Metro has welcomed a new report by independent urban policy research unit Centre for Cities that reveals the ‘hidden’ economic gains of transport projects.

Better rail links and more trains, the use of tram-trains to increase capacity on some lines, and a high-tech rapid bus network in Leeds could generate an additional £54m for the local economy each year, says the Report.

Projects contained in the Leeds City Region Transport Vision that improve access to Leeds city centre and bring people and businesses closer together, could add 25% additional benefits to the local economy. Improving networks between cities and towns within the Leeds City Region would add 16% of extra benefits, and upgraded routes between Leeds and Manchester a further 12%.

These additional, hard-to-identify benefits, which are referred to as agglomeration benefits, include elements such as the extra productivity which arises from people being able to make quicker and easier journeys to and from work, and the advantages gained from better links between companies.

At the Report’s launch, Metro’s Director General Kieran Preston said the findings in the Report put the Leeds City Region ahead of its competitors which had still to undertake this kind of research.

“It is a vital tool that enables us to demonstrate to the Department for Transport how investment in transport projects in the Leeds City Region can deliver an even greater return,” he said.

Speaking in his capacity as Chairman of the Leeds City Region Transport Panel, Leeds Councillor, Andrew Carter, said the report was vital in ensuring that Leeds City Region could make its full contribution to the UK economy.

John Yeomans from York Law Firm Harrowell Shaftoe said that improved transport was essential to economic development and that the Leeds City Region’s case to the Government for more investment was made much stronger by the study.

The Centre for Cities findings will now be used as part of the business case process, to strengthen bids for Government investment in the wide range of transport proposals contained in City Region Transport Vision.

Funded by Metro and the Leeds City Region councils, the Report The case for better transport investment: Agglomeration and growth in the Leeds City Region by Adam Marshall and Chris Webber, can be found on the Centre for Cities web site.