Trip to Sheffield: as you were

[LMS 4F]

A trip to Sheffield today left me with the impression that time had stood still. The journey there was on a 150/2 nearly 40 years old, as were all the other local trains I saw whilst passing through.

Then there was the Crosscountry Voyager and the EMR example, both of which are hardly new.

The only other type I saw was a 170/4 previously a Scotrail example and again hardly in the first flush.

Of course no sign of any electrification and when the North South divide is mentioned, Sheffield must be one of the best examples of that.

Finally on the way home at Wakefield Kirkgate we passed a 195 on a Lincoln train, which would pass through Sheffield and be the newest unit there all day.

Compared with Leeds, Electric on City routes and some local services, with lots of fairly new units even if not everyone is fans of all of them. The contrast between these two places not that far apart is considerable and I wonder how long it will be before they are both at the same level

 

[Lemmy282]

Par for the course, the 195's are the newest train we have around here. The new EMR bi-modes are still not in service, so as you say Voyagers, Medirians, 150, 158, 170 and 185's are the normal units. The MML electrification will probably not get here in my lifetime, or ever if bi-modes are the way to go.
Personally I think the promise the Conservatives gave to do the electrification into Sheffield was just to get the local MP on side when the Lib Dems and Conservstives shared government. As soon as he lost his seat the project was 'put on hold'. Just my personal opinion.
Just be thankful you weren't here a few years ago when we were knee deep in 142's!!

 

[LMS 4F]

I well recall the joy of Pacers in all their glory from the 141s on. It was the contrast with Leeds that struck me as that is my usual destination from Cas Vegas.

 

[Iskra]

Newer trains are not necessarily better. I’d rather travel on a 170 than a 195.

Sheffield has benefited from some electrification; the Rotherham Tram Train.

Sheffield does need to be electrified but it also needs to coincide with a complicated full station track layout remodelling and the electrification needs to be from the MML all the way through to Moorthorpe (and maybe Doncaster too) to be more than just a token gesture. Clearly, that is not a cheap project and makes it somewhat understandable that it hasn’t happened yet. I’d rather wait for it to be done properly than rush to get some wires in for political tokenism where only London trains benefit.

 

[satisnek]

Hang in there, Sheffield's time will come. Following the introduction of the 172s, there were no new trains in the Midlands for around a decade (unless I've forgotten something). Nowadays Birmingham New Street is awash with shiny new trains, both diesel and electric.

 

[LMS 4F]

I have a choice of a 158 or a 150 on my local services so this is not a lot better than it has been for the last 20 years except that the Pacers have gone.
My point was really the Sheffield and Leeds are the two largest cities in Yorkshire but the contrast in Railway investment is enormous. As I hadn’t been to Sheffield by rail for sometime I was struck by the difference compared with Leeds.
I respect that some people like older trains but that doesn’t change the fact that in Sheffield the great majority of stock is much older than that seen at Leeds.
I personally would prefer to travel in a Mk3 coach, whether in a HST or loco hauled but I realise that has gone and won’t be coming back.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

I have a choice of a 158 or a 150 on my local services so this is not a lot better than it has been for the last 20 years except that the Pacers have gone.
My point was really the Sheffield and Leeds are the two largest cities in Yorkshire but the contrast in Railway investment is enormous. As I hadn’t been to Sheffield by rail for sometime I was struck by the difference compared with Leeds.
I respect that some people like older trains but that doesn’t change the fact that in Sheffield the great majority of stock is much older than that seen at Leeds.
I personally would prefer to travel in a Mk3 coach, whether in a HST or loco hauled but I realise that has gone and won’t be coming back.

It's unfortunate that Sheffield is so obviously being overshadowed by Leeds in this way but it's also somewhat inevitable given the railway geography has left Leeds as a much more important hub. Not helped by the fact that the Midland Main Line became something of a Cinderella under BR and has remained somewhat unloved compared to Leeds' having a branch of the ECML.

 

[DiscoSteve]

Done Romiley to Sheffield on a 142 (as per avatar) a couple of times in the dim and distant poast - thats proper misery I'm afraid - though to my mind 150's are no better. The arrival of 195's has transformed our local service between Manchester and Sheffield

 

[Iskra]

Done Romiley to Sheffield on a 142 (as per avatar) a couple of times in the dim and distant poast - thats proper misery I'm afraid - though to my mind 150's are no better. The arrival of 195's has transformed our local service between Manchester and Sheffield

Absolutely, the service on the Hope Valley has been transformed and capacity has increased massively on all operators. Resilience should also improve due to investment on the Hope Valley. Dore station has been improved. Sheffield station has had a refresh. Sheffield is also getting a new service to Leeds. There are clear improvements in the rail offering from Sheffield.

Unfortunately, South Yorkshire would rather spend a lot of money on an airport nobody is going to use, than invest in rail seriously.