From the editor: 'Glory days are behind us but isn’t now the time to change?'

Today marks the 60th anniversary since the last tram ran in Sheffield. It was emblazoned with decorations and lights, followed by a solemn parade of other trams on their way out of public service. All the great and the good were on that final ride including a conductor dressed exactly how his peers would have been for the first trip in 1873.

This city loved its trams. They were a deeply engrained part of the daily life for generations and there are many who still remember them fondly. The majority of workers depended on them daily. They were reliable, affordable and the pride of Sheffield.

The unforgettable images of the carriages on fire after being bombed during the blitz is something that every Sheffielder knows. When you talk to anybody who knew those days, their memories are dominated by the long walks home while the trams were out of action and the devastation those hits on the transport network caused for everyone.

Of course, the arrival Supertram in 1994 was an enormous boost and a long-awaited move towards bringing those glorious days back.

However, it didn’t quite work like that. What we have in 2020 are great but what we really need is for it to cover more of the city. There are scores of neighbourhoods that Supertram doesn’t go anywhere near, most pointedly both the Northern General and Hallamshire hospitals. Common sense says that extending the network would be revolutionary in solving lots of problems. It would make accessing the city centre easier for more people, it would ease pressure on our gridlocked roads and it would cut pollution. What's not to like? Other places have full tram routes which take in the whole city so why shouldn’t Sheffield?

We keep hearing that now is the time for cities to reinvent themselves. We are told the government wants us to emerge stronger. So we must demand action. It couldn’t be simpler. Don’t leave the country’s fourth biggest city with crumbling infrastructure that hinders the economy rather than boosting it. Extend our tram network, rather than telling us we might even lose the meagre services we have now.