TRAMS BACK TO 12-MINUTE TIMETABLE AFTER £2.75MILLION SUPERTRAM NETWORK IMPROVEMENTS

Published 13 March 2026 at 2:19pm

Supertram is returning to its usual 12-minute timetable – as soon as £2.75million of further investment work on the Supertram network is completed during the Easter school holidays. 

Over the past few months, Supertram has been running a temporary timetable to maintain a reliable service while new drivers trained over the Winter. 

Now, with drivers fully trained and set to deliver services, Supertram can return to its normal 12-minute timetable from Monday 13th April. 

The move will take place as soon as essential works to replace worn rails and repair the concrete track slab are completed over the Easter holidays. These works will enhance and future proof the network, ensuring it can remain reliable for the millions of customers who use the network every year whilst improving the road surface for other highway users. 

Work totalling £2.75million will be completed in this phase - part of the commitment by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) to invest over £110m by 2027 including upgrades to the trams, track, control systems and power supplies alongside the construction of the new Tram Train station at Magna. 

These works will take place between Sheffield Station and Gleadless Townend affecting Purple and partial Blue tram services. They will start on Saturday March 28 and run through to Sunday April 12 with work at Manor Top, Spring Lane, Ridgeway Road and City Road.  

South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard commented: “I said we were going to get a grip on Supertram services, and we are.

“We’ve got the new drivers trained quickly and they’re helping us get back to the Supertram service that people rightly expect. Reliability across February was 99.2%, the highest since November. Passenger numbers have grown 3.8%, the strongest year-on-year growth since last April. 

"Since taking Supertram back under public control, we’ve committed to investing £110million in the network by 2027. And that’s not all - for the whole of 2026 we’ve cut or frozen adult fares and we’re opening a new station soon at Magna.

“Every new driver we employ, every metre of track we replace, every improvement we make, brings us closer to creating the world class public transport network South Yorkshire deserves. I’m really pleased we’ll be back to the normal 12 minute timetable after these important upgrade works have been completed.”

Changes to Tram Services from March 28 to April 12 

The essential works will mean all stops between Sheffield Station and Gleadless Townend will not be served by tram services from Saturday March 28 through to Sunday April 12. 

The majority of the Supertram network will run as normal during the works, with the exception of the Blue and Purple routes as follows:   

•    Blue Route tram services will not run between Sheffield Station and Gleadless Townend. Services will run as normal across the rest of the route. 
•    Purple Route tram services will not run during the works 
•    Yellow Route services will run as normal.  
•    Tram Train services will run as normal. 

Blue and Purple routes are expected to reopen in full on Monday 13th April following completion of the works.

On this day, the frequency of the Blue and Yellow routes will change to restore the 12-minute service. Full details of the timetables will be available on the Travel South Yorkshire website towards the start of April.
 
Dedicated tram replacement bus service  
 
A dedicated tram replacement bus service, BP1, will operate to help people make their journeys between Saturday March 28 and Sunday April 12 inclusive. 

The BP1 service will run between Fitzalan Square and Herdings Park up to every 15 minutes in line with the current tram timetable, serving limited bus stops located near all the affected tram stops along the route. 

All valid tram and multi-modal tickets will be accepted for travel on the BP1 replacement bus service. Customers can buy their ticket in advance using the TSY Mobile app, or from a tram conductor. Alternatively, tickets can be purchased from the BP1 bus driver using contactless card or cash payments when boarding.   

More information on the engineering works, including timetables for replacement bus services, is available at www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/NetworkImprovements.