New: Stagecoach Sheffield - DSA Airport

[jamesontheroad]

Yorkshire Traction Ltd. (T/A Stagecoach Sheffield) have applied to launch a new limited stop service from Sheffield to Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA).

Details here, page 18, expected to start 2/9/2017.

THE YORKSHIRE TRACTION CO LTD, UNIT 4, ELDON ARCADE,
BARNSLEY, S70 2JP
From: Sheffield
To: Robin Hood Airport
Via:
Name or No.: 737 / 737
Service type: Limited Stop
Effective date: 02 September 2017
Other details: New registration

 

[ECML180]

Exciting! It will be interesting to see if they add a stop at (e.g.) the Park & Ride at Parrots Corner for connecting passengers. That would probably stimulate a reasonable amount of local demand towards Sheffield.

Likewise how limited the stops are too, I wonder if they're going direct via the motorway or with some other calls.

 

[AWK]

Exciting! It will be interesting to see if they add a stop at (e.g.) the Park & Ride at Parrots Corner for connecting passengers. That would probably stimulate a reasonable amount of local demand towards Sheffield.

Likewise how limited the stops are too, I wonder if they're going direct via the motorway or with some other calls.

Understand its only a few journeys per day to connect with flights, not a regular service.

From Sheffield via the Parkway, follows the A631 through Whiston and Wickersley making a few stops, then direct via M18 and Great Yorkshire Way direct to DSA.

Rawmarsh depot are to run it with standard single decks

AWK

 

[J-2739]

Wonder what buses they will use?

 

[WestCoast]

I'm booked on a few flights out of DSA in October, wonder if this will be quicker than via Doncaster if coming from Manchester.

 

[atc2]

I'm booked on a few flights out of DSA in October, wonder if this will be quicker than via Doncaster if coming from Manchester.

Hi all new poster here. This topic interests me as I visit Sheffield from Europe regularly and try to use DSA when possible. I bet a few Sheffield expats visiting home would use it.

As per the question I doubt it if your train from Manchester is going through to Donny. I reckon the bus will take about 45 mins depending on stops, and the service won't be as regular as the bus from Donny Interchange. I imagine Bawtry Rd can get busy - is it dual carriageway all the way?

 

[AndyW33]

As per the question I doubt it if your train from Manchester is going through to Donny.

Welcome to the forum.

The standard off peak train timetable from Manchester to Sheffield has one TransPennine Express train an hour which continues to Doncaster and Cleethorpes, and one East Midlands Trains service an hour which continues to Nottingham and Norwich, not via Doncaster. Every two hours there's a Northern stopping service as far as Sheffield only, which is caught up by the TPE train that leaves 30 minutes later, so nobody is likely to use it for the through journey.
Apart from the TPE service, there are 4 other trains an hour between Sheffield and Doncaster. If the new Stagecoach airport bus is conveniently timed to connect out of the (Stagecoach) EMT train at Sheffield, it would avoid a further change in Sheffield railway station. But since it can take an unreasonable amount of time to get from the railway station to the bus station in Sheffield (for two places in sight of each other) because of the road crossings, people might actually prefer a rail connection and the bus from Donny.

 

[ECML180]

I imagine Bawtry Rd can get busy - is it dual carriageway all the way?

Assuming you mean the A638 into Doncaster and not any of the other Bawtry Roads nearby...

Since the A6182 Great Yorkshire Way opened Bawtry Road has been a lot quieter and traffic during the morning peak is relatively minor. I can't answer for the Great North Road as I don't normally go that way in the peak but the A638 to A638 route at the junction with the new A6182 is busy even off peak, likewise it is busy away from Doncaster in the evening peak. Bawtry Road is mostly single carriageway, but the main hold up area has a bus lane anyway.

Doncaster is pretty good for traffic on the whole, and I can't see any real holdups for the airport buses, particularly as the X4 runs via the A6182 which is pretty traffic free - except for leaving the M18 which the new 737 might struggle with at times.

 

[atc2]

Assuming you mean the A638 into Doncaster and not any of the other Bawtry Roads nearby...

Since the A6182 Great Yorkshire Way opened Bawtry Road has been a lot quieter and traffic during the morning peak is relatively minor. I can't answer for the Great North Road as I don't normally go that way in the peak but the A638 to A638 route at the junction with the new A6182 is busy even off peak, likewise it is busy away from Doncaster in the evening peak. Bawtry Road is mostly single carriageway, but the main hold up area has a bus lane anyway.

Doncaster is pretty good for traffic on the whole, and I can't see any real holdups for the airport buses, particularly as the X4 runs via the A6182 which is pretty traffic free - except for leaving the M18 which the new 737 might struggle with at times.

Presuming the bus route is the A631 that runs from the end of the Sheffield Parkway to the M18 at Wickersley

 

[ECML180]

Presuming the bus route is the A631 that runs from the end of the Sheffield Parkway to the M18 at Wickersley

I knew I'd pick the wrong one, I couldn't work out if you were looking directly at the new route or comparing it to catching the bus from Doncaster station!

