A proposed rail link between York station and York District Hospital has moved a step closer, thisisyork can reveal.

And a stop could also be provided near the Nestl Rowntree factory.

City of York Council has commissioned Railtrack to undertake a study into building a station at the hospital and a report is due in February next year.

The plans form phase two of a £3m council bid to build stations at Haxby and Strensall as part of the council's Local Transport Plan.

Colin Knight, head of transport planning at the authority, said: "We are very keen on establishing a rail link to the hospital.

"Putting a station in will be of benefit to many people and will go some way to alleviating the hospital's access problems."

He added that the proposals were at a very early stage but the line may run as many as three services an hour both as local trains and as part of the Scarborough service. A stop could also be provided near Nestl, which could be used by some of the company's thousands of employees.

The council is submitting a bid in early January to the Rail Passenger Partnership, which provides money to improve non-commercially viable rail links, for phase one of the scheme - Haxby and Strensall stations. Following Railtrack's study in February, subject to any major problems, a bid for phase two will be entered later in the new year.

Engineering and signalling concerns are slowing the process, but the council is confident the problems can be ironed out.

"We wanted to get the phase one bid in as soon as possible," added Mr Knight. "Waiting for the information on the hospital station site would have delayed the first bid."

A spokesman for Northern Spirit, who would operate the service on their York to Scarborough line, said: "The hospital is one of a number of locations for new stations that we are exploring with City of York Council."

A spokesman for Railtrack said: "We are in consultation with Northern Spirit and City of York Council to take forward these opportunities and ideas.

"We are undertaking a feasibility study and we are one of the players in the proposed bid to the Rail Passenger Partnership."

A Nestl spokesman said the idea of a stop near the factory seemed in principle to be a good idea. "Some of our staff would welcome the opportunity of a halt to get directly to work by train," he said.

dan.rutstein@ycp.co.uk