CaptainHaddock
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Sheffield Supertram & Tram Train news
- Thread starter JD2168
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eastwestdivide
Established Member
And now Magna Tram Stop is appearing in the times for tram-trains, as an unadvertised stop, e.g. today's
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
Or in this screenshot here:
Realtime Trains | 2A54 1427 Sheffield Cathedral to Parkgate | 18/02/2026
Real-time train running information for 2A54 1427 departure from Sheffield Cathedral to Parkgate on 18/02/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
Yes, it's to allow systems at the new station/stop to be testedAnd now Magna Tram Stop is appearing in the times for tram-trains, as an unadvertised stop, e.g. today's
Or in this screenshot here:Realtime Trains | 2A54 1427 Sheffield Cathedral to Parkgate | 18/02/2026
Real-time train running information for 2A54 1427 departure from Sheffield Cathedral to Parkgate on 18/02/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
View attachment 198454
Major parts of tram network to shut for two weeks over Easter holidays
A large section of Sheffield’s tram system will be out of action for two weeks over the school Easter holidays due to repairs.
www.thestar.co.uk
A large section of Sheffield’s tram system will be out of action for two weeks over the school Easter holidays due to repairs.
All of the Purple route and part of the Blue route - from Sheffield Station to Gleadless Townend - will not run between Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, April 12. Schools break up for two weeks on Friday, March 27.
Major destinations affected include Crystal Peaks shopping centre, Manor Top, Herdings Park and Halfway.
A tram replacement bus will be laid on.
Repairs are to being carried out on Blue and Purple routes over Easter. | Iconic Media
The closure is to replace worn rails and repair concrete track slab, according to South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, which runs the tram system.
It says that once the repairs are complete, Supertram will return to its usual 12-minute timetable.
All of the Purple route and part of the Blue route - from Sheffield Station to Gleadless Townend - will not run between Saturday March 28 and Sunday April 12.
Services have been less frequent for months due to a lack of drivers. But recruits are now trained up, the authority says.
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said: “I’m really pleased we’ll be back to the normal 12 minute timetable after these important upgrade works have been completed.”
SYMCA took control of the tram network in March 2024.
Mr Coppard said passenger numbers had grown 3.8 per cent in the last year.
He added: "Since taking Supertram back under public control, we’ve committed to investing £110million in the network by 2027.
“And that’s not all - for the whole of 2026 we’ve cut or frozen adult fares and we’re opening a new station soon at Magna.”
During the shutdown, the BP1 bus will operate between Fitzalan Square and Herdings Park, serving bus stops near tram stops.
All tram and multi-modal tickets will be accepted and tickets can also be bought on the bus.
All the details including timetables at https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/en-gb/supertram/manor-top-works-march-april-2026Major parts of tram network to shut for two weeks over Easter holidays
A large section of Sheffield’s tram system will be out of action for two weeks over the school Easter holidays due to repairs.
A large section of Sheffield’s tram system will be out of action for two weeks over the school Easter holidays due to repairs.
All of the Purple route and part of the Blue route - from Sheffield Station to Gleadless Townend - will not run between Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, April 12. Schools break up for two weeks on Friday, March 27.
Major destinations affected include Crystal Peaks shopping centre, Manor Top, Herdings Park and Halfway.
A tram replacement bus will be laid on.
Repairs are to being carried out on Blue and Purple routes over Easter. | Iconic Media
The closure is to replace worn rails and repair concrete track slab, according to South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, which runs the tram system.
It says that once the repairs are complete, Supertram will return to its usual 12-minute timetable.
All of the Purple route and part of the Blue route - from Sheffield Station to Gleadless Townend - will not run between Saturday March 28 and Sunday April 12.
Services have been less frequent for months due to a lack of drivers. But recruits are now trained up, the authority says.
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said: “I’m really pleased we’ll be back to the normal 12 minute timetable after these important upgrade works have been completed.”
SYMCA took control of the tram network in March 2024.
Mr Coppard said passenger numbers had grown 3.8 per cent in the last year.
He added: "Since taking Supertram back under public control, we’ve committed to investing £110million in the network by 2027.
“And that’s not all - for the whole of 2026 we’ve cut or frozen adult fares and we’re opening a new station soon at Magna.”
During the shutdown, the BP1 bus will operate between Fitzalan Square and Herdings Park, serving bus stops near tram stops.
All tram and multi-modal tickets will be accepted and tickets can also be bought on the bus.
Before then, on 25 March, it's the Varsity Games ice hockey final at the Arena with a few thousand university students travelling to the event, extra trams will be shuttling from Shalesmoor (to serve University of Sheffield) and Cathedral (to serve Sheffield Hallam University) to the Arena before the game and back afterwards.
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Hyebone
Member
Might I make a suggestion to travellers during this time: Don't...
Last time I rode a tram during a Varsity games final, I literally had to shoulder-barge my way off a tram because nobody was moving
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard has now announced the opening day of the new Tram Train station at Magna - Thursday 9 April.
