Calls for report on Interchange's future to be published 'as soon as possible'

TRANSPORT bosses have been urged to bring forward a report on the future of Bradford Interchange’s bus station “as soon as possible.”

West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which owns and operates the facility, shut the bus section of the interchange for safety reasons in January after concrete fell from the structure into an underground parking area.

It is yet to re-open, and there has been little clarity on its future.

WYCA had said a full report on the future of the station would be published in mid June, but at a meeting of its Transport Committee on Friday members were told the General Election could change these plans.

Bradford Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe chairs the committee, and said the closure meant bus passengers in Bradford were not being given the service they were entitled to.

She said: “This is causing major disruption to the people of Bradford.”

Bradford Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe (Image: Newsquest)

The committee heard that the surprise announcement of a General Election in early July meant no major new projects or policy changes can be announced in the weeks before the vote due to the pre-election purdah period.

Cllr Hinchcliffe urged officers to accelerate the release of this report to avoid the purdah period if possible.

David Haskins, Director of Transport operations, said: “We are working on a paper at the moment and will bring it to the Authority as soon as possible, and this will set out where we go next. The assessments on the safety of the structure are still ongoing. This is a large, complex structure that is over 50 years old, so it is not something that can be done very quickly.”

The committee heard the Interchange closure was having a knock-on effect on the recent changes to bus routes in the city centre.

Many city centre roads were permanently closed in April as part of plans to pedestrianise areas of the city.

This led to bus routes changing, and, with no Interchange, passengers now have to wait at new stops dotted around the city centre.

The changes have been heavily criticised.

There was little sign of life when this picture of an entrance to Bradford Interchange was taken. Ironically, the former NCP car park in the background is being demolished to create a grand entrance to the Interchange (Image: T&A)

Referring to both the changes and the Interchange closure, Michael Bunting, Interim Director of Transport Operations & Passenger Experience, told members WYCA staff have been out in the city centre since the January closure to help people navigate the various bus stops.

He said recent changes to move more stops from Vicar Lane to Leeds Road had led to “massive improvements” to congestion and bus reliability.

He said despite the problems, bus patronage in Bradford was the same last month as it was in April 2023.

But he pointed out that elsewhere in West Yorkshire there was a 6 per cent rise in bus usage – so the issues in Bradford were having an impact.

He said: “We have people on the ground monitoring the issues on a daily basis.”

Cllr Hinchcliffe added: “The absolute priority for us is for the situation to improve as soon as possible.

“Bradford people are not shy about coming forward – I don’t need a research team to tell me about the problems, plenty of people are telling me they are not happy.”