Agenda and minutes

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meeting held on 19^th March, 2025.

The Chair took the opportunity to thank the former Chair, Councillor Taylor, for his involvement and support to the Transport Advisory Group.

Agreed:- That the minutes of the meeting held on 19^th March, 2025, be approved as a correct record of proceedings.

There were no matters arising.

The Chair referred to the questions submitted and the responses received.  He offered those Members who had submitted questions the opportunity to ask a supplementary question and the following Members responded in relation to their questions:-

Question 1 – Parish Councillor Croxton reiterated his concerns about ticket pricing and the differences when travelling from Rotherham as opposed to Sheffield or Meadowhall.

Nathan Broadhead from SYMCA confirmed this was due to passenger demand and capacity issues and related to advanced purchase offer to manage overcrowding on the Leeds to Nottingham service.

Whilst the situation was not ideal the onset of the new station in Rotherham may create increased capacity/access.

Contact would be made with the Rail Team highlighting the concerns.

Question 2 – Councillor Currie was satisfied the bus stop issue was being looked into as he was actively encouraging the use of public transport in the ward.

Nathan Broadhead, Bus Partnership and Development Manager from SYMCA, highlighted a number of changes during July, some of which were more pertinent to West Yorkshire and Derbyshire.  Details would be issued via the Communications Team with nothing major of concern other than summertime frequency changes.

It was also pointed out the dialogue with First and Stagecoach with Rotherham, Sheffield and Doncaster and the £2.5 million funding that had also been from the DfT Bus Grant.

There were also some changes to the X11, evening services for the 135 and 137 routes, how the 136 would cover part of the 138 route in an evening.  Details would be shard with Ward Members and M.Ps.

Draft timelines for the bus franchise were shared along with when the different tranches would come on board.  Details were yet to be confirmed.

The Chair invited questions.

Councillor Bennett-Sylvester made reference to the Royal Horticultural Event taking place at Wentworth Woodhouse and asked if there were any transportation from Rotherham as well as Meadowhall or if any discussion had taken place with Fitzwilliam Estates about cycling/walking routes.

Nathan Broadhead confirmed a park and ride arrangement would be in operation from Meadowhall adjacent to Marks and Spencer for accessibility to the local rail network.

A wider discussion had not taken place with Fitzwilliam Estates, but this would be taken back to the Communication Team for a more detailed discussion with Rotherham Officers to see how this could be tied together.

The Chair reiterated how positive such discussions would be for encouragement of active travel within the borough.

Councillor Currie endorsed the need to promote more active travel particular with the major issues created on Thorpe Street/Wentworth Road and the access to green space in the locality.

The Chair suggested this be closely monitored and discussed with Ward Members.

(1)       First Group

(2)       Stagecoach

(3)       Rotherham Community Transport

First Buses

Steve Radford from First Buses reported on the changes to service in July which would commence on the 28^th July to help speed up services and revert back to normal on 1^st September, 2025.

By way of a powerpoint presentation detail was provided on Rotherham punctuality:-

Journeys Starting on Time            93.7%

Excluding Fridays                         91%

Punctuality by Timing Point          86% and 87%

Excluding Fridays                         75%

This detail illustrated the range of performance and where this was good or needed improvement.

Parish Councillor Croxton raised concern about the 73 bus via Treeton which used a longer route late a night when there was limited traffic.

Steve Radford would investigate and review, but it could be due to some slack in the process.

Stagecoach

John Young from Stagecoach confirmed the electric fleet was performing well, with a quarter of the total fleet being electric.  Some of the fleet included Chesterfield into Sheffield

Service delivery from Rawmarsh Depot for Period 2 was very strong at:-

           Punctuality                                   90.8%

           Reliability of journeys operated    99.8%

There were to be a few minor service changes for September, with nothing during July, resulting in minimal impact.

Positive comments were made and shared at the meeting following the opening of the Parkgate link road and the massive improvement this had made to vehicle movements.

Community Transport

No representative was in attendance.

Councillor Blackham asked about the role of Community Transport in the transportation of disabled adults around the borough.  From direct experience he was concerned about the capacity of the service, their client waiting list and how long some clients had been waiting.  He was particularly concerned about the capacity within the system and whether it was just time restrictive around 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m.

He, therefore, asked if he could be furnished with further information on:-

(a)        The length of the waiting list.

(b)        What was the average waiting time for clients on the list.

Nathan Broadhead, SYMCA, confirmed Rotherham Community Transport was funded via SYMCA and as far as he was aware there was no problem with capacity.  Once registered a user could book transport via Door to Door almost immediately regardless of whether they were disabled or not.

