New carriages to be added to Leeds rail routes

Date: 14/4/2011

Commuters travelling in and out of Leeds could soon find more seats available to them, thanks to the planned addition of 20 new carriages to rail routes serving the city.

The Department for Transport has announced that the additional carriages will be used in order to allow more trains to operate during busy periods on the lines running from Skipton, Ilkley and Doncaster into Leeds, via Wakefield.

In total, some 2,000 additional seats will be available every day as a result.

The government has pledged to introduce a total of 650 extra carriages to the UK's rail services by 2014.

Philip Hammond, the Transport Secretary, said: "Even at a time of severe pressure on public spending we cannot afford not to invest in Britain's future - and that's why we are investing more than £10 million in providing these extra carriages for Yorkshire commuters."

Elsewhere, in south Yorkshire a £150,000 government grant has been made available to help further a project to put tram-trains on the region's rail network.

Posted by Nick Anderson