MAYOR WELCOMES IMPROVEMENTS TO SOUTH YORKSHIRE BUS SERVICES

Published 3 September 2024 at 8:58am

South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard has welcomed improvements to bus services which began this weekend, improving links to hospitals, education facilities and business hubs.

The service improvements, of which several are financially supported by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), mean passengers are now benefitting from new, extended and re-introduced bus services.

These changes, introduced on Saturday 31 August, have been made following feedback from passengers, including at the public events held last year by Mayor Coppard across South Yorkshire.

The new service improvements include:

• Service 33 will run a new circular route with additional weekday journeys and a new Saturday daytime service, improving links to Barnsley Hospital; there will be Saturday journeys on service 26 between Penistone, Cubley and Stocksbridge; and additional evening trips on service 57a providing an hourly service between Sheffield, Oughtibridge and Stocksbridge when combined with service 57.
• There will also be more journey opportunities on services 70/71 to Sheffield Business Park, and the reintroduction of peak journeys on services 83/86 between Chapeltown and Sheffield.
• New service M35 will replace service 35a between Chapeltown and Warren, and extend to serve Smithy Wood Business Park, Ecclesfield and Parson Cross.
• Access to local education, healthcare and leisure facilities will also be improved around Birley and Crystal Peaks with the introduction of new services M44/M45, replacing services 8/8a.

Oliver Coppard, South Yorkshire’s Mayor, said: “I’ve been committed to radically improving our public transport network since day one; because ultimately, if we want people to stay near and go far in South Yorkshire, we need a better public transport system.

“And while these changes will not solve all the public transport challenges we face; they are a step towards us getting better buses and getting back the world class bus system we once had.

“I know first-hand how bus cuts can impact communities such as those in Broadway in Barnsley, so I’m delighted we’ve been able to use the limited budgets we have to improve that particular service and others where communities have been let down in the past.

“But I want to go so much further. The process to reform our buses in South Yorkshire is progressing at pace and I have committed to taking a decision on bringing our buses back under public control by March 2025.

“I want us to have nothing less than a world class, fully integrated public transport system connecting up our buses, trams, trains and active travel routes and to put the public back into public transport.”

Other bus services in South Yorkshire changed from Saturday 31 August, and customers are advised to check online with Travel South Yorkshire.