This is why Sheffield to Rotherham tram-train upgrade is causing such disruption

Until then, just two tram-trains per hour, rather than the usual three, will run.

Stagecoach Supertram has now revealed more about why the work is needed and why it is taking so long to complete.

A spokesman for the operator said: “The tram-train manufacturer Stadler is undertaking modification improvements to enhance fleet reliability. This involves specialists travelling from Spain to undertake the work according to a particular programme and this has influenced the duration of the project.

“We would like to thank customers for their patience while work is undertaken. The aim is to improve the long-term reliability of the service for passengers.”

Tram-trains have been running between Sheffield and Rotherham since October 2018.

Stagecoach announced details of the reduced service last Friday, just weeks after the operator and its partners celebrated the service’s first anniversary, announcing that more than one million passenger services had been completed and claiming the first year had ‘exceeded expectations’ despite a difficult start.

The UK’s first tram-train service, which travels on tramlines in Sheffield and the rail network in Rotherham, launched in October 2018, three years late and having cost around five times the initial £15 million budget.

But transport bosses last month told how they were pleased at how it had performed since then and said other towns and cities were looking to use the technology.

Proposals have already been announced to extend the tram-train service from Rotherham to Doncaster Sheffield Airport, add new stops at Magna Science Adventure Centre, and potentially introduce new tram-train routes to Chapeltown, High Green and Northern General Hospital in the north of Sheffield and Handsworth, Woodhouse and Beighton in the city’s south east.

For more details and to view the temporary timetable, visit the Stagecoach website.