THE REIGN of Stagecoach as operator of the South Yorkshire Supertram network is due to end during March, as the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) prepares to bring the tramway back under public control.
A new arms-length company, South Yorkshire Future Trams Limited (SYFTL), has been set up by SYMCA and the SYMCA board approved the business plan at its meeting in January. The board comprises representatives of the four districts in South Yorkshire and also from neighbouring districts.
SYFTL will assume responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the Supertram network from March 22, with the intention of carrying out a programme of upgrading works to the infrastructure, which will include track and overhead electrification renewals, along with a plan to renew the tram fleet.
The South Yorkshire Supertram network operates 25 Siemens-Duewag trams, numbered 101-125, which were built between 1993/94 and these are now the oldest modern tram fleet operating in the UK. A further seven Stadler Citylink tram-trains, numbered 399201-207, were built in 2015/16 to provide additional capacity, and some of these vehicles are also used on the tram-train extension to Rotherham Central and Rotherham Parkgate, which opened in October 2018.
Oliver Coppard, the Mayor of South Yorkshire, said: “We have always owned the tram, but for most of the last 30 years it’s been managed and run by Stagecoach. Bringing the tram back into public control is a down-payment on our ambitions for a different type
