Hospitals and airport under consideration for future tram expansion plans, Mayor confirms
South Yorkshire Mayor Olive Coppard has talked to The Star about expanding the tram network to hospitals, as the return of a local airport promises region-wide transport benefits.
Ever since South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) took Supertram back under public control last year, discussions have been underway about how the Sheffield-based tram network can expand.
The first major step has been constructing a new £10 million park and ride station at Magna on the tram train route between Parkgate, in Rotherham, and Sheffield Cathedral.
The station is set to open in early 2026, with further expansion options being looked into for the future.
“I’ve always been keen to invest in, extend, and make the most of the tram network in the same way they have in Greater Manchester,” Mayor Oliver Coppard told The Star.
“You look at the network in Greater Manchester and the way that covers so much of that city region, which has helped them to grow their economy and make sure everyone’s connected.”
Mr Coppard explained that the current structure of the Supertram system - which is built on direct, interconnected lines rather than loops - means that it ‘doesn’t have the resilience’ of other networks.
And so beyond simply expanding the lines further, part of the consideration is how they can strengthen the existing systems and offer alternate routes for trams.
During an interview about the future of trams in the city, The Star asked for details on what future locations the tram could service, particularly pointing out the Northern General Hospital as a highly-requested location.
“What those routes are and what we’re able to deliver will depend on cost and time and planning and all sorts of different issues - and frankly, also what people want,” he explained.
“There are options, I think, not just to Northern General, but there’s also questions in my mind going up to Hallamshire Hospital because that feels like a more deliverable scheme in a shorter time frame.
“If you can get right from Rotherham up to the front door of Hallamshire Hospital that’s also got to be helpful to people right across the region.
“There’s a whole range of options. Stocksbridge is clearly an exciting prospect - I’ve been talking to the mayor of the East Midlands about what we might be able to do to use the tram train network to connect up places like Chesterfield, at least into Killamarsh.
“These are all options for us that are on the table.”
While all these prospects may be exciting, Mr Coppard does admit that it can’t be built in a day, explaining how balancing out business needs, costs and planning applications will take time.
“It’s a huge amount of work and I have heard some opposition politicians claim this is just very easy and all we need to do is get out a map and start drawing lines on it,” he said.
“It’s clearly much more difficult than that and planning properly does allow you to then go faster when when you do actually make that decision. So that’s what we’re doing at the moment, we need money from the government to help us make that case and make that work.
“I’m lobbying ministers all the time to make sure they understand the priority we attach to the trams and just how important it is for our region. I’m determined to keep on banging that drum as we go forward.”
Doncaster Sheffield Airport was also raised as an opportunity moving forward, as the massive redevelopment is being pitched as a net benefit for all of South Yorkshire.
New transport options to connect the Finningley-based airport to the rest of the region, including the construction of a train station, are being discussed.
This may include tram train options, similar to that in Rotherham, however they have all been listed as ‘long-term’ possibilities as the priority remains on making the airport functional.
“In my view it’s a South Yorkshire Supertram and therefore it has to benefit all of South Yorkshire,” Mr Coppard said.
“Now that’s got to be a long-term goal, this has got to be a long-term strategy and goal and we’ve got to build the case as we go.
“As we get the airport back into operation, we’ve already said in our surface access strategy that we are going to be looking at all those different travel options to the airport.
“One of the big benefits of the airport is that it’s got the Lincoln line right behind it - we’re going to explore all of those options over time but we’ve got to get the airport back up and running first and make sure that it works properly.”