The issue may lie with transport provided via Rotherham Council in the transportation of adult disabled persons across the borough and the level of demand.

Liaison would take place with the relevant persons to collate a response and information would be fed back in due course.

Richard Isaac, Northern Rail, gave the following performance update:-

Cancellations                       2.5%

Time to 3                           79.05%

Time to 15                         97.57%

Northern’s long-term performance targets aimed for 90% OT and 2% Cancellations.

Passenger growth had improved with Northern being in the top five for passenger increases.  From April to March there had been an 8% increase in strong growth and from January to March an increase of 23.4 million which was the largest number outside of London.

A great deal of work was taking place to stabilise moving towards GBR implementation in 2027.

Further highlights included the move towards the new Rotherham Station and promotion of the East Coast mainline.

Further detail was provided on the art project involving Rotherham students on display at Bridlington Spa and the engagement with Local M.P.’s in Westminster.  Northern Rail were keen to encourage and attract young people into the Rail Industry as much as possible.  Rotherham College were commended for their involvement and promotion of opportunities and as a result Northern Rail had entered artwork from Rotherham into the Rail 200 competition.

It was also noted that the industrial dispute relating to terms and conditions was still to be resolved and an update would be provided in due course.

Parish Councillor Croxton again referred to his submitted question about ticket prices, overcrowding and the service routes.  He asked if any effort had been made to alleviate this situation.

Richard Isaacs again reiterated this was an advanced purchase offer to manage overcrowding on the Leeds to Nottingham service (Fast).

This service aimed to move customers on to its stopping services to make it more attractive from Sheffield and Meadowhall.

The Chair made reference to passenger growth and asked if this could be broken down specifically for the South Yorkshire Region.

Richard Isaacs confirmed this data would be provided in writing.

Councillor Bower referred to a recent announcement about the Government’s decision not to pursue the electrification of the Midland Mainline and what impact this would have on the plans for Rotherham’s new Gateway Station and if this had a major blow on the business case.

Nathan Broadhead from SYMCA, confirmed he would pick up this matter direct with relevant personnel and would provide a response in writing.

It was again reiterated that the recent announcements were unlikely to affect the business case for the Rotherham Gateway Station and promotion of the use of public transport would continue.

Councillor Bower expressed his concern that the service to Rotherham was falling behind more so without electrification and it could indeed affect the business case.  However, he was interested to see developments, but pointed out often it was easier to travel to Doncaster and Sheffield Stations and, therefore, bypass Rotherham.

The Chair pointed out that the business case did not rely on one line and had links with other networks so, therefore, had no direct impact.  Rotherham’s Gateway Station was a project supported by SYMCA and it would be frustrating if this national project was pulled.

Councillor Blackham also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

Nat Porter, Interim Head of Transportation Infrastructure, gave the following powerpoint presentation for the Transport Infrastructure Service:-

·              Milestones

?             25/26 Minor Works Programme Approved.

?             LNRS1 Projects Completed – Hoober and Rotherham West.

?             Rotherham Gateway Station OBC approved by SYMCA for submission to DfT.

?             Active Travel masterplans (Wath, Dinnington and Rotherham) substantially complete.

·              Ongoing Developments

-               LNRS1

v   Wales largely complete; final lining works due September.

v   Anston & Woodsetts, Rawmarsh E, Malty E review of technical queries on design.

v   Bramley considering objections.

v   Boston Castle funding ringfenced, development and delivery aligned to CRSTS majors.

-               CRSTS major schemes

v   Developing consultation materials for Fitzwilliam Road and Broom Road – consultation anticipated August & September.

-               Crossings

v   Wath Road, Brampton and Broad St, Parkgate preliminary design substantially complete..

v   Surveys commissioned to prioritise next round of crossings

-               LNRS2

v   Feasibility complete for seven schemes.

v   Two schemes aligned with CRSTS majors (funding is ringfenced).

v   One scheme is feasibility study due complete July.

v  One scheme to be delivered by third party; substitute scheme to be entered into programme.

·              Minor Works 25/26

-             Approved in June 2025.

-             26 projects, £200,000 value.

-             Priority is to complete 2024/25 programme.

·              Beyond 2025/26

-         Confirmation of funding to SYMCA for 2027-2032 (£1.455 bn).

-         No detail on criteria, or what work needs to be covered.

-         Overarching objectives:-

v   continuing to drive growth and productivity through investment in integrated transport networks.

v   transforming infrastructure to support the delivery of new homes and improve access to opportunity for all.

v   decarbonising transport and enabling healthy living, including promoting modal shift from cars to public transport, walking and cycling.

The Chair invited questions and in doing congratulated the service and officers for the number of projects currently being managed.

There were no urgent items of business reported.