Again, a while since I've been there in the peak but I don't think it's too bad. I think it's busier up towards Tinsley and crossing Junction 33 compared to the actual bit of the A631 it will run on.

Of course, it all depends on at what times it is actually going to run.

 

[atc2]

I knew I'd pick the wrong one, I couldn't work out if you were looking directly at the new route or comparing it to catching the bus from Doncaster station!

Again, a while since I've been there in the peak but I don't think it's too bad. I think it's busier up towards Tinsley and crossing Junction 33 compared to the actual bit of the A631 it will run on.

Of course, it all depends on at what times it is actually going to run.

Cheers, presumably they will do a few trial runs before deciding on a schedule. The M1 / M18 route can be done in 25 mins, so I'd guess 45 max using the A-road for a stretch.

Could be reading it wrong but the application suggests that just a single bus will be plying the route. If that's the case, frequency won't be better than every 90 mins - possible every 2 hrs to allow for loading / unloading

 

[johnnychips]

This will be difficult to tell until the service times from Sheffield are announced. However, if you got a TPE train direct from Manchester to Doncaster it would arrive at Sheffield at about ten past the hour, then at Donny about twenty-to. The next X4 from Donny to the airport would be at about five-to the hour until about 1600, then five-past after that and it would take 23 minutes, and I think this would be achievable apart from about 1600-1800.

In other words, it's hard to decide until the Stagecoach details come out.

 

[atc2]

Details here.

http://flydsa.co.uk/latest-news/next-stop-the-airport-as-new-bus-route-launches-from-sheffield

 

[Bwsbro]

Buses to/from Sheffield: Service 737 departs 8 times day from the Sheffield Interchange, and 7 times a day from the airport, taking approximately 45 minutes. This service is particularly useful for early morning and evening Wizz Air and Flybe passengers.

Departures from Sheffield - 0445, 0545, 1630, 1725, 1830, 1930, 2050, 2150
Departures from the airport: 0850, 1725, 1825, 2000, 2100, 2145, 2245
Note - Service 737 commences 3rd September 2017.

 

[atc2]

The fare of £6.30 (with an unlimited tram and bus pass) sounds excellent value given that a taxi from Sheffield is 40 quid and is just 20 mins quicker. Although the distance is longer, the time still compares favorably with other airport buses. I spent the best part of an hour recently on the bus from Bristol Airport to the city centre.

I bet it will take a good while before many people start using it though. I expect passenger numbers to be low for the first six months at least.

 

[atc2]

Posted on a different forum, thought I'd share:

Took a quick ride on the airport bus yesterday. Going out AT 4.30pm I was the only one on it except another bus driver that got off at Wickersley. Coming back at 5.30pm I was the only one on it except for one other lad. Unsurprising really - as I mentioned it really doesn't offer good connections for many flights, either leaving you with a long wait or a fine cut.

The bus is a small single decker, the type that plies the streets of Sheffield, with only around 30 seats and plenty of luggage space. The stand it uses, D5, is right by the walkway to the train station. There's no special sign at the bus station, it just has a number and a timetable like any other.

Coming out took the best part of an hour as we were stuck in the Parkway traffic. Coming back was quicker. The Bawtry Rd route has a few sets of lights and roundabouts but also some fast stretches. Coming into the airport, you can see the earthworks for the link rd phase 2, both at the airport side and the Parrots Corner side. There was also a bit of a tailback on the B-road approaching the airport, which phase 2 of the link road will allow you to avoid. It could knock 5 mins off the journey at busy times.

I do hope the bus is a success, but remain baffled by the timings. Its also cheap - 6.30 for a return, which can also be used on the buses and trams in Sheffield (though not First buses I discovered later).

I'd say it took maybe 55 mins to get out there and 40-45 to get back. On the route back we were early getting to the first stop on Bawtry Rd, so sat at the bus stop for a few minutes. Hopefully its use will increase in the future and the timings will be adjusted so it is more useful to flight passengers.

EDIT Better add that as a means of getting to Sheffield from DSA this can't be faulted. Timewise its comparable to the LBA bus to Leeds (42 mins officially, but often longer) and you are not far on the M18 before you hit the urban area, ie the outer Rotherham suburbs. You are on motorway or dual carriageway pretty much all the way. I rarely enter the city via the Parkway so it was interesting to put myself in a visitor's shoes.

Passengers are dropped on the stand by Pond St and there's little info for visitors from what I could see. None of info touch-screens were working either. The entire bus station could do with some investment. I can see East Europeans busting for a **** at Pond St, but the only toilets are of the pay variety and are very basic, and you can't use them if you don't have a 20p piece . The luggage lockers are permanently closed.

The bus could do with some individual branding too. Give it a lick of paint, call it the Steel City Express Link and give Wizz and co a cut on any tickets they can flog. Have it signposted at the station. Oh and revise the timetable
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