MP and campaigners aim to show Leeds needs trams after city turns to rail network

A summit in Leeds has been held in a bid to show that "Leeds needs light rail," in the words of the Leeds North West MP, after the city council proposed investment in buses and trains instead, according to The Yorkshire Post.

The day-long summit yesterday organised by Light Rail (UK) demonstrated, according to the Lib Dem MP, Greg Mulholland, "that with the political will, we could and should get started with light rail in Leeds and the consensus was the £250m [available for the city] should be used for this," the regional daily reported.  He maintained that spending the money on "a series of smaller improvements" instead would "not deliver the transformative change that Leeds needs," the report says.

Leeds City Council last week announced its new transport strategy after the DfT spiked its previous trolleybus proposal now hinged on three new train stations, including one at Leeds Bradford Airport on the Harrogate to Leeds line.