A temporary timetable has been introduced on South Yorkshire Supertram’s Blue and Yellow routes in a bid to “provide a more reliable service for customers”. The decision to implement this timetable comes at the end of a week which has seen numerous cancelled services with staff shortages the main cause, and also comes after infrastructure problems had led to line closures earlier in the month.
This is the second temporary timetable to have been in use on Supertram this year, following a previous reduction in services in March because of tram shortages. In this latest timetable – which was introduced from the start of service on Saturday 29th November 2025 – both the Blue and Yellow routes will see a reduction in daytime frequency from every 12 minutes to every 15 minutes. Evenings and Sundays will see no change, and the Purple and Tram-Train service will also continue to run as per the usual timetable.
In a statement South Yorkshire Supertram said “the changes are designed to manage driver availability across the wider network and minimise disruption.”.
The past week has seen services cancelled because of staff shortages, the blame being put on a number of staff absent ill. In an interview with the Sheffield Star, Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard also said that rotas had been changed recently which had added to the problem. In a bid to improve things Supertram have confirmed additional drivers are currently being trained.
Ahead of the introduction of this temporary timetable, Supertram staff went on a charm offensive on Friday 28th November where they went onto the network to hand out printed apology letters along with free day tram passes (which must be used within a week) as well as free chocolate.
Supertram have also committed to improving the information provided on the service changes with the start of each day now seeing an update on expected cancelled services to allow passengers to plan in advance.
- Meanwhile, in a welcome boost it has been confirmed that the Saturday evening closure of the Tram-Train route will be coming to an end from Saturday 6th December 2025. Since Saturday 29th March this has seen no Tram-Train services to Rotherham Central or Rotherham Parkgate after 1700 (with buses running instead) to allow construction works of the new Magna station to take place. But work has now progressed to a stage where this will not be required anymore and so Saturday 29th November will be the last time it will be necessary.