South Yorkshire buses to be brought back under public control
Under the proposal bus companies will no longer be able to run the services they chose but will have to bid for specific contracts set by SYMCA.Over the last decade there has been a steep decline in the number of buses operating in South Yorkshire, with a 42% fall in the number of route miles covered by services.Coppard said the decision "turns back the tide on the failed experiment" of privatisation.He said: "I want us to build a bigger and better economy in South Yorkshire and we need a public transport system that allows people to get to where they want to go, when they want to go there."
As well as deciding on the routes, SYMCA will set timetables and fares, with all revenue going to the public body.It will also own the buses and depots and make decisions about how money is reinvested in the network.Matt Kitchin, managing director of Stagecoach, said: "We are pleased that the decision on the future of bus franchising in our region has now been made."We look forward to continuing the conversation on what works best for customers locally, bringing our considerable experience and extensive knowledge of running services in franchised regions like London and Greater Manchester."During the consultation, however, TM Travel, who are based in Sheffield said they feared smaller and medium sized bus operators could be excluded from the market.South Yorkshire was once famous for its publicly run bus network, with adult fares of 8p and a go anywhere kids fare of 2p.That ended in 1986 when then government deregulated the bus market outside of London, allowing private companies to compete on bus routes.Since 2017 metro mayors, have been allowed to franchise bus services, with the process recently completed in Greater Manchester.In Greater Manchester all buses have been painted a striking shade of yellow and branded "Bee Network".Meanwhile, West Yorkshire's mayor Tracy Brabin backed franchising last year with the first publicly controlled services expected to operate in early 2027.South Yorkshire hopes to be running a publicly controlled bus network by the end of 2027.Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
More trains to run between London and Hull, Newcastle and Glasgow
Additional train services will run on the East Coast Main Line from December, the rail regulator has open-access operators – Lumo, Grand Central and Hull Trains – applied to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to expand their timetablesThe successful proposals include additional trains between London and each of Hull, Newcastle and ORR rejected some plans, including a bid by Hull Trains to run direct services between London and Sheffield, due to concerns about insufficient capacity on the line. FirstGroup, which owns Hull Trains, said it was "disappointed" by the decision, as it would have provided Sheffield with its first regular service from London King's Cross since claimed the direct service would have served "an estimated 350,000 people".Hull Trains was given permission to run an additional service from London King's Cross to Hull on weekdays and will be allowed to extend its existing London-Edinburgh service to Glasgow, and will also put on additional services between King's Cross and Grand Central will expand its regional services with a new link to Seaham, on the County Durham coast, and additional trains between Wakefield and Bradford. 'Greater choice' Stephanie Tobyn, ORR's director of strategy, policy and reform, said: "We have ensured the approval of these services can be accommodated alongside the major service uplifts by other operators, which have been planned into the December 2025 timetable."Passengers and freight customers would benefit from "more direct connections and greater choice", she operators set their own fares, take on all revenue risk and receive no taxpayer-funded are also excluded from the government's ongoing nationalisation of the UK's train Secretary Heidi Alexander wrote to the ORR in January to highlight concerns about the open-access model causing "potential congestion" and taxpayers being "left to fill shortfalls" in maintenance approval of additional services comes after LNER, the government-owned operator that runs services on the East Coast Main Line, announced changes to timetables from December, with up to 37 daily services and quicker journeys between London King's Cross and Edinburgh. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Anglian Water objects to Elsham Wolds data centre plan
Anglian Water is opposing plans for an artificial intelligence data centre over water supply data centre would cover up to 435 acres (about 175 hectares) and be built by the A15 Elsham Wolds Industrial Estate in North have been raised by the water firm over potential flooding risks and water sourcing, with the region described as "the driest part of the country".The developer behind the plans has been contacted for comment. A spokesperson for Anglian Water said: "Given the pressure we're seeing on water resources, it's important we carefully consider where we use treated drinking water, so we can keep customers' taps flowing for years to come."The company raised questions over whether the data centre would choose to use clean, treated drinking water, opposed to non-potable water, as it is "often seen as an easier route".Industry sources raised concerns earlier this year on how Sir Keir Starmer's plan to make the UK a "world leader" in artificial intelligence by building data centres could lead to water shortages. Geoff Darch, head of strategic asset planning at Anglian Water, said last month that large data centres should be cooled with "treated sewage effluent" rather than drinking also said they should be located near water recycling plants so they could more easily access risks at the proposed data centre were also raised as a point of concern, as there were "no sewers of an appropriate size for the development nearby", the water firm said. The outline application for the data centre suggests it would produce up to 49.9MW of electricity a year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Anglian Water spokesperson said: "Water resources for industrial growth, such as new data centres, can be particularly difficult to forecast. "The nature of this type of growth means it's difficult to predict how much water might be needed in the future, and where in our region it will be needed."North Lincolnshire Council said it was unable to comment while the application process was ongoing. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
BBC News
5 days ago
- BBC News
Plan for 36 Sheffield council homes backed by £4.1m grant
A project to build 36 new social rent homes on the site of a former care centre in Sheffield has been supported with a £4.1m grant from the City Council has been awarded the money to develop Bolehill View, at the site of a former community care facility on Eastfield Road, off Northfield Road in scheme would see two blocks of one-bedroom flats built in an area of "high housing need," according to the Johnson, chair of the council's housing committee, said: "Sheffield, like the rest of the country, faces huge challenges when it comes to housing." Johnson said that providing "ample good quality homes at affordable prices for those who need them," was a priority for the local City Council has launched a 10-year plan to improve and increase its housing supply. A spokesperson for the authority said demand for good quality, affordable homes in the city had "never been higher". The authority is currently working towards formally accepting the conditions of the funding before work can begin at the grant is the third to be awarded to Sheffield City Council this year by Homes England, the government's housing and regeneration Jones, assistant director of affordable housing growth at Homes England, said the agency was pleased to be working with the council, "to increase the delivery of much-needed affordable homes in the city".The average private rent cost in Sheffield rose to £877 in February 2025, up from £824 the year before. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
