Two rapid transit routes are proposed: a southern route which would travel along Sheffield Parkway and to Rotherham via Waverley, and a northern route which would travel to Rotherham via Meadowhall

The southern route could open in 2013 if approval is given by the Department for Transport, which would be paying for the vast majority of the multi-million pound scheme.

That route would see new, environmentally-friendly, low-floor buses running regularly from Sheffield city centre, along a bus lane on Sheffield Parkway – which would be built in addition to the existing lanes – and then through Waverley and Brinsworth to Rotherham and back.