Bradford Council has been awarded £19,814,140 to deliver schemes in Keighley, which include upgrades to the Keighley and Worth valley Railway, as part of the Government’s Levelling Up Fund.
The bid was submitted back in 2021 and as part of the package will see a number of upgrades to the five mile long heritage line.
Upgrades to the signalling will be made to allow more services to run on the line, and the diesel multiple unit fleet will be upgraded.
A dedicated storage and maintenance facility will also be created to store the fleet.
Upgrades are set to be delivered in 2026 after a validation check by the government to ensure the funding will still be of benefit.
A spokesperson for Bradford Council said that the funding would make Keighley a major transport hub, but gave no further details on what this meant / how it would be implemented.
Bradford Council Leader Susan Hinchliffe said: “This is excellent news for Keighley and the wider district in so many ways. The town has a proud engineering and manufacturing tradition. This is such an exciting project which will enhance Keighley’s engineering, manufacturing and economic role in the region, putting it at the forefront of UK innovation.
“The funding we’ve secured with our bid will enhance skills and create more economic opportunities for Keighley and the wider area. I am delighted that the quality of the bid we submitted after working closely with our partners, has been recognised by the Government, as ‘impressive’, ‘high-quality’ and ‘ready-to- deliver.’
“It has been two years since the bid was initially submitted so we’ll now look at how we will deliver this project, given the changing context of time, and we will continue to work hard to maximise all investment to the district.”
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