Sheffield to Rotherham fares

With the recent inauguration of tram-train services to Rotherham Central and Parkgate, I decided to have a look at what the ticket options for this jounrey (which I plan to make myself) actually are now.

I note that the Tram Only Dayrider, which was not going to be valid now actually is valid, but confusingly only for an introductory period. By contrast the Sheffield Tram & Bus Dayrider, which was the same ticket but with more validity is now not valid to Parkgate. Plusbus continues to be valid throughout on trams and buses but not on any trains.

For a return journey on whichever mode turns up first to or from Rotherham Central, there is no ticket that costs less than two singles if the journey is mixed mode. As far as I can tell, no multimodal single or return tickets are available at all. Please, I am desperately hoping for somebody to correct me on here because this is bananas, but this page suggests it's true.

A daily ticket for all modes continues to be available at a huge premium of £8.20, against the return by train from Sheffield to Rotherham at £3.20.

When I travel I will probably buy a train ticket to Sheffield and a Plusbus, which just removes this question totally. If this is the reality this seems horrendously complicated and yet also ridiculously inflexible. If this is the best we can do then I absoultely despair.

Starmill said:

With the recent inauguration of tram-train services to Rotherham Central and Parkgate, I decided to have a look at what the ticket options for this jounrey (which I plan to make myself) actually are now.

I note that the Tram Only Dayrider, which was not going to be valid now actually is valid, but confusingly only for an introductory period. By contrast the Sheffield Tram & Bus Dayrider, which was the same ticket but with more validity is now not valid to Parkgate. Plusbus continues to be valid throughout on trams and buses but not on any trains.

For a return journey on whichever mode turns up first to or from Rotherham Central, there is no ticket that costs less than two singles if the journey is mixed mode. As far as I can tell, no multimodal single or return tickets are available at all. Please, I am desperately hoping for somebody to correct me on here because this is bananas, but this page suggests it's true.

A daily ticket for all modes continues to be available at a huge premium of £8.20, against the return by train from Sheffield to Rotherham at £3.20.

When I travel I will probably buy a train ticket to Sheffield and a Plusbus, which just removes this question totally. If this is the reality this seems horrendously complicated and yet also ridiculously inflexible. If this is the best we can do then I absoultely despair.

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The £8.20 ticket you mention South Yorkshire Connect Plus (formally SY One Day Travelmaster) is valid throughout South Yorkshire by bus, train, tram-train and covers from Dore to Thorne North or South, Derby Dale,, Darton and Moorthorpe, and thus offers good value for money.

brompton rail said:

thus offers good value for money.

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It does yeah. But definitely not for a return journey from Rotherham to Sheffield.

Is it possible to buy a Plusbus for Rotherham if you are only getting a rail return ticket from Sheffield? The Rotherham Plusbus Ticket covers the whole of South Yorkshire and is the same as a Sheffield, Doncaster or Barnsley Plusbus. I don’t think you can get it unless you are travelling into South Yorkshire from a station outside the area. Lots of the large areas like West Yorkshire, West Midlands and Greater Manchester are like this.

ChrisC said:

Is it possible to buy a Plusbus for Rotherham if you are only getting a rail return ticket from Sheffield?

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No, I don't think so.

Hopefully both Northern & Stagecoach will eventually see some sense and introduce some sort of ticket interavailability so a ticket from Sheffield/Meadowhall to Rotherham (Only) on the train is valid on the tram from Sheffield Station & the yellow route to Cathedral & Meadowhall to Rotherham.

Although I guess it will be a nightmare in the back-end system for splitting the revenues up.

There are big yellow notices on the tram platforms at Rotherham saying train tickets are not valid, then giving the various multiple-ticket options.

Starmill said:

No, I don't think so.

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Sorry, I misread your original post. I hadn’t noticed that you were travelling to Sheffield by train before making the journey to Rotherham.

ChrisC said:

Is it possible to buy a Plusbus for Rotherham if you are only getting a rail return ticket from Sheffield?

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Some websites will sell Plusbus in conjunction with an in-boundary rail ticket.

Since its inception, trams have operated from places in and beyond Sheffield City Centre to an interchnage station at Meadowhall, where the tram station is adjacent to the train station. There has been no routine inter-availability of single and return tickets. One might wish to wait at Meadowhall and catch whatever comes first headed for the city, but one would need a premium priced multi-mode ticket (or pay as you go singles).

Now we have trams operating between Sheffield City Centre and Rotherham (and beyond). At Rotherham, the tram station is adjacent to the train station. So, nothing "new" there then.
The ONLY things that are new about this are
- the tram happens to utilise and share railway tracks to get where it's going. Would suggestions like this have been less likely to arise were that not the case - i.e. if a wholly separate route and track had been built but serving the same places? In what way are these two things materially different from a ticketing perspective?
- user access to the tram platforms at Rotherham happens to be via the train platform, station and (where necessary) footbridge. Would suggestions like these have been less likely had a separate track, station and platform with discrete access been constructed alongside the train station? In what way are these two things materially different from a ticketing perspective?

The point is - there is nothing fundamentally "new" (again, solely from a ticketing perspective) here. The only material difference in fact is in the geographical zones involved. The legacy tram system was wholly contained within the Sheffield travel zone; the new extension is more or less all in Rotherham. And that by definition has a potential impact on zonal tickets. And that is all.

Harpers Tate said:

Since its inception, trams have operated from places in and beyond Sheffield City Centre to an interchnage station at Meadowhall, where the tram station is adjacent to the train station. There has been no routine inter-availability of single and return tickets.

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While this is poor, it doesn't really have much of a negative impact. There are abundant trains, with relatively few long gaps, and the tram takes up to 4 times as long as the train does anyway.

From Rotherham, there are far fewer trains and by definition there are long gaps. The journey times are slightly more similar.

Harpers Tate said:

The point is - there is nothing fundamentally "new" (again, solely from a ticketing perspective) here. The only material difference in fact is in the geographical zones involved.

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Millions of pounds of public money has gone into this project, for a relatively minor reason extension and a small increase in service. The return on that investment both in terms of fares revenue and wider economic benefits depends on people using public transport more and their cars less. The current service does not present an attractive option for daily tickets, which from Meadowhall the frequency is high enough that both modes individually are attractive options. These services have been designed by definition to complement each other by filling in gaps, which isn't what happens at Meadowhall. It's a very typical UK thing to spend a huge amount of money on infrastructure and rolling stock, but then to completely fail to provide one ticket that most people can use. Whichever return ticket one buys, one faces the prospect of either sitting and waiting up to half an hour and letting trains go, or having to pay again. That's just not acceptable to most people. For season ticket holders the picture is at least somewhat better.

I don't disagree. Public Transport (all of it) should be fully integrated and offer itself as a single coherent alternative to driving for an end-to-end journey. Bus to train to bus to tram - all on one inclusive and realisitically priced fare. Only then can it even begin to compete with the simplicity of getting into a car and driving. But the point is - it isn't, it doesn't, here and elsewhere (for the most part) and quite probably never will. Which brings us back to the case in point.......which doesn't differ materially from anything we already have, here and elsewhere. Even the Train Companies don't integrate with each other properly in many places.......

The same kind of argument applies in Nottingham though there the differential is a bit less steep - Hucknall to Nottingham, £2.60 single/ £3.60 or £3.80 day return on the train, £2.20 single/£4 return on tram (cheaper if you use a smart card), £5 for a day ticket that covers both.