The Department for Transport is to provide £9.5m for a major regeneration of the Leeds-Bradford railway line, it has been announced.

Two new stations are to be built on the rail line between Bradford and Leeds following government agreement to make almost £10m available to fund the project, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced.

The Department for Transport will fund up to £9.5m of the £16m Leeds Rail Growth scheme. One of the new stations will support the development of the Kirkstall Forge site, which will include around 1,000 new homes and extensive commercial buildings.

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It is expected that the project will support 300 jobs during construction, create an estimated 1,800 jobs directly linked to the development upon completion and 300 more across the wider area.

Mr McLoughlin said: "These stations represent a major regeneration project for West Yorkshire and provide new transport links for the wider community. They will unlock growth and help create many hundreds of new jobs.

"The £9.5m we are putting into this project shows that the coalition government is serious about investing in the infrastructure the country needs to drive economic growth, both locally and nationally."

The scheme consists of two new stations on the Leeds-Bradford railway line — at Apperley Bridge and at Kirkstall Forge. The Apperley Bridge Station will include a park and ride site to serve both Leeds and Bradford whilst the Kirkstall Forge Station will aim to regenerate start over £400m of mixed-use development at the Old Forge site.

The main works are scheduled to start in July with completion of the scheme in August 2015.

The department will provide a maximum of £9.573m towards the full scheme cost of £15.9m.

(IT)