Like Liverpool and Blackpool, I visited
Sheffield on a day trip from Manchester during my stay there in early July 2015. On Monday, 6th, I met up with a good friend
there and together we wanted to explore the system, altough for me
there was actually nothing new to see since my visit in 2005, except
for the new livery introduced shortly after that visit.
Supertram at Cathedral - with their red front, the trams still look colourful on rainy days!
Unfortunately, the weather was not too
good, so I only managed to get a few good shots for my "Tram
Atlas Britain & Ireland", now due for publication in October
2015. But anyway, we rode the sections we could, because this year,
in different phases, many sections are closed for track renewal, so
we had to do the section between the railway station and Gleadless
Towend on a replacement bus, and unfortunately we got one with a more
direct route and only found out later that there was another one
which runs mostly along the tram route. Anyway, it was still
interesting to ride on the Supertram again, and I eventually came to
the conclusion that technically-speaking, it is probably the best
system in Britain. The good old Duewag cars do a really good job,
provide a smooth ride and take all curves and bends at good speed
without making strange noises, so I would rate it "best tram
track in the UK"! Also, the comfortable seats are worth
mentioning, similar to what you find on Germany's most luxurious
light rail system in Stuttgart.
Comfortable seating like in Stuttgart
Operated by Stagecoach, they offer a
cheap day pass for just 3.90 GBP also valid on buses, but as we had
to find out later, only valid on Stagecoach buses, not on First
buses, which also run on urban routes, so that was a bit weird, as if
there was a two-class transport service, one first-class
offering trams and buses, and another second-class with just
First buses. There are also more global day passes covering all
trams, trains and buses in South Yorkshire. Tickets are sold and
checked by conductors on the trams. With trams every 10 minutes on
all lines, the service is particularly good on the western leg
towards Hillsborough where there is thus a tram every 5 minutes.
Sheffield is the only city in the UK to
use proper colour-coding for its lines, whereas in Manchester colours
are just used on maps for each routing but you would nowhere find the
words "Yellow Line" or "Yellow Route" as you
would in Sheffield.
At Gleadless Townend, we had to change from tram to bus
The curious thing about the Sheffield
Supertram is the fact that it was built and opened within a short
period of time, but since its "completion" in 1995, it has
not seen a single extension added to it! Being quite successful and
popular, one might expect that more routes would have been built in
the meantime.
Supertram approaching the terminus at Malin Bridge, only a short branch off the main Hillsborough route
Sheffield is currently building the
UK's first tram-train route, with a branch from Meadowhall South to
Rotherham. I'm not quite sure whether this was the most obvious route
for such a pilot project. I guess the tram-trains will not be able to
compete with the travel time offered by normal regional trains, the
only advantage is that passengers will be taken directly into the
city centre in Sheffield, although the main railway station is not
that far from it anyway, and connected by trams. Otherwise, the new
route doesn't really serve any important areas, and the Parkgate
station at the namesake shopping mall in Rotherham could just be
built as a normal train station, too.
LINKS
Supertram (Official Stagecoach site)
Supertram at UrbanRail.Net
