ESTABLISHING an “integrated transport authority” (ITA) for Yorkshire and Humber would help to improve the York-Harrogate railway, a member of the Institution Of Civil Engineers (ICE) said today.

Andrew McLusky, who is a member of the national transport board for ICE, said: “What we’re saying is that if the regional integrated transport authorities were established, then they would have a greater say in what areas transport improvements should be taking place. A lot of the railway track between Knaresborough and York is single track, which means it has got very limited capacity. And obviously that corridor is quite an important corridor for York in terms of its location for where the workers live and for people heading into York, and the railway line capacity has been talked about but there’s been no action.”

Mr McLusky said ICE believed if an ITA was set up for the region it would help to bring about any improvements to the line and other key issues in the area. Coun Steve Galloway, City of York Council’s executive member for city strategy, said: “York is considering the benefits of joining a Leeds city region integrated transport authority, but we have concerns that this might reduce the amount of funding available for the York area at the expense of having it concentrated in West Yorkshire.”