September 10: Will mayor have vision to get Sheffield out of the rail sidings?

WITH decision day approaching for adoption of an elected mayor for the Sheffield City Region, could South Yorkshire rail passengers hope to see the light at the end of their tunnel through such an appointment? Would such a figure release Sheffield from the sidings where it has resided for decades, and reverse the unique negative no new stations policy which has effectively suppressed passenger growth? How does this stance equate with the establishment of the National Rail College in Doncaster?

Rather than being resigned to the paused Midland Mainline electrification, would the elected mayor through imagination and vision launch vital schemes that would dovetail with the eventual arrival of the wires, including Sheffield, Dore and Totley track quadrupling and new Sheaf Valley Stations?

Where does the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority now stand having dismissed the idea of a single elected mayor for the whole of Yorkshire on the grounds of incompatibility in relation – to its traditional links with Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire?

These links are, of course, important, and must be enhanced by recognising and not rejecting rail so that instead of it sweeping through the Sheaf Valley it would actually serve its communities by means of new stations at Heeley and Millhouse, plus the reinstatement of the main line platforms at Dore and Totley. This would then tackle severe road traffic congestion along the Abbeydale Road corridor and through Woodseats.

Are there not lessons to be learnt from the loss of traditional industries? Is it wrong to focus so strongly on these traditional links instead of taking a wider view covering alternative directions to develop and enhance links with other neighbouring areas which reflect the word of today?

There have been many references to One North but what about One Yorkshire, embracing all routes between South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire for starters?

Population counts, size matters; well that should be the case but not so when it comes to rail and Sheffield. The city has the potential, but it also boasts an abysmal record of either transmitting the wrong signal or no signal at all. Rail investment can make a huge contribution to economic recovery and regeneration, which is evident across UK, so is it not time now for the Sheffield City Region to grab a slice of such?