car trips by 21% and increase cycling trips by 2,000%, walking trips by 78%, bus strips by 39% and rail trips by 53% if we are to achieve our ambitious net zero targets in this time frame.

Communities across Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby, Wakefield and York are set to benefit from the schemes, which include new or improved bus and rail stations, cycling and walking infrastructure, and new Park and Rides.

The programme is focused on connecting people in the communities of greatest economic need with job and training opportunities. This will, in turn, help boost productivity, living standards and air quality.   

There are 22 packages of schemes, comprising between 30 and 35 individual projects, within the overall programme.

Schemes are at different stages, right through from the development of business cases and designs, to gearing up for public consultation, with construction having started on the new Halifax Bus Station and White Rose Rail Station in Leeds.  

Find out more information at westyorks-ca.gov.uk/TCF

The programme is being delivered over the next three years, up to the end of 2025.  

The impact of COVID-19 on the region and its economy means it is more important than ever to assess the changes to the landscapes of our towns and cities and the impact on current and future planned schemes, particularly, but not exclusively, those relating to transport.

Although it is generally expected that people’s behaviour will return to the pre-pandemic position in the medium and long-term, the impact on travel into and around towns and cities will be assessed as part of every scheme’s appraisal and any assumptions made to address issues identified prior to the pandemic will be re-tested.

It will build on the significant investment already made through the Combined Authority’s other programmes, such as the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund, Connecting Leeds and CityConnect.

Many of the schemes provide enhancements or extensions to the projects being delivered through these programmes, helping to spread the benefits across a wider geography. 

The programme is focused on connecting people in the communities of greatest economic need with job and training opportunities.  This will, in turn, help boost productivity, living standards and air quality.  

Find out more information about the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund.

Find out more information about Connecting Leeds.

Find out more information about CityConnect. 

Find out more information about the Transforming Cities Fund programme at westyorks-ca.gov.uk/TCF

Details of the TCF consultations can be found at www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk. You can get in touch with the Combined Authority’s Consultation and Engagement team via YourVoice@westyorks-ca.gov.uk, 0113 245 7676 or Freepost CONSULTATION TEAM (WYCA).  You can register your details with Your Voice to be kept informed: www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/register. Please note that, due to the COVID-19 crisis, the majority of the Combined Authority’s staff are working from home and there will therefore be significant delays in receiving any postal contributions. If you can, please contact the team using another method to ensure a quick response.

The bid was led by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in partnership with the 10 local authorities across the Leeds City Region. It was developed in two stages, with a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) submitted to the DfT in June 2019. The final bid was submitted to the DfT in November 2019. The bid documents can be found at westyorks-ca.gov.uk/TCF

The bid was developed in partnership with local authorities across the Leeds City Region, including Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, North Yorkshire, Selby, Wakefield and York. The bid was also co-developed with the DfT, which provided feedback on the plans as they emerged. In line with other Mayoral Combined Authorities, we are required to feedback on the progress of the programme’s delivery.  

The programme is focused on connecting people in the communities of greatest economic need with job and training opportunities. This will, in turn, help boost productivity, living standards and air quality. 

As part of the bidding process, the Combined Authority was asked to develop a series of schemes, which could be delivered under three different cost scenarios (low, core and high). Each scheme needed to meet the Combined Authority’s priorities, as well as objectives set out by the DfT, such as reducing carbon emissions, and increasing capacity for commuters with better access to employment centres, especially from disadvantaged communities. 

Schemes put forward by local authorities were scored against the objectives before being reviewed as a programme.  Once agreement had been reached between local authority and Combined Authority officers, the programme was signed off by each of the leaders, as well as members of the Combined Authority’s Transport Committee.