Questions remain over whether tram plan is on right track

AFTER a period of quiet reflection following the Meadowhall-Parkgate tram-train announcement, let us consider a scheme for Sheffield and South Yorkshire that generates more questions than answers.

Has it satisfied the business case criteria? What are the implications? What will it achieve? Why was the decision taken ahead of an announcement on Midland Mainline electrification? Does it, at £58m, represent better value for money compared with this sum contributing towards Midland Mainline electrification?

The electrification of the Midland Mainline would deliver benefits across South Yorkshire, but this regional dimension could be threatened through conflict with the Meadowhall-Parkgate tram-train plan which could scupper any hopes of electrification serving Rotherham Central due to overhead equipment incompatibility, unless a solution can be found. What extra cost would this come at though?

This is crucial now, for references are being made to Bedford-Leeds electrification instead of earlier calls for Midlands Mainline, which generated a certain vagueness over whether or not it means that the wires would end at Sheffield or be extended north to Leeds. This distinction is vital because the former would link two places already electrified, to which a third could be added – Doncaster.

From such a scheme the entire South Yorkshire rail network could be transformed as it would finally secure parity with comparable areas. This can only be delivered by the implementation of a major rail project like Bedford-Leeds electrification. North of Sheffield skimping must be avoided, so Rotherham should be included in the package by tackling the key issue of Holmes Chord capacity.

This would allow St Pancras trains to serve the town, enable it to figure in the Cleethorpes-Manchester airport link and allow the start of a fast Sheffield-Rotherham-Leeds service. Electrification should also cover the Barnsley corridor to permit Nottingham-Leeds electrified workings.

For £58m the tram-train will serve Meadowhall South, not Meadowhall Interchange. No stops are proposed between Meadowhall South and Rotherham Central, with the latter enjoying direct rail access to Meadowhall Interchange. Rotherham-Sheffield travel via Meadowhall South will surely take longer than the current three trains per hour. For a reduced amount compared with the tram-train, a station could be built at Parkgate offering three trains per hour to/from Rotherham Central, Meadowhall Interchange and Sheffield. The station would also create links with Doncaster, Mexborough, Swinton, Leeds and Wakefield.

The idea that the tram-train project could be rolled out across the UK has a familiar ring about it, for a decade ago John Prescott referred to 25 light rail schemes around the UK.