West Yorkshire Needs a Tram campaign has today (Monday 27 July 2026) marked ‘Supertram Day’ by calling on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to make a “cast iron” pledge to fully fund a West Yorkshire mass transit system, 33 years after the last attempt at a city tram was approved.
On 27 July 1993 the Leeds Supertram Act received Royal Assent, but it was scrapped less than a decade later by a Labour government citing rising costs. In the intervening time London’s Elizabeth Line was approved and built, the French city of Lyon has built 8 mass transit lines, but Leeds has remained without a tram.
The current mass transit proposals consist of just two lines (one serving Elland Road and White Rose), much smaller than the Supertram system and the previous tram network which covered Leeds until its closure in 1959. The campaign blames this lack of ambition on the lack of funding provided by the Treasury, and the inability of Mayor Brabin to raise her own funds for the project.
They believe the problem could be solved by a cast iron multi-year funding pledge, and business rates raising powers for the Mayor on Leeds’ largest financial companies.
Tram campaigner Gareth Forest said:
“Andy Burnham wants to devolve more power and money to the North. The best thing he could do right now is announce a fully funded tram for West Yorkshire, with all decision making powers resting not in Whitehall but Wellington Street.
“The Treasury has held back West Yorkshire for too long. We want to see Andy call time on Whitehall’s interference in our public transit.”
West Yorkshire Needs a Tram, a voluntary campaign, set up by two campaigners from the Better Buses for West Yorkshire campaign which successfully won a London-style system of local control, is calling for:
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a mass transit network connecting every major town and city in the region.
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an upfront commitment for the Government to fully fund the entire network, with cash devolved to the mayor.
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spades in the ground within the next 2 years so the benefits can be seen within this decade.
You can sign the campaign petition at: www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/bring-the-new-west-yorkshire-tram-to-our-towns
This post is based on a press release issued by West Yorkshire Needs A Tram
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