Facebook
www.facebook.com
The Station will have a park & ride car park as well as serving the Magna Science Adventure Centre and nearby businesses.
The Magna Centre also hosts events, the first one after the new station opens will be the Rotherham Real Ale & Music Festival.
https://magnarealale.org.uk/
www.facebook.com
Tram Train operates every half hour (ish) between Sheffield Cathedral, Rotherham Central railway Station and Parkgate.
The Station will have a park & ride car park as well as serving the Magna Science Adventure Centre and nearby businesses.
The Magna Centre also hosts events, the first one after the new station opens will be the Rotherham Real Ale & Music Festival.
https://magnarealale.org.uk/
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D365
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 29 Jun 2012
- Messages
- 13,156
Excellent news! Great to finally see a new intermediate station on the Tram Train.
duffield
Established Member
I noticed there's a third hourly "runs as required" path showing on RTT, so I guess there is an ambition for 3tph, although if that path was used they would be pretty uneven (intervals leaving Parkgate of 10,23,27 minutes!).
eastwestdivide
Established Member
The third hourly path is a hangover from the inital pre-Covid service levels. Think they were lopsided like that to fit around the Northern timetable.
duffield
Established Member
You'd think they would have to eventually use it or lose it (to free it up for potential Northern or freight use).
eastwestdivide
Established Member
When the tram-train started, there were three TT and three Northern (2 via Doncaster, 1 Leeds) through Rotherham every hour, plus the odd freight and occasional Northern Sheffield/York service, so I’d say there’s no pressing need to free it up now that the Northern service via Doncaster has gone down to one per hour for the most part.
Given the amount of cancellations that regularly happen due to staff shortages I would say that it’s doubtful
Area 1 rail replacement is now underway with Blue route trams running Malin Bridge to Sheffield Station and Gleadless Townend to Halfway. Purple route trams are suspended. Both gaps are being filled by tram replacement bus service BP1 operated by City Transport between Fitzalan Square, Gleadless Townend and Herdings Park, serving all tram stops inbetween except Spring Lane. These works run until 12 April.
Easter weekend sees a Saturday timetable on Good Friday and a Sunday timetable on Easter Monday.
Thursday 9 April sees the new Tram Train station at Magna open with all the trams on that route calling at the new stop, which is located on Network Rail between Meadowhall South and Rotherham Central. The new stop has a park & ride car park as well as serving the Magna Science Adventure Centre and nearby businesses. Magna is also an events venue, the first event there after the tram stop opens will be the Rotherham Real Ale & Music festival, a charity fundraiser, taking place 22-25 April.
Saturdays 11, 18 and 25 April sees Network Rail engineering work in the Rotherham area from 1740hrs onwards to improve track drainage, during these times the Tram Train will divert to Meadowhall Interchange (as per Yellow route) and a replacement bus will operate from Meadowhall South to Magna, Rotherham Central and Parkgate.
Monday 13 April, with area 1 of this years rail replacement programme complete, will see the Blue route and Yellow route return to the normal timetable with trams running up to every 12 minutes (they are currently on a temporary timetable running up to every 15 minutes due to a staff shortage with lots of recruitment and training going on).
Area 2 works are expected to take place over the Mayday bank holiday weekend and area 3 during the spring bank holidays.
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The problem with the Network Rail bit of the tram train route is the single line section plus crossovers at Rotherham Central and Parkgate along with other train services mean it's difficult to run an even frequency (if they ran every 20 mins they'd crash on the single line section!)
Easter weekend sees a Saturday timetable on Good Friday and a Sunday timetable on Easter Monday.
Thursday 9 April sees the new Tram Train station at Magna open with all the trams on that route calling at the new stop, which is located on Network Rail between Meadowhall South and Rotherham Central. The new stop has a park & ride car park as well as serving the Magna Science Adventure Centre and nearby businesses. Magna is also an events venue, the first event there after the tram stop opens will be the Rotherham Real Ale & Music festival, a charity fundraiser, taking place 22-25 April.
Saturdays 11, 18 and 25 April sees Network Rail engineering work in the Rotherham area from 1740hrs onwards to improve track drainage, during these times the Tram Train will divert to Meadowhall Interchange (as per Yellow route) and a replacement bus will operate from Meadowhall South to Magna, Rotherham Central and Parkgate.
Monday 13 April, with area 1 of this years rail replacement programme complete, will see the Blue route and Yellow route return to the normal timetable with trams running up to every 12 minutes (they are currently on a temporary timetable running up to every 15 minutes due to a staff shortage with lots of recruitment and training going on).
Area 2 works are expected to take place over the Mayday bank holiday weekend and area 3 during the spring bank holidays.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
No immediate plans but there are aspirations to increase the service levels and there's a view of waiting to see what travel patterns the new stop at Magna brings - if it's commuters or shoppers using the park & ride then the third path an hour would provide a useful relief service, however if the demand is for evening events then a different answer is required.
