Sheffield tram train: Cash for tram train plans confirmed, says MP as more transport details emerge
Ministers have confirmed that cash is to made available for plans towards extending Sheffield’s tram train network.
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander confirmed money would be given to fund work to look into the extension of the network, after being questioned on the issue in Parliament.
Stocksbridge MP Marie Tidball confirmed that among the funding plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail announced on Tuesday, there was also a Government commitment to proving £7.5m to pay for work towards the tram train extension.
She said: “I have been making the case for a tram-train link from Sheffield to Stocksbridge via Oughtibridge, Wharncliffe Side, and Deepcar since I became the Member of Parliament for our communities.
“Today's announcement on the biggest investment ever in rail connectivity includes £7.5 million for South Yorkshire Mayoral Authority to look at extending the tram-train. I'm delighted that Heidi Alexander for Swindon South will be working with Oliver Coppard to give people in our communities the transport networks we’ve been campaigning for locally and that local people deserve.”
Ms Alexander told Parliament: “We are committed to giving everyone in Yorkshire the transport networks they deserve. As I said in response to my the honourable friend the member for Sheffield, we do want to work with Mayor Oliver Coppard to explore the potential of tram train further.”
She added there was also work going on with Kirklees Council over improvements to the Penistone line, which also serves Stocksbridge, amid calls for two trains an hour on that line.
Tuesday’s announcement pledged to electrify the lines between Sheffield and Leeds, and bring in four trains an hour to Leeds, and the potential for faster, more frequent services to Manchester. The work is not planned until the 2030s.
Plans to extend the tram train network have proposed taking trams or tram trains to Stocksbridge, Chesterfield via Barrow Hill, and the Royal Hallamshire Hospital.
It has been suggested previously that the Stocksbridge route could include stops at Oughtibridge, Wharncliffe Side and Deepcar.
The Chesterfield route could include Darnall, Waverley, Woodhouse, Beighton, Killamarsh, Eckington, Barrow Hill/Staveley, and Whittington.
There have also been suggestions that the old Victoria railway station in near The Wicker could also be reopened to serve both routes, according to plans previously drawn up.