Public ownership of Supertram could signal the way forward for others

While it remains to be seen whether the Supertram in Sheffield coming back under public control will prove to be a good “deal” for taxpayers, it does present the opportunity to invest in the network.

The 29km network has not turned a profit since 2019, due to a significant drop in passenger numbers, and millions of pounds of funding is needed to upgrade the tracks, trams and other infrastructure.

Stagecoach, which has run the light rail network since 1997, will hand over control to a company set up and owned by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) in March.

Undoubtedly it is going to be a long journey to turn around the Supertram with the new company, South Yorkshire Future Trams Limited (SYFTL), predicting £6.3m loss in 2024/25.

However, financial pressures are expected to ease in the coming years as energy prices, which represent 20 per cent of total costs, fall and ticket sales increase.

Sheffield’s Labour Mayor Oliver Coppard makes a convincing argument when he says SYMCA did not want to do another deal that would see a private operator “keep the profit” from its busiest services and claim taxpayer subsidies to cover losses on quieter services.

This is a cautionary tale for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) as it looks to develop a West Yorkshire mass transit system. The transit system must work for the local community first and foremost.