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Manchester to Sheffield commute

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purpletrain

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I'm going to start commuting from Manchester to Sheffield in a few months and wondered if anyone could tell me what the journey is like? I'd probably get the 07.20 from Manchester, returning on the 18.11. Do these trains tend to be busy, or would I usually get a seat?

Any thoughts/comments much appreciated!

Thanks
 
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Bellwater

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I'm going to start commuting from Manchester to Sheffield in a few months and wondered if anyone could tell me what the journey is like? I'd probably get the 07.20 from Manchester, returning on the 18.11. Do these trains tend to be busy, or would I usually get a seat?

Any thoughts/comments much appreciated!

Thanks

The 1811 only gets really busy on Friday afternoons, not sure about the 0720.
 

142094

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The 07.20 comes from Manchester Airport, and therefore there is always the potential to have holiday-makers coming back from abroad. The 18.11 starts at Cleethorpes and again goes to Manchester Airport, so the same as above applies.

TPE South services are normally 185s, so 3-car trains. I wouldn't have thought you'd have a problem getting a seat, as you should be going against the main commuter flow (into Manchester in the morning and back out at night).
 

Max

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From experience, whenever I've caught the 0811 from Sheffield towards Cleethorpes (formed from the 0720) it's been pretty busy, especially with airport passengers, but not overwhelmingly so. It's worth bearing in mind that some of the East Midlands Trains services have now been strengthened to 4 cars with significant extra capacity, which may be better if you'd like a quieter journey. I'm not sure of the exact diagrams though.
 

telstarbox

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Welcome to the forum Purpletrain.

If you reckon you can generally rely on getting these specific trains every day, consider buying advance tickets each day. These tickets include seat reservations so you would be guaranteed a seat every day too. Even if you miss the booked train one day a week (staying at work later than planned etc) and have to buy a day ticket, it's still cheaper than a weekly or season ticket. It also means you don't need to pay for the train on days off and holidays.

TPE trains between MAN and SHF are busy but if you want a seat, there are few seats in Coach C between First Class and the driver's cab which tend to remain available as people think this area is First Class!

Also do you have a 16-25 Railcard? If so you can get 50% off advance tickets via www.tpexpress.co.uk only as opposed to the usual 34%.

I used to do this commute daily for a year in the opposite direction so send me a PM if you want further advice :D
 
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Failed Unit

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From experience, whenever I've caught the 0811 from Sheffield towards Cleethorpes (formed from the 0720) it's been pretty busy, especially with airport passengers, but not overwhelmingly so. It's worth bearing in mind that some of the East Midlands Trains services have now been strengthened to 4 cars with significant extra capacity, which may be better if you'd like a quieter journey. I'm not sure of the exact diagrams though.

I think all services daigrammed to go through Manchester between 0730 and 0930 are 4 car with EMT.
 

scrapy

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I'm going to start commuting from Manchester to Sheffield in a few months and wondered if anyone could tell me what the journey is like? I'd probably get the 07.20 from Manchester, returning on the 18.11. Do these trains tend to be busy, or would I usually get a seat?

Any thoughts/comments much appreciated!

Thanks

I used the 07.20 last week and seats around 3/4 full leaving Manchester. Almost all seats taken leaving Stockport, but no need for anyone to stand. Was busier after leaving Sheffield.
 

purpletrain

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Thank you everyone for your comments, you have reassured that the journey won't be too bad! I don't mind the journey time at all, but wasn't keen on the idea of standing up all that time each day!

Telstar, thanks for the suggestions about advance tickets. Unfortunately I have to work late quite often with my job so would need the flexibility of a season ticket. Pretty expensive but easy and convenient.

Cheers
 

ALEMASTER

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The 07:20 ex Man is one I used to commute on from Dore into Sheffield (08:03 at Dore) and most of the time all the Manchester passengers had seats, only problems were certain days in the summer with airport passengers asleep across multiple seats and luggage taking up tables!
 

telstarbox

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Indeed - the commuters know the score about waiting for people to get off before getting on and so forth, but the once a year airport passengers are a nightmare!
 

lgreen666

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The 18:11 Sheffield to Manchester Piccadilly/Airport (the train which comes from Cleethorpes) used to be 3 carriages like most of the other TPE Sheffield<>Manchester trains but changed to being 2 carriages a few years back - this turned it from a quite busy commuter train where everyone would have a seat to a very busy service... I changed my working hours to avoid this train but on the odd occasion when I have had to use it (and I don't mean on Friday) all seats were taken with people standing in the door section.

When I have used the 7:20 Piccadilly to Sheffield it has been quite busy but with seats available (though often this involves telling a "businessman" that his ticket doesn't entitle him to both seats or telling an airport passenger that it isn't my fault that they can't find somewhere for their luggage).

I am not sure why but the TPE Manchester to Sheffield/Sheffield to Manchester service has a higher proportion of rude travellers than any other service I use - I commute from Manchester to Leicester which allows travel on a large number of different routes - and there really is nothing like this service of real so and so.'s...
 

David

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The 1811 from Sheffield to Manchester is a class 170 IIRC, so you need to be the first person on the train at Sheffield to ensure you get a seat.
 
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