Stagecoach to lose Supertram contract

Sheffield Supertram is to be placed under full public control from March 2024.

Stagecoach has operated the system since May 1992, but the company that once managed around half the country’s services has lost its final contract.

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is now looking forward to taking the system onwards by itself.

South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard has revealed his plans to incorporate Supertram into an integrated public transport network, using some of a £100 million government grant that was recently awarded to the region.

It has been known for some time that the partnership with Stagecoach was unlikely to be renewed, and the private operator has long been unhappy with its financial return despite carrying 12.5 million passengers a year on the 17-mile light rail network

Stagecoach Holdings secured the South West Trains franchise from February 1996 (the first to be signed under privatisation), and at its height also had interests in Virgin West Coast, CrossCountry, East Coast, East Midlands Trains, and Manchester Metrolink. The last of these contracts was surrendered in 2019.