Latest edition of the newsletter is now available from the usual places.

Originally posted by Andy C
Phase 7 will improve access onto platform 1 with a new electronic door and flooring will be retiled and high level painting / repair will aesthetically improve the area.Does that include removing tha tbit of black smelling plastic they put on the ground 2 weeks ago ?
Originally posted by Andy C
Acting On Your Feedback
Queue Management
In response to the Sheffield Travel centre staff and customer feedback, in relation to a lack of queue organisation in the current Travel Centre, Midland Mainline have financed the installation of an electronic “Queue Management System.”
The customer will be guided to the relevant immediate or advanced ticket sales window through movable barriers. Customers are then prompted forward to the next available service point with a digital voice recording and visual display. Are you saying that instead of putting some barriers to get people finally queuing in ONE queue we'll be talking to a wall ? screw that !

Although the plans are in place, much of the detail is not decided on within several elements of them. Lots is yet to be decided by the appropriate managers.

Originally posted by Captain_Scarlet
Does that include removing tha tbit of black smelling plastic they put on the ground 2 weeks ago ?
Are you saying that instead of putting some barriers to get people finally queuing in ONE queue we'll be talking to a wall ? screw that !

Think they mean there will be a voice like they have in Boots, Post office etc saying to go to 'window number x' and showing that number on the screen. Hope they also put more staff on as there are always long queues on the advance travel section when i'm there.

Was most disappointed the other day - some poor bloke behind me just wanted to find out best route and times for trains to somewhere, but they wouldnt help him at the 'information' booth and had to queue at the advance reservation booth - even though he wasnt buying owt. Not sure why they dont give information at the Information booth ?!

i asked the same question a while ago about that information thingy, apparently if you are travelling now they have all the stuff that you need but if you are going on another day or at a weekend some time away you need to got to the advanced thingy in the travel center, makes sense i suppose. I must say i`ve been in a queue at the booth that`s shifted pdq and it can be a pain when someone wants a 20 minute explanation of a journey and all us lot behind miss the trains which are going in a few minutes.

The information desk is simply a quick 'pit stop' for people wanting to know/confirm their immediate plans

Whats happening to the ugly office blocks to the right of the station as you face it? I've seen the plans and it looks as if a shiny new office building is to replace them. Is this true? Are they going to be demolished?

They are indeed to be demolished later this year!

Originally posted by rtapper
[B]B]

Hope we finally get a nice bar at the station (with real ale of course, Andy). I'm fed up of meeting people/seeing them off from the Showroom which is the de facto station bar at present - which is a nice place, but you can't keep track of the train info from there.

Here's a pic (http://members.lycos.co.uk/rspreece/hpbimg/New%20ticket%20office.JPG) of the new ticket office which has just opened at the train station this week.

Sheaf and Dyson House demolition is also now in progress!!:clap:

Originally posted by liveforever
Whats happening to the ugly office blocks to the right of the station as you face it? I've seen the plans and it looks as if a shiny new office building is to replace them. Is this true? Are they going to be demolished?

According to the newly updated sheffield1.com they're to be demolished and made part of a further phase of the e-Campus project.

Originally posted by skyfitsboy

Sheaf and Dyson House demolition is also now in progress!!:clap:

Is that going to be a nibbler job, or a blow down? Any specific dates?

Cheers

Originally posted by TaptonHill
Is that going to be a nibbler job, or a blow down? Any specific dates?

Cheers

It's not going to be a blow job, the nibbler will do the job so I've been told.

Originally posted by skyfitsboy
Here's a pic (http://members.lycos.co.uk/rspreece/hpbimg/New%20ticket%20office.JPG) of the new ticket office which has just opened at the train station this week.


Thats a fake photo, someone has photoshopped the massive queues out.

I'm sure it will look very nice when it's all completed and fully intend to have an amble around when I've got the time so I can familiarise myself with the layout.
However I still hate the fact that you've got a main road running past the place with no clear and well defined pedestrian access into the city centre. I would of liked to see a large well lit concourse/underpass going under the road and leading into the bus station with no roads to cross on the way. Then for goodness sake do something with the old Top Rank building and improve access across Flat Street and up into the city, has anyone noticed the speed that some of the buses travel at on that particular road?

