Six operators have been shortlisted for the first phase of bus franchising in South Yorkshire, which will see the award of large contracts to operate services from depots at Olive Grove in Sheffield and Leger Way in Doncaster.
Initial bidding began earlier in 2026. Both first phase large depots are currently part of the First Bus operation. The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) says that the six operators include those based in the UK and internationally, although it had not named them.
They will now move to the next stage of procurement. Bids must be submitted by the autumn and include detailed proposals on how each operator would deliver services if successful. Weighting is 50% for quality of service; 40% financial; and 10% for social value.
Completion of the procurement will take until the end of 2026. Successful bidders are to be named in early 2027. Operational commencement for phase one is 5 September 2027, according to a bus franchising update that went before a SYMCA Enhanced Partnership Board meeting on 10 June.
Franchised bus services in South Yorkshire will operate under the orange People’s Network brand. Rollout of franchising will complete in 2029, with Rotherham and Barnsley part of the second phase in 2028, and other parts of Sheffield in the third. All six large bus depots in the conurbation are now in public ownership.
The franchising update notes that when reregulated services commence, the network will stay broadly as is to start, but that “targeted improvements” will be made to some services and timetables, with more efficient and effective use of resources and assets targeted.
Rollout of 330 new buses will start from September 2027. A vision timeline also published with the 10 June meeting papers says that once franchising is completed in September 2029, 573 new vehicles will have been sourced. The supplier(s) of those will be named later this summer.
Speaking about the work on first phase operators, SYMCA Director of Bus Franchising Matt Goggins says: “Progressing to this stage of the procurement process is a significant milestone for us in South Yorkshire.
“We have seen strong interest from the market, which demonstrates real confidence in what we are building, and I want to express my thanks to those operators that have engaged so far.
“There is a huge amount happening in parallel to this milestone: fleet procurement is on track, all six bus depots are now in public ownership, and electrification work is about to begin, which will ensure that we have the right infrastructure in place to charge our brand-new fleet of electric buses.
“In just over a year, we will be responsible for bus services in Doncaster and Sheffield, so it is really important that we get this right for local people over the coming months.”
