Transport in Leeds
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The city of Leeds has strong transport links nationally, with one of the UK's busiest rail stations, road connections via the A1(M) Motorway, M1 motorway and M62 motorway, as well as the nearby Leeds Bradford International Airport. There is a dense bus network within the city, and an extensive suburban rail network.
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[edit] Forms of Transport
[edit] Rail
The rail network is still of great importance. Leeds station is one of the busiest in the UK outside central London, with well over 900 trains and 50,000 passing through the main ticket gates daily. Its modern interior provides connections to London, Southampton and the south, Birmingham and the Midlands, Bristol and the West Country and Newcastle via Cross Country. Edinburgh and the north can be accessed via Cross Country or National Express East Coast services to Aberdeen, although changes are often required at York or Newcastle. Manchester, Liverpool and the west are accessible by First Transpennine Express, as are Scarborough and Hull in the east. There are connections by Northern Rail to many villages, towns and cities in the region.
The station itself has 17 platforms, making it the largest in England outside London, having been rebuilt from 12 platforms in 2001 at a cost of £265m.
From Leeds station MetroTrains operated by Northern Rail operate to all parts of West Yorkshire and surrounding local and commuter locations and other operators including GNER, Virgin Cross Country, East Midlands Trains and TransPennine Express operate services to the rest of the country.
Leeds has two railway lines offering direct services to London. The principal route is along the East Coast Main Line which operates half-hourly through the day, and is planned to increase to every 20 minutes. The service terminates at London Kings Cross, adjacent to St. Pancras station. East Midlands Trains offer an alternative route via Leicester and Sheffield along the Midland Main Line to London St Pancras, where passengers can continue their journey onto Paris and Brussels by Eurostar. Through tickets can be bought on NXEC or East Midlands Trains from Leeds to European destinations thanks to this interchange. The East Midlands Trains service operates principally because the train operators a fleet of former Midland Mainline diesel high speed trains (HST's) which are based at the Neville Hill maintenance depot in Leeds. There are three trains per day in each direction.
List of Railway Stations in Leeds
- Leeds Station
- Cross Gates Station
- Garforth Station
- East Garforth Station
- Micklefield Station
- Cottingley Station
- Morley Station
- Bramley Station
- New Pudsey Station
- Burley Park Station
- Headingley Station
- Horsforth Station
- Guiseley Station
- Woodlesford Station
List of former railway stations in Leeds
- Marsh Lane
- Leeds Wellington
- Leeds Whitehall
- Leeds Central
- Kirkstall
- Hunslet
- Armley
- Beeston
- Pendas Way
- Scholes
- Thorner
- Bardsey
- Collingham Bridge
- Wetherby
- Thorp Arch
- Otley
- Kippax
Middleton Light Railway
The Middleton Light Railway is one of the oldest rail systems in the world. Originally built to transport coal from Middleton Colliery to Leeds, the railway is now just a heritage piece. The railway effectively runs the length of Middleton Park, joining on to the national rail network at the northern end. The Middleton Light Railway contains Leeds' only level crossing. There are two stations, Park Halt and Moor Lane.
[edit] Roads
Leeds is the focus of the A58, A61, A62, A63, A64 and A65 roads. Nowadays, with the M1 and M62 intersecting just to its south and the A1(M) passing just to its east, it is one of the principal hubs of the northern motorway network. The city centre is pedestrianised, and is encircled by the clockwise-only 'loop road'.
Inner Ring Road
In the 1960s Leeds set about the most ambitious inner ring road plan of any British city. The Leeds inner ring road is all motorway, bypassing the northern, eastern and western parts of the city centre. The road was in a series of tunnels to avoid wide spread demolition during construction. This has also aided Leeds in effectivley 'hiding' the inner ring road underground, reducing the division it makes in the city (as as been a problem in many other cities, for example Birmingham and Leicester. Pedestrians may walk over it into the city centre, completely unaware of its presence. This gave Leeds City Council the idea to promote the city with the slogan Motorway City of the 1970s. The inner ring road is made up of the A58(M) and the A64(M). The road begins as the A58(M), at the Armley Gyratory and ends as the A64(M) at Quarry Hill. The reason for the change in number accounts for the A58 which leaves the Inner Ring Road at the junction with Clay Pit Lane.
The Inner Ring Road continues past the A64(M) as graded dual carriageway with traffic light controlled junctions, and heads southwards towards the East Bank. Here, it will meet the East Leeds Link Road, providing fast connections to the M1. It continues over the River Aire as a high quality dual carriageway on a flyover, meeting the M621 at Junction 4. The M621 completes the southern flank of the Inner Ring Road, linking up to the A643 which joins back to the Armley Gyratory.
Strategic Point in the UK
Leeds is one of the most strategically important cities, according to road position. With the M1 and A1 heading South towards London and the East Midlands, the A1(M) heading North towards Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh, the M62 heading both West towards Bradford, Manchester, Liverpool and the M62 and east towards Kingston upon Hull and the Port of Hull (this is a particularly important freight route).
Away from motorways, a regional dual carriageway network meets in Leeds. The A64 is an important trunk road, heading as an unbroken dual carriageway up to York and then on to Scarborough. Added to this, the A61 expressway to the north links the northern suburbs of Leeds to the city centre, and onto Harrogate and Ripon. The A660 and A65 dual carriageways link the commuter belts to the north west of the city and onto the Lancashire, meeting the A650. The A6110 expressway forms part of Leeds' Outer Ring Road and continues as dual carriageway southwards, connecting the areas south of the M62 to Leeds, although it is often quicker to use the M621 from Birstall.
