Leeds station reopening delayed

Leeds station's facelift is set to drag on

The reopening of one of England's busiest railway stations, already closed for a fortnight, has been delayed.

Only a handful of trains have been passing through Leeds city station during a £165m facelift which was due to be completed on 2 January.

But now Railtrack is warning it will not be ready for at least another week.

The work has caused major disruption for both local and cross-country passengers, on top of delays caused by the imposition of emergency timetables after the Hatfield crash.

Last week Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott visited the station and praised the scheme for being on schedule but since then Railtrack has admitted it had tried to tackle too much work in too short a time.

Business leader Susan Johnson: Delays could cause economic damage

The delay means East Coast main line passengers are having to use buses between Leeds and Wakefield.

Robin Gisby of Railtrack said: "Fundamentally, we tried to cram too much work into too short a time.

"It is our problem. It isn't the operators - they have worked very hard to get around this problem.

"We have got a lot more work to do here still."

And local business leaders admit the delays could cause economic damage to the region.

Susan Johnson, of Yorkshire Forward, said: "Railtrack needs to get a grip on their asset management and start delivering on the promises they have made.

"Otherwise, this region is going to continue to lose its competitive advantage that we pride ourselves on - our transport infrastructure."

One passenger told the BBC it had taken him six hours and four coach rides to get from London to Bradford.