Originally posted by semerpus


Would you like to wait 15 mins + just to find out your platform while the person infront discusses various travel options.Most people turn up within 5 mins of their train departure and would never get their train if the booth did that kinda thing.



I would expect there to be a large easily readable screen listing arrivals and departures for the next hour, complete with platform information and updated every five minutes or so.

it's a long time since I've travelled by train, but ISTR there were such screens in the main entrance and also on the platforms ??

Originally posted by WallBuilder

However I still hate the fact that you've got a main road running past the place with no clear and well defined pedestrian access into the city centre.

Through the new square, up the repaved Howard street, up Surrey street - town centre.

Originally posted by AndrewC
Through the new square, up the repaved Howard street, up Surrey street - town centre.

Don't forget though about standing in the rain waiting at the pelican crossings and if I want to go to High Street which is the easiest place for me to catch a bus to the lower end of Woodseats road [before anyone mentions the 53] I still have to walk through that dark smelly underpass next to the TopRank or do a detour..
How about redeveloping the Top Rank building and putting in escalators from Flat Street? I think the city redesign still has some way to go if it wants to incorporate the station and make it as painless as possible to switch from one means of public transport to another.

Well short of putting a canopy over the city theres not a lot you can do to move all the people from the station to fargate without getting wet.

You're right about the route up to the high street though, a new public walkway (and esculators would be an excellent edition) right up to Arundel Gate should be part of a major overhaul of the area. Its a disgusting concrete jungle down there currently.

No amount of regeneration and exterior reconstruction will ever make the trains run on time (or be cancelled for no apparent reason).

Originally posted by skyfitsboy
It's not going to be a blow job, the nibbler will do the job so I've been told.
And its going to be featured on Channel four's Demolition programme in the Autumn

If you want to reach high street from the station without getting wet or have to much luggage .... he's a tip use the tram blue route

Bilge,

If you have a look on platform 1A, which won't be open till October, you will find a beautiful old Victorian Bar which has get a preservation order on it.

Midland Mainline appear to be letting it rot presumably so they can demolish it, although the bar itself is boxed in the roof is about to fall down and with the current refurbishment it's almost certain to go at any time.

I can vaguely remember this bar when it was open, must have been early 50's, and was very impressed by it then (even though I was just a young kid).

Why on earth don't Midland Mainline re-open it they obviously don't realise what a gem they have got on their hands.

Went to the new travel centre today to pick up tickets - seems quite nice. Got one question though.
It appears they have used the same flat panel displays as in the old centre to show if the booth you are looking at is for immediate travel or advanced. Whilst this was fine in the old one, the new location means that the sun shining through the wall of glass opposite makes it hard to read - the text is white/grey on a dark green background. Will they be altering the colour scheme sometime to make these easier to read ?

Originally posted by silverknight
If you want to reach high street from the station without getting wet or have to much luggage .... he's a tip use the tram blue route

I hadn't thought of anything that clever but I'd have to be feeling really idle to do something like that. I enjoy walking for the most part and just think pedestrian links into the city centre could be made a lot clearer and much more user friendly..

I would imagine that the station regeneration plans would welcome input from members of the public, I know I've mentioned the underpass idea to the relevant people and apparently they did look to see whether the road could be diverted to go behind the station but this would of been hideously expensive and the river flowing nearby would also cause problems. At least I got an answer though and so now have two more things to ask about, I never knew there was a bar with a preservation order on platform 1, I'll have to ask for any plans for it's future use. Also I hate difficult to read signs and the like, I have an on-going battle with my bank and the fact that when the sun is shining you can't read the screens on the minibanks, so I think a wander round the travel centre may be coming up.

i used the new travel centre the other day in the hot weather, needless to say that due to the baking sun through the glass roof i couldn`t read any of the displays and my suit looked like i`d slept in it after standing there sweating for ages. Maybe aircon would be an option or just putting a proper roof on it would be a good idea. A suggestion for em to get Hilary`s in to fit some blinds might be an option :-) It`s hard to believe in this day and age that the designers can`t get it right!! i`ll also bet it`s bloomin freezing in winter, might be best if network rail took back control of the station then we might get something more sensible.

