The state of South Yorkshire’s broken transport network has been a topic of discussion this week as leaders from across the North discuss how to transform public transport.
Mayor Oliver Coppard convened a Transport Summit on 1 March to discuss the future of the region’s public transport and bring together experts in the field to help fix the system that has seen thousands of train cancellations.
He said: “My vision is for public transport as a public service, the clue is in the title; trains, buses, bike lanes that create and sustain our communities rather than being at the mercy of officials in London or shareholders in Dubai.
“Getting there won’t be cheap, and it won’t be easy. But if we want to meet the government’s own ambition of a ‘London style public transport system’ by 2030 then we will need the same level of power, money and control over our public transport network as they already have down there.”
Trains in South Yorkshire are frequently being cancelled with one of the area’s main train lines, TransPennine Express, on track to cancel 23,000 services this year.
Speaking on the TransPennine Express train cancellations, Tracy Brabin, the mayor of West Yorkshire, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The first four weeks of this year, over 1700 scheduled services, during that four week period were cancelled.
“If things don’t improve, by the end of the year, 23,000 services will have been cancelled. This is totally unacceptable, and ministers must get a grip.”
We asked members of the public in Sheffield what they thought of the state of the rail service in the North.
This comes as the annual Transport for the North conference will be held today (6 March) in Newcastle.
The conference will bring Northern leaders together to discuss how the lack of investment in transport infrastructure is preventing its success.
North of Tyne Mayor, Jamie Driscoll, said: “I’m alarmed at how bad our transport system has got. Kids can’t get to school. I’ve heard of businesses not opening because staff can’t get to work. The North deserves better.
“Until we get a public transport system that’s as fast as a car, that’s affordable, reliable and where everyone feels safe travelling day or night, we’ll never get the economic lift off we need or tackle the climate emergency.
“With the newly agreed devolved powers on transport, we have a once in a generation opportunity to fix this.”
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard is unable to attend the conference due to a clash in his schedule.
He has confirmed that while he could not be at Transport for the North, he instead attended a SYMCA board meeting at which “huge sums of funding for active travel” have been agreed.
In his Twitter statement, he said: “As rail fares go up by the largest increase in a decade, scores of passengers stand on platforms across the North, stranded and let down by cancelled or delayed trains.
“I know my fellow Northern Mayors will make it clear that the current state of transport across our regions can’t continue. The system is broken – it’s holding back the well-being of our communities and the growth of our economies.”
