I've seen this done a few times on the points in town as well for units on Purple line services at the Cathedral. Not sure why it had to be done manually though!
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Sheffield/Rotherham Tram-Train update
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eastwestdivide
Established Member
Probably to make sure the drivers don't forget how to do it in an emergency, or to make sure the manual mechanism works in case of problems?
TC60054
Member
It's when the points fail. Nothing more.
Would you have preferred no service instead?
johnnychips
Established Member
^I wasn’t being sarcastic. Just delighted that sometimes we have to revert to the old technology.
https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/crim...-into-tram-train-at-sheffield-junction-489669
Seems a rather leniant 'sentence'? Is it restricted by some road traffic laws relating to red lights? (I wouldn't know as I don't drive!)
His response does seem rather flippant, but I'm rather more alarmed at the reaction of the staff to the incident, if the quote in the article from Tim Bilby, managing director of Stagecoach Supertram is to be believed:
Upset, or concerned for safety I could understand, but....? Well, the mind boggles.
Either there's a misquote, or MD needs to take some English lessons (lest he have an adverse effect on staff morale, by suggesting the their place of work is a den of iniquity).
thejuggler
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Despite being the city where I spent most of my childhood I left before the trams began and many decades later today was my first trip aboard one.
If Sheffield City Council want visitors to use them and reduce car trips to the centre:
Provide some signs off the M1 to the park and rides
Meadowhall Park and ride needs to be 10 times larger.
Centertainment Park and Ride isn't signposted until you are next to it.
No clue on which fare is payable from which stop. It makes out £3 return, but this is only from some stops, no idea which from the poster.
No discount for children unless you live in South Yorkshire
No way of buying tickets before boarding
Cash only. Its 2019!
I think it goes in the must try harder box.
If Sheffield City Council want visitors to use them and reduce car trips to the centre:
Provide some signs off the M1 to the park and rides
Meadowhall Park and ride needs to be 10 times larger.
Centertainment Park and Ride isn't signposted until you are next to it.
No clue on which fare is payable from which stop. It makes out £3 return, but this is only from some stops, no idea which from the poster.
No discount for children unless you live in South Yorkshire
No way of buying tickets before boarding
Cash only. Its 2019!
I think it goes in the must try harder box.
Harpers Tate
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Provide some signs off the M1 to the park and rides Agree
Meadowhall Park and ride needs to be 10 times larger. Agree - although it's not relevant to the Tram-Train which does not serve Meadowhall Interchange where the P&R is located. There is apparently a plan to make it a two-deck car park to increase capacity.
Centertainment Park and Ride isn't signposted until you are next to it. Agree
No clue on which fare is payable from which stop. It makes out £3 return, but this is only from some stops, no idea which from the poster. Agree. All network day pass £4.20. But, as tickets are sold by human conductors, the potential for customer error is reduced.
No discount for children unless you live in South Yorkshire Aged under 5 = free. Aged 5 - 10 = 80p no pass required. Aged 11 - 15 non-local = full fare
No way of buying tickets before boarding Who cares? Why do you feel you need this ability? Conductors are, and always have been, far more customer-friendly than machines. As a matter of aside, machines were, initially, the only way to buy tram tickets. It was seen, generally, as a positive move when this was changed. After all, one can discuss one's requirements with a human where you have doubt; you can't do that with a machine.
Cash only. Its 2019! Agree. Contactless/Card ticket purchase is coming soon to a conductor near you - once the machinery is sorted out.
Meadowhall Park and ride needs to be 10 times larger. Agree - although it's not relevant to the Tram-Train which does not serve Meadowhall Interchange where the P&R is located. There is apparently a plan to make it a two-deck car park to increase capacity.
Centertainment Park and Ride isn't signposted until you are next to it. Agree
No clue on which fare is payable from which stop. It makes out £3 return, but this is only from some stops, no idea which from the poster. Agree. All network day pass £4.20. But, as tickets are sold by human conductors, the potential for customer error is reduced.
