Sheffield Supertram to be brought into public ownership after Stagecoach contract ends
The Sheffield supertram service will be publicly owned and operated from 2024 after regional leaders approved plans for the system’s future.
The running of Supertram services, infrastructure and finances will be controlled by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), with Mayor Oliver Coppard claiming that “it will play a critical role in helping us reach our net zero goal.”
He said: “Our transport ambitions – for how our communities get to jobs or education, and how they visit family and friends – must work for the whole of our region and for a generation to come.
“Full public control of Supertram is an exciting new chapter for our tram network. It will help us to develop a long-term, integrated approach that fits with our wider plans for buses, rail, walking and cycling across South Yorkshire.”
SYMCA recently secured a £100 million Government grant to modernise parts of the system that originally opened in 1994, including track and infrastructure improvements and better facilities for passengers.
Council Leader Terry Fox said: “The news this week that the Supertram network will be brought back into public control is a brilliant, positive step change for Sheffield and the wider South Yorkshire region.
“At a time when our public transport system feels like it is no longer serving our communities, bringing the tram back to the people means we can make sure that it operated with the needs of our residents first and not for the gain of private companies.”
The service was privatised and sold to Stagecoach in 1997, but with its contract ending in March 2024, South Yorkshire leaders approved proposals of an ‘arm’s length’ publicly owned company to take over.
