South Yorkshire Day Tripper?

[crispy1978]

There's a possibility I could be at a loose end one weekend soon where I can go on a day rail-trip. I've got friends in Barnsley and looking at a South Yorkshire Day Tripper. Is there enough to keep me occupied for a day on the stations in South Yorkshire, or am I likely to need to look further afield in to West Yorkshire and combine the two?

Are there any restrictions I need to be aware of as well?

PS - wasn't really sure which forum this fit in to - but it is ticket advice primarily!

 

[Crossover]

I've not done the SY one on its own so can't help on how much you can do. The only thing that struck me is it's rather 'hub and spoke'

 

[tbtc]

Is there enough to keep me occupied for a day on the stations in South Yorkshire

Doncaster is probably your best bet for variety - you've got Northern/ Transpennine/ East Coast/ EMT/ Hull Trains/ Grand Central... plus freight (since there's no "avoiding line" like at York).

Depends whether you are looking for pictures or scenery or variety I suppose.

 

[Max]

Depends whether you are looking for pictures or scenery or variety I suppose.

Indeed, really depends what you're looking for! A Day Tripper has quite a lot of potential really. You could go for a ride on the trams in Sheffield, it's easily possible to do the whole network at a leisurely pace in 2-3 hours. Take a ride to Dore & Totley for some good views of fast trains on the MML. If the weather is nice, you could take a walk to lovely Millhouses Park which borders the line, and take a bus back to the city centre for some variety.

For some nice scenery, you could take a ride up the Barnsley-Huddersfield line and combine with a point-to-point ticket (very cheap fares on this line).

For variety of different trains, Doncaster is probably the best!

 

[tbtc]

You could go for a ride on the trams in Sheffield, it's easily possible to do the whole network at a leisurely pace in 2-3 hours

The bad news is that there's rail replacement work on the line beyond Sheffield Station (i.e. towards Halfway). The good news is that anyone wanting to "tick off" the crossover at Sheffield Station now has their chance (Malin Bridge services are currently leaving from the "to Halfway" platform and crossing over).

There's a good bit of variety on the tram. If you come from Meadowhall (as the OP is from Scarborough) you've got the fast section through the Don Valley to Attercliffe, the elevated section from Hyde Park down to Park Square, the tunnel after the University stop and then the hill down to Shalesmoor - plenty of variety in under half an hour. Worth doing the hill back up from Shalesmoor to the University to appreciate the power that the trams have - http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebus...JEYMY-JEYu9-JF1zK-JF1Bv-JF1rn-JF1wv/lightbox/.

Elsewhere in SY, there's an old railway tunnel that you can walk/ run/ cycle through at Thurgoland on the TransPennine trail - http://www.flickr.com/photos/45777493@N06/6526092799/ - if you like your railway history. You can walk the Woodhead line from Dunford Bridge as far as Deepcar (where the line into Sheffield is still a single track freight line).

For a good photo viewpoint in Sheffield I'd recommend the bridge over the old Brightside Station (five minutes walk from Meadowhall) - you get a good view towards Sheffield City Centre in one direction or you have the junction/platforms at Meadowhall in the other direction (as well as the abandoned platforms at the old Brightside).

There's a half hourly Stagecoach X19 from Barnsley to Doncaster if you don't want to have to go via Sheffield/Meadowhall (due to the lack to Barnsley - Doncaster train).

 

[34D]

(since there's no "avoiding line" like at York).

There is an avoider that allows Worksop-Brancliffe-Thorne freight to avoid the station, and another that allows Mexborough-Thorpe to do likewise.

I've travelled over both on a charter.

 

[crispy1978]

Cheers guys

Probably just looking to travel on a few different trains, different classes, leisurely pace, etc.

Not sure about trams unless its to aid getting to different stations.

Just killing time really, better than staying in doing nothing!

 

[Harpers Tate]

Train validity for a DayTripper is:
- any train by any operator that stops at at least two stations within South Yorkshire, which includes Denby Dale, Darton, South Elmsall and Moorthorpe as boundary stops with West Yorkshire (all four are "in" both counties for validity purposes). That therefore includes X-Country Sheffield <> Doncaster, but excludes all East Coast, Grand Central, and X-Country via Wakefield and almost all East Midlands
- scheduled departure after 0930 weekdays; any time weekends and holidays.

Also all Supertram and any bus within the county, plus (just) into Derbyshire at Killamarsh.