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01
Oct
Rail link to Ripon, park and rides in Harrogate: Group puts forward ambitious transport proposals
Metro mayor David Skaith is midway through a 10-week consultation that will shape the future of transport in the region.
The Labour mayor of York and North Yorkshire published a local transport plan at the end of August setting out a long-term vision for improving transport.
People are being invited to give their views — and few will be more ambitious than Greg House, whose ideas include creating two park and ride services in Harrogate, reinstating a rail line to Ripon and even creating a new rail line with a stop at Linton-on-Ouse.
One of the Harrogate park and rides would be at Flaxby, near the A1(M) and at a yet-to-be-determined location north of the town, such as Ripley.
You can read more about Mr House's proposals here.
RAF veteran Mr House outlined his strategy at last month’s Great Harrogate Transport Fair.
He told the Stray Ferret:
“By 2014 I got thoroughly fed up being stuck in traffic jams and thought I had two choices — whinge or do something about.”
He set-up the community interest company Forwards York, Forwards Yorkshire to establish a blueprint for how people move around the region.
A moment for the north?
Mr House ramped things up after the creation of York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, which the mayor chairs, in 2024.
He believes Mr Skaith’s local transport plan, and new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s enthusiasm for investing in the north, have created a moment for bold thinking.
The big questions are cost, and the practicalities of acquiring land.
Mr House says Mr Skaith has the power to create mayoral development zones to compulsorily purchase land and fast-track development.
As for cost, the scheme is planned in phases, beginning with a programme for York that starts with a 17km rail line through the city and establishing a tram network.
He says:
The costs per mile will vary across the project, not least because we are upgrading some existing line (York-Knaresborough-Harrogate-Leeds), re-instating dormant lines (Harrogate-Wetherby, Harrogate-Ripon-Thirsk, York-Beverley, York-Selby) and building some new alignments for the city network around York. It's obviously cheaper to upgrade existing lines, next to reinstate old alignments, most expense is to build new lines.
York-based Mr House said the plans make maximum use of existing infrastructure to reduce capital expenditure.
But isn’t it overly ambitious?
The plan being big is important on two counts: first, economies of scale and the ability to uplift GVA (gross value added) at national level, paying back the investment many times over to the exchequer. Second, being a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project brings powers, enhanced by recent National Planning Policy Framework changes, to reduce the consultation required and also severely limiting NIMBY judicial reviews - all massively costly in terms of money and time.
What we need are the politicians locally and nationally with the vision and determination to do it. I see no reason why the two park and rides for Harrogate could not be started within a year once the decision is taken — you could have them operational in three years. Again, political will is key. I'd do it in a heartbeat.
What do you think of the vision, and what do you think should be done to improve local transport? Have your say in the comment section below.
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