South Yorkshire transport vision can take region's economy to the next level: Henri Murison and Collette Carroll
The economic opportunity in South Yorkshire is clear: raise productivity and widen opportunity for the 1.4 million people who live here. That cannot be achieved under current conditions with infrastructure deficits and a public transport system that has let people down for too long.
At the Advanced Manufacturing Park on the site of the Battle of Orgreave - straddling the Rotherham and Sheffield border - you can see the results of sustained, coordinated investment. Rotherham has emerged as one of the fastest-growing sub-regional economies for productivity in the UK and the fastest-growing in the North, with a 63.9 per cent increase in productivity over the last two decades.
Both Sheffield and Rotherham councils, the University of Sheffield, local property developer Harworth and others were central to that.
However, the Northern economic miracle benefiting the whole of South Yorkshire is still being held back. An apprentice on a morning commute to the Advanced Manufacturing Park from nearby towns can face hours of poorly connected bus journeys to the AMRC’s Training Centre.
Those opportunities should be as accessible from Dodworth, Doncaster or Derbyshire as from anywhere closer to the city. That is agglomeration in practice – making the economic benefits of Sheffield accessible to the wider city region. This enables the higher productivity growth the city deserves.
Manufacturing remains South Yorkshire’s largest sector at 12.5 per cent of the economy, growing by £500 million between 2015 and 2021, anchored by the world’s first Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District.
But the region’s ambitions extend further, into life sciences, digital and the innovation ecosystem growing around its universities. For young people growing up in former pit villages a few miles away, Sheffield’s opportunities are only accessible if they can get there easily.
Transport infrastructure determines whether people can reach work, training and education, whether firms can recruit the talent they need, and whether universities and industry can collaborate at the scale modern economies demand. When transport networks function properly, labour markets deepen, supply chains become more efficient and investment becomes easier to attract. Where connectivity is weak, those opportunities go unrealised.
Mayor Coppard’s “People’s Network” plan integrates buses, trams, rail and active travel into a coherent system, following models established elsewhere. Integrated networks — across bus, tram and rail — are standard in most comparable European cities.
It will connect people more directly to better paid jobs, training and education, while improving the experience for visitors and supporting events as varied and as important as Tramlines, Crossed Wires and World Snooker.
The Mayor has already committed £1.5bn to begin the transformation — including £630m for tram network renewal and £350m to reform bus services — with trams already returned to public control and buses to follow. Infrastructure enabling better services needs long-term investment as Mayor Coppard has promised and strong collaboration between regional leaders, national government and delivery organisations.
Importantly, the ‘People’s Network’ will extend South Yorkshire’s reach across the North, opening up opportunities in Leeds, Manchester and beyond. Better local connectivity increases the value of inter-city investment — Northern Powerhouse Rail’s proposed new station for Rotherham on an electrified Leeds–Sheffield mainline being the most significant example. Local and national infrastructure work best in alignment; both are needed here.
The private sector has a role here beyond construction and design. Businesses like AtkinsRéalis work with city regions across the UK to develop place-based strategies, plans, business cases and help structure the conditions that attract public and private investment.
From our local Sheffield office, we are committed to working with SYMCA to translate this vision into outcomes — not just better infrastructure, but a stronger economy.
The Government’s announcement this week of investment in Sheffield city centre and its Innovation Spine, part of a £1.7bn commitment across the Northern Growth Corridor, reinforces that national direction of travel.
South Yorkshire has already shown what can happen when ambition is matched with investment and collaboration. The region has the talent and industrial base to close the productivity gap and the Mayor’s vision sets out the right priorities, giving industry partners a clear framework to align behind. The task is now delivery, with industry working with SYMCA to translate this plan into outcomes, making a real difference to how people live, work and travel.
Henri Murison MBE is Chief Executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, and Colette Carroll OBE is Managing Director of Transportation at AtkinsRéalis.