Dogs are to be allowed onto South Yorkshire’s tram network for the first time today.

It has been announced that dogs will be allowed to ride on Sheffield’s Supertram network for the first time starting Friday March 21 . The South Yorkshire Combined Mayoral Authority has announced this trial period after a public consultation that drew in over 10,000 responses.

The results of the consultation showed public support for dogs to be allowed onto the tram network, of those who responded to the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authorities consultation, 75% supported allowing dogs onto trams in South Yorkshire.

The authority has said that “More than nine in ten respondents (93%) said a personal benefit to allowing all dogs on trams is a fully integrated transport network”

Up until now only assistance dogs and dogs in carry cages had been able to ride on South Yorkshire trams, while they were free to ride on South Yorkshire’s trains and buses.

Under the scheme a passenger will only be allowed to take one dog onboard the tram, the outcome of this trial will be used to decide whether or not all dogs should be allowed to ride on the tram network in the future.

South Yorkshire is not the first metro area in the UK to allow dogs to ride on its tram network, Greater Manchester allowed dogs onto their trams in 2023 after a similar trial period, and Edinburgh has long allowed dogs to ride with their owners as long as they stay on-leash.