This is a generalisation of my [earlier question][1] about generators for the level 1 Hecke algebra.

Let $\Gamma$ be a congruence subgroup of $\operatorname{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$, and $k \ge 1$ an integer. There's an explicit bound $S$ (the "Sturm bound") known such that if $f \in M_k(\Gamma)$ (the space of modular forms of weight $k$ and level $\Gamma$) satisfies $a_n(f) = 0$ for $0 \le n \le S$, then $f = 0$, where $a_n(f)$ denote the coefficients of the $q$-expansion of $f$ (at the cusp $\infty$).

Since $M_k(\Gamma)$ is finite-dimensional and doesn't contain any nonzero constant functions, there must actually exist some $S'$ such that if $a_n(f) = 0$ for $1 \le n \le S'$, then $f = 0$. This is equivalent to asking that the Hecke algebra acting on $M_k(\Gamma)$ is spanned by the operators $T_1, \dots, T_{S'}$ (hence the title of the question). 

Can one give an effective upper bound on $S'$ (in terms of $k$ and the index $[\operatorname{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z}) : \Gamma]$)? I'd be interested to know the answer to this even for the special case $\Gamma = \Gamma_0(N)$.

  [1]: http://mathoverflow.net/questions/42809/how-many-hecke-operators-span-the-level-1-hecke-algebra