Millions of visitors to Bradford are expected to visit Bradford this year during its celebrations as the UK’s City of Culture for 2025.

To prepare for the visitors to the city looking forward to performances, events, and artwork exhibitions, train operator Northern, which is one of the event’s official partners, has made improvements to the stations at Bradford Interchange and Bradford Forster Square.

Northern’s staff have spent months preparing for the hordes of visitors, and are ready to help them get to where they need to go and to showcase Bradford.

Bradford Interchange station

At Bradford Interchange, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority has upgraded the entrance as part of a multi-million-pound project to create a new gateway to the city.

Outside the station, the taxi rank has been replaced by a seating area encased in coloured panelling and the ramp leading to the station has been repaved.

Inside the station, Northern and ISS have given it a deep clean. Artwork and posters promoting the City of Culture celebrations have been installed in the upper concourse, floral displays on the platforms have been refreshed, and the waiting rooms repainted.

A new garden is being created by platform 4 and there are plans to repaint the old red buffer stops on the track.

Bradford Forster Square station

At Bradford Forster Square station, railway arches leading down to the main entrance that were previously used by rough sleepers, have been decorated with panels, artwork and new lighting through a collaboration between Bradford Council and Network Rail.

Inside the station, station manager Trevor Armitage has assembled a team to clean and repaint it and is planning to erect lighting in the large stone arches that run alongside the station and install community artwork.

The station is used by over 1.9 million people each year, and a new platform is being built as part of a £24 million pound government-funded project that will enable up to five extra services to run to London each day.

During storms last April, the station’s lifts were damaged, but they have been repaired in plenty of time for this year’s celebrations.

“Most of the team are from Bradford, so they know the area well and they’re keen to get this right. Most made themselves available to work over the weekend during the City of Culture launch event, as they’re ready to welcome people to the city and show them what Bradford has to offer. I’ve also been impressed by the huge amount of effort that has gone into improving the two stations in Bradford. It has made a remarkable difference for customers.”

Trevor Armitage, station manager at Bradford Interchange and Bradford Forster Square