Alec has submitted a bid to the Department for Transport (DfT) for the reinstatement of a railway station at Methley.
Following a meeting with the Secretary of State in February 2020, Alec launched a village-wide transport survey in Methley to gauge public opinion for his idea to apply to one of two new funds established by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Following the General Election in December 2019, when the Conservatives won a large majority and Alec won a majority of votes in every Polling District in Elmet & Rothwell – including Methley in Mickletown – the Prime Minister announced his intention to level-up the UK economy and make sure that the North of England has increased connectivity.
The government is set to look at how to bring a mass-transit system to the City of Leeds (currently the largest city in Western Europe without such a transport system), and the Department for Transport is to launch the first phase of a multi-million pound fund to open new railway stations.
Alec first raised the idea of a new railway station at Methley in 2015 which then led to residents putting the idea to leaders of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in 2017. At that time, the Combined Authority did not back the proposal, indeed their earlier reports published in 2014 ruled out support for the proposal, therefore no funding was available.
Before that, when Leeds City Council held its city-wide ‘Transport Conversation’ in 2016 – looking at how to spend £170 million of transport investment awarded to the city by the then Government – Alec submitted a request for some of that money to be spent on a new railway station in Methley. However, Leeds City Council opted instead to spend this money on city-centre focussed schemes, including Park & Rides.
But now there looks to be fresh hope on the horizon with the new Conservative Government launching additional transport funding for the North. To avoid any further missed opportunities Alec has decided to progress a bid himself.
You can download Alec’s 38-page submission below.