Local leaders within the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority have approved a £8.6 million funding package to pay for urgent renewal work on the Supertram network. Due to come back under public control from March 2024 the network is currently operated by Stagecoach and this funding will presumably be released before this change of control.
The press release announcing this approval is very light on detail – in fact it has none! All it says is that the money will go towards urgent renewal works but what this work will be or when is not mentioned. At the same time as this £8.6 million package, a further £4.3 million has been approved to make the case to Government for significant additional investment in Supertram, as parts of the system come to the end of their working life. Presumably this would include new trams with the original 25 Siemens-Duewag trams approaching 30 years old.
Oliver Coppard, South Yorkshire’s Mayor, said: “Supertram is a huge asset to South Yorkshire and is critical to the work we’re doing to fix our public transport system. This money will make big improvements for passengers. Supertram is part of South Yorkshire’s heritage and this money will help keep it on track into the future, as it becomes a publicly owned, publicly operated venture. While significant work has already taken place to replace sections of track, parts of the system are coming to the end of their working life. So we’re also putting a case to Government for the investment we need to keep the system going for future generations. Fixing our public transport system will not be quick, cheap or easy. But we have started the important journey that we need to take to build the system that our region deserves; one that meets the needs of our communities and delivers a faster, smarter, greener public transport network that South Yorkshire can be proud of.”