News: £1.5 billion confirmed for South Yorkshire transport ambitions
One of the first investment announcements from the Government's Spending Review is £15.6 billion of funding for local transport projects in England’s city regions – including £1.5 billion for South Yorkshire.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves described next week's spending review as being "targeted squarely on the renewal of Britain" with more funding heading outside of London.
A review of the Treasury Green Book is set to start a step change in how government approaches and evaluates the case for investing in the regions.
Reeves said: "Connectivity is an absolutely critical factor in unlocking the potential of towns and cities outside of London. One of the areas in which previous governments have promised most, but delivered least. And that will now change.
"Stronger transport links within cities and the towns around them create opportunity by connecting labour markets and making it easier for firms to buy and sell goods and services in different places, to different people.
"We will be making the biggest ever investment by a British government in transport links within our city regions, and their surrounding towns. £15.6 billion in transport funding settlements, to be delivered by our regional mayors."
Previous transport projects in South Yorkshire have utilised the Government's City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) with over £50m in Rotherham schemes outlined in South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority's (SYMCA's) last allocation of £570m.
In 2023, the government provided an indicative allocation of £1.455 billion for South Yorkshire for "CRSTS2" when Rishi Sunak announced Network North as a replacement for HS2.
Now £1.5 billion has been confirmed for South Yorkshire. £530m is set to be used to renew the Supertram network, providing a fleet of new, replacement vehicles, modernising tram stops, as well maintenance to improve reliability. £350m will be set aside to reform South Yorkshire’s buses, with franchised buses operating in Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham by 2027 and across the whole of South Yorkshire by 2029.
The latest settlement is for 2027-28 to 2031-32 with around £12m brought forward and made available in 2026-27. Funding allocations for the final year of the CRSTS programme (2026-27) will be confirmed in due course.
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Reeves added that investment in South Yorkshire would support "Mayor Oliver Coppard so that, in addition to the reopening of Doncaster Airport, he can renew the existing, and now publicly controlled, Supertram network, with track replacements, overhead line maintenance, and rolling stock renewal with a full fleet of new vehicles by 2032, a bigger and better integrated transport network, linking jobs and homes in Sheffield and Rotherham."
Rothbiz has previously reported on the rising costs of the Supertram renewal which hit £596m in 2023.
Rothbiz also reported in 2022 that ambitious plans for transforming bus services in the region were not been backed by any Government funding. A funding gap was estimated to be between £430 - £474m.
South Yorkshire's Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: "This £1.5bn investment into our transport system will be game-changing for communities across South Yorkshire.
“I know that big numbers like these can often feel disconnected from our daily lives. But put simply, that investment will help us make our vision of a bigger, better integrated transport network under public control, a reality. It will mean new and better buses, new electric vehicles, integrated ticketing and better information. It will mean new trams and better tram stops and lays the foundation for extending the tram network. It will mean our young people will be able to get to jobs and opportunities. That we can all access services, see friends and family, or go for a day, or a night out, without worrying how to get home.
“I’ve been clear that we’ve been ignored for too long, and that South Yorkshire has not received its fair share of funding from successive governments. Today’s announcement by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves of a £1.5bn investment into our transport system shows the government is listening, and backing, South Yorkshire.”
Absent from the announcement was Rotherham Gateway Station, described earlier this year as the number one project in SYMCA's submission to the spending review.
The new mainline station proposed for Parkgate is a Department for Transport (DfT) retained scheme, held back for further review or development before funding is released, so a business case for the project has been prepared in line with government guidance, including the requirements of the Treasury’s Green Book.
CRSTS (now renamed as Transport for City Regions) was identified for much of the next stage of the project - the development of a full business case which is expected to cost £11.35m.
Images: Supertram
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves described next week's spending review as being "targeted squarely on the renewal of Britain" with more funding heading outside of London.
A review of the Treasury Green Book is set to start a step change in how government approaches and evaluates the case for investing in the regions.
Reeves said: "Connectivity is an absolutely critical factor in unlocking the potential of towns and cities outside of London. One of the areas in which previous governments have promised most, but delivered least. And that will now change.
"Stronger transport links within cities and the towns around them create opportunity by connecting labour markets and making it easier for firms to buy and sell goods and services in different places, to different people.
"We will be making the biggest ever investment by a British government in transport links within our city regions, and their surrounding towns. £15.6 billion in transport funding settlements, to be delivered by our regional mayors."
Previous transport projects in South Yorkshire have utilised the Government's City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) with over £50m in Rotherham schemes outlined in South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority's (SYMCA's) last allocation of £570m.
In 2023, the government provided an indicative allocation of £1.455 billion for South Yorkshire for "CRSTS2" when Rishi Sunak announced Network North as a replacement for HS2.
Now £1.5 billion has been confirmed for South Yorkshire. £530m is set to be used to renew the Supertram network, providing a fleet of new, replacement vehicles, modernising tram stops, as well maintenance to improve reliability. £350m will be set aside to reform South Yorkshire’s buses, with franchised buses operating in Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham by 2027 and across the whole of South Yorkshire by 2029.
The latest settlement is for 2027-28 to 2031-32 with around £12m brought forward and made available in 2026-27. Funding allocations for the final year of the CRSTS programme (2026-27) will be confirmed in due course.
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Reeves added that investment in South Yorkshire would support "Mayor Oliver Coppard so that, in addition to the reopening of Doncaster Airport, he can renew the existing, and now publicly controlled, Supertram network, with track replacements, overhead line maintenance, and rolling stock renewal with a full fleet of new vehicles by 2032, a bigger and better integrated transport network, linking jobs and homes in Sheffield and Rotherham."
Rothbiz has previously reported on the rising costs of the Supertram renewal which hit £596m in 2023.
Rothbiz also reported in 2022 that ambitious plans for transforming bus services in the region were not been backed by any Government funding. A funding gap was estimated to be between £430 - £474m.
South Yorkshire's Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: "This £1.5bn investment into our transport system will be game-changing for communities across South Yorkshire.
“I know that big numbers like these can often feel disconnected from our daily lives. But put simply, that investment will help us make our vision of a bigger, better integrated transport network under public control, a reality. It will mean new and better buses, new electric vehicles, integrated ticketing and better information. It will mean new trams and better tram stops and lays the foundation for extending the tram network. It will mean our young people will be able to get to jobs and opportunities. That we can all access services, see friends and family, or go for a day, or a night out, without worrying how to get home.
“I’ve been clear that we’ve been ignored for too long, and that South Yorkshire has not received its fair share of funding from successive governments. Today’s announcement by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves of a £1.5bn investment into our transport system shows the government is listening, and backing, South Yorkshire.”
Absent from the announcement was Rotherham Gateway Station, described earlier this year as the number one project in SYMCA's submission to the spending review.
The new mainline station proposed for Parkgate is a Department for Transport (DfT) retained scheme, held back for further review or development before funding is released, so a business case for the project has been prepared in line with government guidance, including the requirements of the Treasury’s Green Book.
CRSTS (now renamed as Transport for City Regions) was identified for much of the next stage of the project - the development of a full business case which is expected to cost £11.35m.
Images: Supertram
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