THE longed-for arrival of Bradford's newest train station has been temporarily delayed and the £10 million development will now not open this month as billed.

Instead it will open "during the Autumn", says the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which commissioned Network Rail to build the much-needed station aimed at increasing rail use and lifting pressure on local roads.

Funded by the Department for Transport and with some cash from WYCA, it will have one train an hour in each direction on the Bradford to Leeds line, with the potential to increase this if passenger numbers grow.

Contractors from construction firm Spencer said in March the build was on target to finish by the end of August, complete with passenger platforms, 297-space car park and an access road.

And the opening date has been billed as in September on Network Rail's website.

However, WYCA has now issued a statement confirming the delay.

A spokesman said: "Although we are awaiting confirmation of a completion date from Network Rail, work on the new rail station at Apperley Bridge is almost complete and it is expected to open during the autumn as planned.

"The new station, in MCard Zone 3, will provide a half-hourly service Monday to Saturday daytime, with journey times of about 15 minutes to Bradford Forster Square and ten minutes to Leeds, with parking for 297 cars, a pick-up and drop-off point and new bus services linking the station with Greengates, Idle, Thorpe Edge and Eccleshill Hospital."

Tim Calow, chairman of the Aire Valley Rail Users Group, said it would be well worth the wait.

He added: "It's not an enormous delay and we're hoping it will open within the next couple of months and will be a great success.

"It's going to be an important station and it's not as if people have made arrangements around its opening and are being inconvenienced, so it's not a disaster

"It's a fairly standard station, but they have to do most of the work at night because of trains on the line."

Ward councillor for Apperley Bridge, Alun Griffiths (Idle and Thackley, LibDem), said people would be patient about a small delay.

He added: "We've been waiting for this station for many, many years, and in the great scheme of things, a few more weeks isn't the end of the world.

"But we've all worked really hard to get it - and the sooner the better!"

Apperley Bridge's old train station closed because of the Beeching Axe in 1965. Plans to re-open it were first announced in 1999, although years of delays followed.