West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin said AI graduates in Bradford are being held back by a transport network she described as “Victorian infrastructure.”
Speaking at Reset Connect North 2026, Brabin said the University of Bradford produces the highest number of AI and data analytics postgraduates in the country, yet many in its graduate cohort are underemployed.
“That’s absolutely shocking,” she said. “The problem is we don’t have great transport networks from Bradford to elsewhere across the region.”
The mayor said young people in Bradford were choosing universities with better transport links rather than those they wanted to study at, and that graduates were being cut off from opportunities at employers like Lloyds in Halifax and across the wider region.
She said it could take 45 minutes to reach Leeds city centre from the outskirts, compared with 30 minutes in most comparable cities.
‘Game-changer’
Brabin said plans to increase opportunities for young people would be realised through the Weaver Network, an interconnected transport plan that includes billions in rail upgrades.
The network would connect Bradford with Leeds via a tram, with passengers able to tap on and off buses and trains interchangeably, similar to London’s transport system.
“It will unlock Bradford and all the people who live there to the opportunities across the whole of the region,” she said, adding, “that is going to be the game-changer.”
The tram plan has faced setbacks, with the network delayed until the late 2030s. Brabin told BBC Radio Leeds last month that the delay was “a bump in the road” and that the proposal had the backing of business, politicians and government, and was financially viable.
