Parkgate also has a small park-and-ride car park for anyone commuting into Sheffield.
What was patronage like on the Tram-Train only section of the route prior to lockdown?
The issue is, HS2 tried to employ this technique from the get go, with a price premium for getting the contractors to shoulder the risk vs the government.
Based purely on the trips which I have seen, there are a good few people using the Tram Train. Probably around 7-10 each way to Parkgate with another 5-10 or so each way from the main tram network to Rotherham Central.
Crikey, I hope they carry more than that on the occasions you’ve not seen them, otherwise an extremely expensive white elephant!
I only saw it off peak so peak times may be higher
There are a lot of reasons not to use the tram though and to instead use the buses. I think that was underestimated. Also the costs kept building with the delays because it was a brand new project for the UK. Any future projects might be slightly better.
Seems strange for a modern metro type service serving large population centres that mid evening frequency of the TranTrain is only every 30 minutes and the last tram train departs Sheffield City Centre at 2244 and 2030 on Sundays.
Not sure if you've noticed, but there is currently a global virus pandemic going on and people are told to stay at home and not travel unless they really need to (and even then to avoid public transport if possible). Hence the low passenger numbers!
Makes it all the more surprising then to spend £75m on it!
Hopefully the more useful planned evening service you mention will improve patronage. At least a 2330 last tram train will mean you can visit the Crucible, City Hall, SUFC evening matches and the Moor Cinema without fretting about missing the last tram home.
Combine that with a non standard frequency (presumably to fit in with the national rail services) and the fact it's not that much quicker than the train. The timetables and fares are difficult to find compared to other tram networks because it is all contained in the main Stagecoach site rather than having a separate site.
Changing trams is easy, doesn't mean people want to do it! Direct journeys are always better than changing. Traffic can occur anywhere and while it might not be ideal, you have to weigh out the benefits.
They are across the road but but it's still extra walking. Especially if you are changing between buses. The proper interchange isn't there.
Supertram is too intigrated in my opinion. It should be on a separate website with only the basic journey planning stuff included on the Stagecoach site. The only way to view any useful information is by setting your location on the website (not useful). To view fares you have to use 'plan your journey', Timetables can only be seen trip by trip, not one combined timetable.
Tell me where there it says how much it costs for my journey between any two stations. It doesn't. It says the 3 fare bands but how will anyone know which fare band their journey is in? Day and period tickets as well as multi modal are all there but not for people wanting to make an occasional journey.
Traffic doesn't usually occur on railways or on off-street tramways! From Cathedral to Meadowhall and Parkgate is 100% segregated from other traffic other than a few signaled road crossings (with tram priority) at the Sheffield end. Beyond Cathedral much of the route to Middlewood is in lanes shared with other traffic, often close enough to the kerb for a single illegally parked car to stop any tram from passing. The irregular timetable of the tram-train shows how important it is for it to hit its slots to the minute when it gets to the railway section, otherwise it is delaying or being delayed by trains that are making much longer journeys including single line sections.
Totally agree, the frequency, timetable, ticketing and marketing information is not a patch on the Nottingham System, mind you the bus network in Sheffield is not a patch on Nottingham either!
Granted, traffic isn't normally on the railways but it does happen between Meadowhall and Rotherham and a slight delay then delays the tram network so it works both ways. We don't stop trains coming from Doncaster though do we because that can be a congestion hotspot (of a different kind).
I suppose the way the trams run is due to decisions made a good few years ago, building new branches isn't easy but I do agree it should be done to serve some of the other big areas.
On a tramway the line-of-sight operation means that trams can run only a few seconds apart like road vehicles, so it's much less critical if one is a bit late. On a railway there's a path available every three minutes or whatever, and if missed by more than a few seconds then it impacts on another train.
I appreciate that but in the same point, the trains delay the trams so they both affect each other. Presumably in part due to the single track between Rotherham and Meadowhall holding things up. They will both always affect each other. I have sat on the tram a few times outside Rotherham Central waiting for trains to pass both ways on/off the line towards Meadowhall.
And that would happen far more often if the tram-train came through from Middlewood.
I don't think it would really. The trams seem to run to time when I have used them. A good balance of padding and running time. Also, I have never suggested running to Middlewood. I have suggested Hillsborough and the Uni as potential termini.
The tram section is very short and has no running with general traffic, although I think it does cross a road or two, presumably on signaled junctions with tram priority. Even though there are no long-distance services, the junctions at Queen Street will need precision timing and traffic delays would hit this hard.
It is now. It probably wouldn't be if the trams were subject to traffic delays.