The M621 is an internal urban motorway. Much of it is the former M1 (until it was diverted as the South East Leeds Orbital linking the M1 and A1(M)). The Motorway begins at the M62 in Birstall (near Ikea) and finishes where it merges with the M1 at Stourton. Since the M1 diversion the motorway has increased in length, previously it only ran from Birstall as far as the City Centre. The M62 and M1 collectively create a part-orbital motorway around the south and east of the city.
[edit] Bus/coach/taxi
On 30 January 2006, a zero-fare bus service (the FreeCityBus) started running, on a circular route, in the centre of Leeds.
Leeds has a large modern bus station served by National Express and local bus services. Buses in the city are mainly provided by FirstBus and Arriva. Harrogate & District provides a service to Harrogate and Ripon. The Yorkshire Coastliner service runs from Leeds to Malton, Scarborough, Filey, Whitby and Bridlington via Tadcaster, York and Malton.
The city's new bus station has become a controversy in the city. One of the main reasons is its location (approximately one mile from the railway station). The distance from the railway station is not the only problem with its location. For someone unfarmiliar with the centre of Leeds it would prove very difficult to find (situated behind the Kirkgate Markets). Not only this but the size of the main bus station is also inadequate. Many First Buses do not use the station, only external buses and National Express coaches use the station. For a city the size of Leeds a 26 stand bus station is far too small. Hence Eastgate, The Headrow, Park Row, Boar Lane, Vicar Lane, Albion Street and Cookridge Street are lined with bus stops. There are three smaller bus stations in the city centre, one on Vicar Lane, one to the rear of the Leeds Shopping Plaza on Boar Lane and one outside the main entrance to the railway station for services linking the railway station with the rest of the city's public transport. The lack of integration in Leeds' public transport system is a common criticism.
The railway station has a dedicated public hire taxi rank that operates 24 hours a day. The rank is serviced by the whole Leeds fleet of 537 taxis, 237 of which are wheelchair accessible. All are fitted with a taxi meter set to Leeds City Council's fare tariff. All drivers are knowledge tested and have undergone criminal records investigations. The bus and coach station also has a dedicated rank which is located just outside near the police station. All vehicles, drivers, and operators of both taxis and private hire vehicles must be licensed by the Council.[1]
[edit] Local public transport information
Leeds Travel Info is Leeds City Council's public access website providing real-time travel information in the Leeds area. West Yorkshire Metro provides bus and train information on its website, and offers the innovative "My Next Bus" service of real-time bus information by text message or online. This real-time information is also displayed in certain bus shelters.
[edit] Air transport
Leeds Bradford International Airport is located to the north-west of the city and has scheduled flights to destinations within Europe plus Egypt and Turkey and to the rest of the world via London Heathrow Airport, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The airport is the largest in Yorkshire. Since the arrival of budget airline Jet2 (who chose Leeds Bradford as their base) the airport has expanded considerably. In September 2007, Jet2 announced the introduction of eight new destinations from the airport. New transatlantic routes and a possible route to Pakistan are expected to arrive soon. In 2007 the five metropolitan councils of West Yorkshire sold the airport to Bridgepoint Capital for in excess of £140 million. The new owners are currently drawing up an expansion plan.
There is a direct rail service from Leeds to Manchester Airport, with trains running throughout the night. Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield is 40 miles from Leeds.
[edit] Inland waterways
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal links the city to Liverpool and the west coast. The Aire and Calder Navigation links Leeds to the Humber and the east coast. The city has a dock, situated on both canals at Clarence Dock (adjacent to the Royal Armouries).
[edit] Sea transport
Leeds has good connections by road, rail and coach to Hull, only an hour away, from where it is possible to travel to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge by ferry services run by P&O Ferries.
[edit] Former Tram System
See Leeds Tramway
Leeds' tram system was dismantled in the early 1950s (as was the case in most cities) with the final services running in November 1959. In recent years this decision has become regarded as short sighted. The former routes of the tram are evident on some of the main routes in and out of the city, for instance the void in the A64 York Road now filled with guided bus lanes and the unusually wide central reservation in between the carriageways on the A58 Easterly Road (towards Wetherby). The original tram system ran a larger route then the proposed supertram, the original system ran along the A64, A58, A61, A660 and also down through Beeston and Belle Isle. By the time the tram network was dismantled it had become unpopular with many people in Leeds due to its ageing, drafty, poorly maintained fleet. Neighbouring Bradford lost its trolley bus system during the same era. Sheffield also lost its tram system several years earlier, yet has seen the return of the tram.
[edit] Rejected Tram plans
The city had plans in the 1990s and 2000s for a tram network known as Supertram. However the government axed the scheme due to an unwillingness to pay for any costs over budget, despite an undertaking by the City Council and local businesses to underwrite any such additional costs and the Department for Transport's apparent preference of a bus-based rapid transport scheme to a tram-based scheme. An inquiry into corruption at the Department of Transport was called for, although nothing came from the calls.[2][3] There have been suggestions that a modern Trolleybus system might be built instead.[4] Leeds remains the largest city in the European Union without a mass transit system.[citation needed]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Leeds City Council. Taxi and private hire licensing. Retrieved on 2007-12-15.
- ^ Leeds Tram Scheme - statement by Alistair Darling, Transport Secretary. Government Office for Yorkshire and The Humber (2005-11-03). Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
- ^ Leeds Supertram - Closing down arrangements. West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority (2005-12-01). Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
- ^ Plan for city trolleybus comeback. BBC Online. BBC (15 June 2007). Retrieved on 2008-04-29.
[edit] See also
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