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Daily challenges minister to visit patch and witness ‘transport woes’

A regional daily has challenged the transport secretary to visit its patch and witness first hand its “transport woes”.

The Yorkshire Evening Post has issued a front page plea to Grant Shapps, calling on the cabinet minister to visit Leeds amid calls for investment in the city’s transport system.

The YEP ran a special report across four pages on the issue in yesterday’s (18) edition, pictured below.

In an accompanying editorial, YEP editor Laura Collins urged Mr Shapps to visit Leeds at the earliest opportunity “to witness the daily disruption, the pain caused to businesses and families, and the opportunities that exist here if you prioritise the pre-election promises made by the Prime Minister”.

YEP transport

Laura added: “The city centre is the jewel in the crown for Leeds – but how are we supposed to attract people into it when they are stifled by the transport network?

“Surely the fact that the Conservatives intend to set aside £4.2bn ‘for local public transport’ is further recognition of the infrastructure injustices that successive governments – Conservative and Labour – have presided over?

“This is another acknowledgement that improved transport links are integral to economic growth, a point that has been made repeatedly by the Yorkshire Evening Post and other newspapers co-ordinating the Power Up The North campaign.

“This is an issue that will not go away while Leeds remains one of the biggest Western cities without a mass public transport system.”

The YEP has called on the government to commit to funding an audit of transport in Leeds and to work with transport chiefs and Leeds City Council to come up with a fully costed, viable plan to “unlock the gridlock in our city”.

Laura wrote: “Today we throw down the gauntlet and ask you – the Transport Secretary – to get on a train from London to Leeds and then we’ll show you just how tough it can be to get from one side of Leeds to another.

“We want you to show us and our readers you are serious about promoting growth in the north of England following the result of the general election because we don’t want our great city to remain stuck in the slow lane for the next decade and beyond.”

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  • December 20, 2019 at 6:43 pm
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    This kind of virtue-signalling is ridiculous. It’s the job of local MPs to lobby Ministers. A wasted front page — no doubt fawned over by those caught in traffic jams as they are in every major city in the UK.

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