Stagecoach to exit as Sheffield Supertram is set for public control
The Supertram network in Sheffield is to return to public control following the decision by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) to take over the system from current operator Stagecoach when its contract expires in March 2024.
A proposal to create an ‘armslength’ publicly-owned company to run the system when the contract expires was approved at a meeting of the SYMCA on October 18. The plan forms part of the region’s wider ambitions to upgrade Supertram as part of a fully integrated public transport network.
A similar style of publicly-owned operating company is in place for the tramways at Blackpool and the West Midlands Metro system.
The loss of the Supertram network will see Stagecoach completely withdraw from its rail-related businesses, with the operator joining the likes of National Express and Virgin Group in withdrawing from the sector. South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, 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. “Supertram has been part of South Yorkshire’s fabric for nearly 30 years. In the next 30 years, it will play a critical role in helping us reach our net zero goal.
“Now I am pleased to be able to say that it will do so as a publicly-owned and publicly-operated venture. 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.” The second-generation tramway opened in 1994, following the Manchester Metrolink system which had brought modern trams to the UK two years earlier. The Supertram network also incorporates a tramtrain service to Rotherham, which was brought into use in 2018.
The fleet of 25 Siemens-duewag trams, numbered 101-125 and introduced when the Sheffield tramway opened, are now the oldest second-generation tram fleet to be operated in the UK, as the Manchester Metrolink T68 fleet was phased out between 2012 and 2014.
The fleet has been enhanced with seven Class 399 tram-trains, numbered 399201-399207, built by Stadler.
The Class 399s are used on tramtrain services, as well as on the existing Supertram network, but the Siemens-duewag trams are unable to be used on the tram-train service to Rotherham.