ILKLEY'S MP Robbie Moore says he is 'bitterly disappointed' after it was announced on Thursday that the eastern leg of the HS2 high speed rail line was being scrapped and the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) link from Manchester to Leeds downgraded.

Leaders had been pushing for a new rail link between Manchester and Leeds to run via Bradford and for the city to get a new station. 

Rumours and leaks suggesting this would not happen were confirmed with the publication of the Integrated Rail Plan. 

Instead, the line between Leeds and Bradford will be electrified, giving a journey time "which could be as low as 12 minutes".

The plan says: "We carefully examined the other options put forward by TfN (Transport for the North) for full newbuild lines from Liverpool to Leeds via Manchester and Bradford. They would have made Manchester Leeds journeys only four minutes faster than the option we have chosen, and cost an extra £18 billion."

Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore said: “I am bitterly disappointed at the plans announced. We desperately need better connectivity for the whole of West Yorkshire so we can properly level up and deliver new opportunities.

"I welcome the announcement of faster upgrades on the line to Leeds and contactless ticketing, but we need to do much, much more. Economic prosperity relies on good transport links, and today the Bradford District has been completely short changed.

"We are one of the most socially deprived parts of the UK and I am therefore calling on the Government to review these plans urgently, so that Northern Powerhouse Rail can be delivered with a stop in Bradford, and we can unlock the whole of Bradford’s District potential.

"I won’t stop fighting to for better, more reliable and cheaper rail services for people across Keighley, Ilkley and the whole of West Yorkshire.”

Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said she was “deeply disappointed” in the Government’s decision and said it was a “real betrayal of Bradford, Yorkshire and the north of England”.

She added: “I think it’s a wrong-headed decision and I think they need to change their mind. I will not accept no for an answer and I will push to make sure we get maximum we can for Bradford. If they don’t invest in Bradford, then what does that say about the future of this country as a whole? It’s not just Bradford here, there’s other towns and cities around the country, looking to see if ‘levelling up’ really means something. If it doesn’t, then that’s a very different vision for this country which I don’t like.”

Cllr Hinchcliffe said the Prime Minister had reneged on his commitment to a new line between Leeds and Manchester and at face value the plan is “nothing particularly new”.

She said while electrification between Bradford and Leeds, which could see journey times cut to 12 minutes, subject to a business case, will make a difference, it is not the “grand vision” that was hoped for.

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin added: “There was obviously the rumours and the briefings, I did think that Boris Johnson would pull a rabbit out of the hat, because he was saying in Parliament ‘just wait, just wait, it’s going to be fantastic’ and actually it’s really disappointing.”

Shipley MP Philip Davies said it was a “massively missed opportunity”. However, he had no qualms over the scrapping of the eastern leg of HS2.

Mr Davies said: “This is a huge package which probably represents the biggest investment in infrastructure across the north of the country of any modern day government - certainly far more than the last Labour government which delivered the square root of nothing in 13 years.

“The halving of journey times between Leeds and Bradford is extremely welcome, but naturally it is hugely disappointing that Northern Powerhouse Rail is being scaled back and Bradford is not being given a station stop which is a massively missed opportunity - something I made clear in a meeting with the Prime Minister and Grant Shapps yesterday.

“It also highlights the utter folly of Council leaders in West Yorkshire campaigning for HS2 which is a huge white elephant and will benefit London far more than the North. It is the huge overspend on HS2 which is the single biggest factor in Northern Powerhouse Rail being scaled back. So why on earth were these leaders pushing so hard for HS2 when we all knew that it was Northern Powerhouse Rail that was most essential?

“I spent years campaigning for HS2 to be scrapped and Northern Powerhouse Rail to be prioritised instead but the Council leaders in West Yorkshire insisted on pressing hard for HS2. It is a strategy that has blown up in their faces.

“A united voice in the north opposing HS2 throughout and instead insisting on a bells and whistles Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme across the North probably would have delivered everything we could ever have wanted in the Bradford district.

“I will continue to press for improved infrastructure across the North in general and the Bradford district in particular.”