No discount for children unless you live in South Yorkshire Aged under 5 = free. Aged 5 - 10 = 80p no pass required. Aged 11 - 15 non-local = full fare
No way of buying tickets before boarding Who cares? Why do you feel you need this ability? Conductors are, and always have been, far more customer-friendly than machines. As a matter of aside, machines were, initially, the only way to buy tram tickets. It was seen, generally, as a positive move when this was changed. After all, one can discuss one's requirements with a human where you have doubt; you can't do that with a machine.
Cash only. Its 2019! Agree. Contactless/Card ticket purchase is coming soon to a conductor near you - once the machinery is sorted out.
Meadowhall Interchange P&R is actually the rail station car park that is open to bus and tram users too. Spaces tend to get snaffled up by Leeds commuters early doors. SYPTE have been looking at further expansion for some years but it will need a lot of money and planning permission! (Note Meadowhall Interchange is on the Yellow route, not the Tram Train route - the junction is at Meadowhall South / Tinsley stop).
Centertainment is oversubscribed anyway, likewise Parkgate. Ikea P&R usually has some spaces available but not loads. Parking is now available near Rotherham Central station and there will soon be a deal introduced for tram-train passengers to make park & ride feasible. The "proper" Park & Ride sites at Halfway, Middlewood and Nunnery Square are fairly well signposted and have plenty of spaces.
The child concessionary fares are subsidised by the local authority for the benefit of local residents. There are child explorer passes and family tickets available to all.
The £3 return is described on posters as available for all journeys where the single fare is £1.80, which is advertised as for short journeys. Simple fare structure - £1.80/£3.00 for short journeys, £2.50/£4.20 for longer journeys. If you've used the journey planner on the Supertram website or the Stagecoach app it tells you what the fare is for your journey alongside the tram times.
Daily and weekly tickets can be purchased in advance via the Stagecoach bus app. Weekly and 28 day tickets are also sold online onto smart cards. Otherwise simply hop on and pay the conductor.
It is indeed still cash only on board, new ticket machines that can do card payment are coming soon (October latest estimate) once the technology and software is fully developed and working to satisfaction. This is a new system being developed by the manufacturer especially for Supertram as previously there wasn't a portable ticket machine on the market that could do both smart ticketing and card payment on the same device!
Huh, I've never noticed this anomaly before that under 16 (megatravel) and 16-18 cards are only available to local residents of South Yorkshire. But that the 18-21 card is available for anyone, regardless of where they live. Admintaly the discounts offered by the 18-21 pass are significantly less (15% off passes - and doesn't apply when bought onboard. No discount on singles) but still is a little strange, maybe the 18-21 card should be available for anyone under 21 (or is it in practice)?
Is it now the case that you always need a megatravel or 16-18 card for the 80p fare? It certainly used to be the case that it was only above a certain age (11/12?), and that anyone under that age qualified. Although I know that since I was that age they have now become smart cards to be scanned which they didn't used to be.
Is it now the case that you always need a megatravel or 16-18 card for the 80p fare? It certainly used to be the case that it was only above a certain age (11/12?), and that anyone under that age qualified. Although I know that since I was that age they have now become smart cards to be scanned which they didn't used to be.
Anyone of comprehensive school age needs the card, but they do recommend that anyone who could potentially be questioned, can apply for a Megatravel card free of charge to help themselves uf and when they do get questioned.
YorkshireBear
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A non local 11-15 having to pay full fare to me is very poor.
Agree about conductors though, very customer friendly way to run the system!
The child concessionary fare is subsidised by SYPTE who set the rules of the scheme. All under 11s get the child fare, 12-17 year olds must have a Travel South Yorkshire concessionary pass, to qualify for one you must be resident in South Yorkshire.
The 18-21 pass is not part of the concessionary fare scheme, it is offered by Travelmaster to anyone in that age group and is basically a discount/loyalty card for their products. Travelmaster tickets include all bus, tram and train operators in South Yorkshire. It may be that you don't have to be resident in South Yorkshire to apply for one, however Travelmaster tickets are only for travel within South Yorkshire so most holders will be local by default!
