Find transfer & transportation guides for Leeds, England. Car driving, Public bus, Taxi, Plane, Railway, Boat & Ferry and more.
City in West Yorkshire, England
Leeds is the largest city in the county of West Yorkshire in Northern England, approximately 170 miles (270 km) north of central London. Leeds has one of the most diverse economies of all the UK's main employment centres and has seen the fastest rate of private-sector jobs growth of any UK city. It also has the highest ratio of private to public sector jobs of all the UK's Core Cities, with 77% of its workforce working in the private sector. Leeds has the third-largest jobs total by local authority area, with 480,000 in employment and self-employment at the beginning of 2015. Leeds is ranked as a High Sufficiency level city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial heart of the West Yorkshire Urban Area. Leeds is served by five universities, it has the UK's fourth largest student population and the country's fourth largest urban economy.Leeds was a small manorial borough in the 13th century, and in the 17th and 18th centuries it became a major centre for the production and trading of wool, and in the Industrial Revolution a major mill town; wool was still the dominant industry, but flax, engineering, iron foundries, printing, and other industries were also important. From being a market town in the valley of the River Aire in the 16th century, Leeds expanded and absorbed the surrounding villages to become a populous urban centre by the mid-20th century. It now lies within the West Yorkshire Urban Area, the United Kingdom's fourth-most populous urban area, with a population of 2.6 million.Today, Leeds has become the largest legal and financial centre outside London with the financial and insurance services industry worth £13 billion to the city's economy. The finance and business service sector account for 38% of total output with more than 30 national and international banks located in the city, including an office of the Bank of England. Leeds is also the UK's third-largest manufacturing centre with around 1,800 firms and 39,000 employees; Leeds manufacturing firms account for 8.8% of total employment in the city and is worth over £7 billion to the local economy. The largest sub-sectors are engineering, printing and publishing, food and drink, chemicals and medical technology. Other key sectors include retail, leisure and the visitor economy, construction, and the creative and digital industries. The city saw several firsts, including the oldest-surviving film in existence, Roundhay Garden Scene (1888), and the 1767 invention of soda water.Public transport, rail and road communications networks in the region are focused on Leeds; the second phase of High Speed 2 will connect it to London via East Midlands Hub and Sheffield. Leeds currently has the third busiest railway station and the tenth busiest airport outside London. Leeds has a less extensive public transport coverage than other UK cities of comparable size, and is the largest city in Europe without any form of light rail or underground system. .... Learn more at Wikipedia
Leeds' transport system is dominated by cars and it is currently the 9th most congested UK city, with congestion costing £1,057 per driver.There were plans for a Leeds Supertram in the 1990s and £500 million in funding was to be provided; however, due to spiralling costs, the plans were cancelled by the Transport Minister Alistair Darling in 2005, even though £40 million had already been spent on the project. Hopes were renewed with the proposal for a £250 million New Generation Transport Trolleybus service in 2007; however, after a long wait and millions of pounds spent on inquiries, the plans were cancelled in May 2016 citing little value for money.Neville Street, near Leeds railway station, has been measured as the most polluted outside London. As part of plans to tackle inner city air pollution, Leeds will introduce a Clean Air Zone in 2020, which will charge the most polluting buses, coaches and HGVs £50 a day to enter the city; taxis and private hire vehicles, which are not clean enough, will be charged £12.50 a day. The proposals came after the government ordered the council to come up with ways to lower the air pollution in the city, which causes around 29,000 premature deaths in the UK.
| Name | Leeds |
|---|---|
| Long Name | Leeds, England |
| Region | England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Map | Open Map |
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