Sheffield Supertram Trip Report

[Dougal2345]

Moderator Note - split from

Sheffield Supertram & Tram Train news

This is a thread to discuss development & other things with Sheffield Supertram & Tram Train. Tram 120 which was in a Sheffield Transport heritage livery has had this replaced with an overall advert for the new Full Monty series on Disney+. Tram 116 has gained an overall advert for Park &...

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Had my first ever trip on the Sheffield Supertrams on Monday, during a day-trip there.

Arrived at the railway station and the route to the tram stop was signposted clearly. Didn't have to wait too long for my first tram into the centre.

It looked a little less modern and shabbier than I was expecting - not like the ones I'd seen in Nottingham a few days earlier. But not too crowded on a Monday mid-morning.

Surprised to see a conductor on a tram! - and I assumed from observing that he was merely there to sell tickets, not inspect them too, so I didn't proffer my PlusBus for inspection as he went by, and wasn't challenged. It wasn't until the third tram that I realised this was not how it should be - presumably the first two thought I was a fare-dodger but not worth challenging.

After a visit to the Arts Tower to sample its Paternoster, and a bit of bussing to Ecclesall, headed to Hillsborough on the tram - a nice enough ride. A lot of the departure boards were displaying error messages - not so great for a new arrival!

Then back and onto the tram-train to Rotherham Central. It's a long walk up the narrow platform before you exit the station - shouldn't think that's much fun in rush-hour, if they have a rush-hour! It's also a bit of a walk on to the delights of the shopping centre - you rather expect a tram to run into the centre, not arrive at the outskirts. Then continued to the end of the tramline at Parkgate, tucked away behind some massive warehouse shops.

Travelling back, I realised that it was possible to sit behind the driver and see out the front window, and rather regretted I hadn't done this earlier in the day.

Getting back to the station, it seemed odd that when going in through the same 'footbridge' side entrance, there were no signs visible telling you the platform numbers for each set of stairs. Or maybe I just missed them.

I understand the whole 'tram train' thing was a bit costly to build, and wondered whether it was really worthwhile just to get to Rotherham. Also wondered why they call it a 'tram train' when to the public it's just another tram - shouldn't they just allocate it another colour to identify it?

Still, all in all, a nice day out.

 

[S101]

Not really news, more of a trip report, but thought it would be better here as it's all Supertram focussed.

Had my first ever trip on the Sheffield Supertrams on Monday, during a day-trip there.

Arrived at the railway station and the route to the tram stop was signposted clearly. Didn't have to wait too long for my first tram into the centre.

It looked a little less modern and shabbier than I was expecting - not like the ones I'd seen in Nottingham a few days earlier. But not too crowded on a Monday mid-morning.

Surprised to see a conductor on a tram! - and I assumed from observing that he was merely there to sell tickets, not inspect them too, so I didn't proffer my PlusBus for inspection as he went by, and wasn't challenged. It wasn't until the third tram that I realised this was not how it should be - presumably the first two thought I was a fare-dodger but not worth challenging.

After a visit to the Arts Tower to sample its Paternoster, and a bit of bussing to Ecclesall, headed to Hillsborough on the tram - a nice enough ride. A lot of the departure boards were displaying error messages - not so great for a new arrival!

Then back and onto the tram-train to Rotherham Central. It's a long walk up the narrow platform before you exit the station - shouldn't think that's much fun in rush-hour, if they have a rush-hour! It's also a bit of a walk on to the delights of the shopping centre - you rather expect a tram to run into the centre, not arrive at the outskirts. Then continued to the end of the tramline at Parkgate, tucked away behind some massive warehouse shops.

Travelling back, I realised that it was possible to sit behind the driver and see out the front window, and rather regretted I hadn't done this earlier in the day.

Getting back to the station, it seemed odd that when going in through the same 'footbridge' side entrance, there were no signs visible telling you the platform numbers for each set of stairs. Or maybe I just missed them.

I understand the whole 'tram train' thing was a bit costly to build, and wondered whether it was really worthwhile just to get to Rotherham. Also wondered why they call it a 'tram train' when to the public it's just another tram - shouldn't they just allocate it another colour to identify it?

Still, all in all, a nice day out.

TramTrain is very underwhelming. The whole project lacks ambition, and other than serving Parkgate, does nothing that the proper railway didn't already do. It's often unreliable when trans enter or leave NR infrastructure, with the signals regularly not clearing.

It should have served Rotherham properly. But rather than learn from the rest of the world and their TramTrains that they have successfully ran for decades, little England had to try reinvent the wheel, literally. All in all, it's disappointing. Meanwhile, in Manchester with all the investment, even Birmingham, Sheffield's network appears sad, tatty, and forgotten. Like Sheffield in general.

 

[AY1975]

After a visit to the Arts Tower to sample its Paternoster

I know this is getting off topic, but paternosters have been discussed extensively in a number of now closed threads in the past, such as this one on lifts and escalators under Other Transport, particularly on pages 3 to 6 of the thread: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/lifts-and-escalators.145854/page-3