There are child daily and weekly tickets offered by operators commercially that aren't subsidised by the local authority and open to all under 16s. The cheapest on tram-train would be the Stagecoach South Yorkshire Plus ticket, valid on all Stagecoach buses and trams in South Yorkshire and Chesterfield - £3.50 for a child day ticket, £12 for a child weekly ticket. There are also family tickets for 2 adults and 3 children available to anyone - £9 tram only or £11.50 with Stagecoach buses included.
In other tram train news, a minor timetable change in December to accommodate other trains on the National Rail Network Mon-Sat:
2100 Sheffield Cathedral to Rotherham Parkgate retimed to 2107
2200 Sheffield Cathedral to Rotherham Parkgate retimed to 2214
2131 Rotherham Parkgate to Sheffield Cathedral retimed to 2146
2231 Rotherham Parkgate to Sheffield Cathedral retimed to 2251
2100 Sheffield Cathedral to Rotherham Parkgate retimed to 2107
2200 Sheffield Cathedral to Rotherham Parkgate retimed to 2214
2131 Rotherham Parkgate to Sheffield Cathedral retimed to 2146
2231 Rotherham Parkgate to Sheffield Cathedral retimed to 2251
paddington
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How reliable is the timetable in the early morning?
I had a 6am train from Sheffield station to catch and I attempted to get the 0538 service from Cathedral in order to connect with one of the few trams per day that goes on the "east chord" of Park Square from Cricket Inn Road to the rail station.
The next tram indicator said a tramtrain was due at 0538 but that time passed and nothing came, eventually I just walked along the tracks towards the station and didn't see any trams at all until I got past Park Square and then some yellow and blue ones were running.
Note that this happened in during the recent week that there were no engineering works so everything should have been operating normally.
I had a 6am train from Sheffield station to catch and I attempted to get the 0538 service from Cathedral in order to connect with one of the few trams per day that goes on the "east chord" of Park Square from Cricket Inn Road to the rail station.
The next tram indicator said a tramtrain was due at 0538 but that time passed and nothing came, eventually I just walked along the tracks towards the station and didn't see any trams at all until I got past Park Square and then some yellow and blue ones were running.
Note that this happened in during the recent week that there were no engineering works so everything should have been operating normally.
Tram Train route hasn't been affected by engineering work anyway.
It is generally reliable, however if there is a shortfall in either fleet or driver availability or problems with Network Rail systems the service can be cut to half hourly with the xx38 cancelled, therefore that one is less reliable than the xx00 and xx27. If that happens it will normally be advised via Twitter @SCSupertram
You can check whether the tram train turned up in Rotherham on the real time trains website.
It is generally reliable, however if there is a shortfall in either fleet or driver availability or problems with Network Rail systems the service can be cut to half hourly with the xx38 cancelled, therefore that one is less reliable than the xx00 and xx27. If that happens it will normally be advised via Twitter @SCSupertram
You can check whether the tram train turned up in Rotherham on the real time trains website.
eastwestdivide
Established Member
It appears to have turned up 1 min late at Parkgate according to:
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C09255/2019/08/23/advanced
Could it have started short from the depot? The system never records actual times on the Supertram network, only on Network Rail.
That is a possibility, if late off depot it may have started from Woodbourn Road, it is normal form to announce it on Twitter when they do that
tbtc
Veteran Member
It seems regrettable, especially when pensioners from all over the country receive free travel on the tram/tram-train (which isn't the case on other light rail networks, as I understand it)
Presumably part of the reason is that you are required to show ID to prove you are under sixteen, which people from outside SY wouldn't necessarily be able to provide? (whereas pensioners all have National passes)
The screens at stops were non "real-time" when they started - I don't know if they ever were upgraded to provide real time information - they can certainly be updated with "emergency" information etc but I don't know if the info is current/reliable on them or not?
The concessionary fares scheme for young people is a locally funded scheme. Child fare applies to under 11s, for 12-17 it is a pass holders fare as opposed to a child fare - the local authority has chosen to subsidise travel costs to local young people they issued a pass to.
The English National Conncessionary travel scheme (ENCTS) for Senior and disabled is a national scheme funded by the government, again passholders only.
The passenger information displays are part of the "Your Next Bus" system, if the screen shows a tram in number of minutes away it is tracking in real time, if a scheduled time is displayed then it isn't.