The problem with the Network Rail bit of the tram train route is the single line section plus crossovers at Rotherham Central and Parkgate along with other train services mean it's difficult to run an even frequency (if they ran every 20 mins they'd crash on the single line section!)
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Bob figgis
Member
It would be nice to see more of the tram trains getting use. Only two are in use daily out of four that are serviceable. 204,206 and 207 don’t see any use apart from occasional moves within the depot confines. I don’t know what the issue is with 206 and 207 but I don’t think 204 has been used since its accident in October 2018 and then having the none damaged end swapped with the damaged section of tram 202 after its crash the following month November 2018. Have the damaged sections ever been repaired does anybody know?
Also tram 124 hasn’t been out in service for along time, I have seen it on driver training runs in the back half of 2025 but it has been depot bound since before Christmas and has the front fairing missing at one end.
The general internal state of most of the trams that are in use are very shoddy. The seats are beyond thread bear and stained beyond belief.
Also tram 124 hasn’t been out in service for along time, I have seen it on driver training runs in the back half of 2025 but it has been depot bound since before Christmas and has the front fairing missing at one end.
The general internal state of most of the trams that are in use are very shoddy. The seats are beyond thread bear and stained beyond belief.
206 is generally reserved for driver training, although did see passenger service on Varsity Games shuttles last week.
richard1976
Member
I believe 206 & 207 are only able to be used on the tram network (not on the tram train) something to do with the wheel profile I believe
Hyebone
Member
Correct. 206 was delivered with a train wheel profile but has since been converted to tram-only.
Wikipedia states that it re-entered service in 2020.
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According to my transit log, I've only ever ridden 201, 202, 203 and 205, so what's been said seems to be correct.
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eastwestdivide
Established Member
Just popped in to Magna. It's a "soft launch" today, so no flags or ribbon-cutting. Plenty of photographers and also quite a few families getting off trams to visit the science centre. Trams 201 and 202 doing the services mid-morning.
edwin_m
Veteran Member
Thanks for these. Note the first application of measures to discourage people stepping down from the low platform and crossing the track - something some colleagues and I were discussing in 1996! Not needed at Rotherham Central because there's no desire line to access one platform via the other one.
eastwestdivide
Established Member
In fact there are the same “don’t cross here” barriers between the two running lines by the tram platforms at Rotherham C. Agreed there’s no desire line, but tram habits and big railways don’t mix well!
Chatting with one of the engineering team at Magna today, they said the staggered platforms there were also part of the design to discourage crossing the tracks on the level as you might with a street-type tram stop.
edwin_m
Veteran Member
Didn't know that about Rotherham - I think they may have been a later addition as I'm pretty sure I checked out some pictures when it first opened. This probably means the barriers can be added in the sixfoot without widening the track spacing. Staggered platforms were another option we looked at in the 1990s, for the original proposal to run the Nottingham tram as a tram-train.
The Pelican
Member
It would be interesting to see a comparative cost breakdown of:
1. A station on the existing tracks with two low floor staggered platforms, footbridge, lifts.
2. A double junction taking two tracks off to one side of the mainline, two low floor tram platforms on that loop with a fence between them and the mainline tracks, then another double junction to return trams to the mainline again.
This stop is a good step for new low floor tram train stations on existing lines in general, which will be useful for costing future projects.
1. A station on the existing tracks with two low floor staggered platforms, footbridge, lifts.
2. A double junction taking two tracks off to one side of the mainline, two low floor tram platforms on that loop with a fence between them and the mainline tracks, then another double junction to return trams to the mainline again.
This stop is a good step for new low floor tram train stations on existing lines in general, which will be useful for costing future projects.
eastwestdivide
Established Member
They were certainly there in Oct 2018, 3 days after the public opening, as per my photo over on rmweb at
(scroll down a bit)
when I commented they were then a recent addition (being local, I followed construction from lineside). Maybe you saw some pics from the testing phase
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edwin_m
Veteran Member
Thanks for the clarification. Must have missed that somehow. I'm pretty sure I was following that topic...
Sheffield : Best known for steel, snooker and "CAUTION : TWO WAY TRAFFIC LOOK BOTH WAYS!" at Fitzalan Square
A lot of people, especially visitors, get confused at that crossing as the road runs parallel with the tram. They think it's one way, quite a few accidents have occurred there.Sheffield : Best known for steel, snooker and "CAUTION : TWO WAY TRAFFIC LOOK BOTH WAYS!" at Fitzalan Square
duffield
Established Member
I visited yesterday to complete my coverage of the supertram network by travelling to Herdings Park and Halfway, and the Herdings Park service was not running. I thought all the engineering works for that line were supposed to be completed, and I couldn't find any references anywhere to why the service was not running and when it is expected to resume, although of course I may not have looked in the right places!
(Still had a pleasant day out, walking in the Rother Valley Country Park).
(Still had a pleasant day out, walking in the Rother Valley Country Park).