How Halfway got it's name is subject to local speculation.. possibly Chesterfield.
I couldn't find a master thread for Supertram so. I thought I'd post this interesting article here - quoted below:
https://www.stagecoachbus.com/news/yorkshire/2019/august/st-new-ticket-machine-pilot
https://www.stagecoachbus.com/news/yorkshire/2019/august/st-new-ticket-machine-pilot
We are now in the final stages of developing a new ticket machine for our conductors.
This new machine will be able to accept card and contactless payments on board the tram.
As part of this development, a pilot of the new machine will take place from Wednesday 04 September 2019.
During the pilot, a small number of conductors will be able to accept card payments, although the majority of conductors will still be using the current machine and will still only be able to take cash.
The conductors with the new machines will be easily identifiable by their pink Hi-Vis vests.
Please look out for more information on when we will switch over to the new machines.
This new machine will be able to accept card and contactless payments on board the tram.
As part of this development, a pilot of the new machine will take place from Wednesday 04 September 2019.
During the pilot, a small number of conductors will be able to accept card payments, although the majority of conductors will still be using the current machine and will still only be able to take cash.
The conductors with the new machines will be easily identifiable by their pink Hi-Vis vests.
Please look out for more information on when we will switch over to the new machines.
eastwestdivide
Established Member
Credit where it's due yesterday - a broken down train on the heavy rail network near Sheffield yesterday was causing endless chaos and cancellations, so rail tickets were accepted on tram and tram-train between Sheffield-Meadowhall-Rotherham.
As a frequent user of Rotherham station, I'd find it very handy if tickets were inter-available all the time.
As a frequent user of Rotherham station, I'd find it very handy if tickets were inter-available all the time.
There is an arrangement in place between Northern and Supertram to request ticket acceptance at times of disruption - there have been times recently when tram services have been suspended due to signalling issues or breakdowns and Northern have accepted tram tickets whilst as the example here when the Northern Turbostar failed between Sheffield and Meadowhall blocking the main line for several hours Supertram accepted train tickets. Supertram also have the same arrangement with Stagecoach bus whilst a a slightly different arrangement is also in place with First bus.
Ticket interavailability on a regular basis is a tricky one to implement as National Rail and Supertram are two different systems with different ticketing structures and different retail systems. This is something that could change if Transport for the North manage to implement pay as you go smart ticketing.
Locally the Travelmaster and Railmaster range of daily, weekly and 4 weekly passes offer an option of combining Supertram with trains and buses in South Yorkshire.
Incidentally a price comparison between tram and train for Rotherham Central-Sheffield for those interested
SINGLE JOURNEY:
train - anytime day single 3.40
tram - longer journey single 2.50
RETURN JOURNEY:
train - anytime day return 4.40
train - off peak day return 3.70
tram - tram only Dayrider 4.20 (this offers unlimited travel on the whole tram network)
WEEKLY PASS:
train - 7 day season 14.10
tram - tram only Megarider 14.00 (this offers unlimited travel on the whole tram network)
MULTI MODAL TRAVEL PASSES BY TRAVELMASTER:
South Yorkshire Connect - unlimited bus and tram travel in South Yorkshire with any operator
day 6.80 / week 23.50
South Yorkshire Connect Plus - unlimited bus, local train and tram travel in South Yorkshire with any operator
day 8.50 / week 29.70
www.sytravelmaster.com
Indeed, this will just be a few machines out on the system as part of the final phase of user acceptance testing. The full roll out is expected in October. The new machines can indeed do conctactless and chip & pin card payments in addition to loading/reading tickets on smart cards, they are also capable of printing and scanning paper tickets with QR codes although that function won't be used initially. It is expected the Stagecoach app will start generating QR codes on m-tickets in a future update, the new ticket machines will be able to scan them. It is also expected that the paper version of the tram only Megarider will no longer be available and all on board sales of weekly tickets will be loaded onto smart cards (that is already the case with Travelmaster products).
Running Pete
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The new ticket machines were being trialled today, they were accepting contactless payments but were unable to scan the loaded smart cards.
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