Originally posted by WallBuilder
How about redeveloping the Top Rank building and putting in escalators from Flat Street? I think the city redesign still has some way to go if it wants to incorporate the station and make it as painless as possible to switch from one means of public transport to another. You mean like the escalators there used ot be in the Interchange in the 60s-70s-80s leading from bay A1 to the footpath under Arundel Gate AVOIDING all form of 'walking accross Pond Street' ?

Yes, the ones that were always broken and vandalised...

Yes I remember the old escalators and the bridge over the road to the gallery especially when I was little and just had to go up one side then down the other a few times just for the fun of it.
There was a way through the side of the carpark as well that had a set of escalators which used to lead to an underpass that I think brought you out near the registry office.
This other bank of escalators was a rather grotty place often dark and smelling of wee so I don't miss it that much.
Had a nosy round the newly designed station and my first thought was how pokey and cluttered the are a now feels though this is obviously not the finished look to the place so I suppose I should reserve judgement.

Yes, bear in mind that the station concourse is still a big building site.

The WHSmith unit which has now closed will be demolished, and the current Upper Crust kiosk is temporary.

The bit where the old travel centre is, along with the former short stay car park next to it, is being developed, and there are new retail units allready being constructed, this is where the new WHSmiths will be. I assume the new Upper Crust will be in that area too.

There is still loads of work to do, and I think it will be great when it's finished.

Just noticed that Sheaf house is being demolished! They're nibbling away at the back.

Picture here (http://simoncutts.fotopic.net/p17369718.html) taken at 07:30 Saturday morning. :)

Originally posted by extaxman
Bilge,

If you have a look on platform 1A, which won't be open till October, you will find a beautiful old Victorian Bar which has get a preservation order on it.

Midland Mainline appear to be letting it rot presumably so they can demolish it, although the bar itself is boxed in the roof is about to fall down and with the current refurbishment it's almost certain to go at any time.

I can vaguely remember this bar when it was open, must have been early 50's, and was very impressed by it then (even though I was just a young kid).

Why on earth don't Midland Mainline re-open it they obviously don't realise what a gem they have got on their hands.

Yes I noticed that a while back - it has original mirrors and woodwork and that behind the bar, I peered through the windows and it's seemingly unchanged since the time you mention. I think they were storing bikes and stuff in it for a bit. Looks like summat out of Brief Encounter. That would be great as a bar restored to Victorian splendour. Surely they must retain it as they seem to be retaining many of the other features of the station. Hopefully that is why the bar furniture is boxed in - but it may just mean they are protecting it from damage prior to ripping it out and flogging it.

Originally posted by chri5
Just noticed that Sheaf house is being demolished! They're nibbling away at the back.

What will be going up to replace it ? All I could find on Sheffield 1 site was a vague reference to 'redevelopment'.

Hi. Andy.
You say we can read the latest news letter from the usual place, can you tell me the web site for that.
Many thanks.

Originally posted by Greybeard
What will be going up to replace it ? All I could find on Sheffield 1 site was a vague reference to 'redevelopment'.

The artists impression on display in the station shows a new office block with a cafe-bar in the ground floor with tables outside in the square.

Originally posted by Bilge
Yes I noticed that a while back - it has original mirrors and woodwork and that behind the bar, I peered through the windows and it's seemingly unchanged since the time you mention. I think they were storing bikes and stuff in it for a bit. Looks like summat out of Brief Encounter. That would be great as a bar restored to Victorian splendour. Surely they must retain it as they seem to be retaining many of the other features of the station. Hopefully that is why the bar furniture is boxed in - but it may just mean they are protecting it from damage prior to ripping it out and flogging it.

The original plans showed it as a Wetherspoons pub, howver they pulled out.

The building needs a lot of money to bring it up to standard - for example I believe the roof is unsafe.

Originally posted by sparky2
Hi. Andy.
You say we can read the latest news letter from the usual place, can you tell me the web site for that.
Many thanks.

It doesn't appear to be online - it ought to be here http://www.sheffield1.com/documents.asp

It is available from the information kiosk on the railway station amongst other places.

Originally posted by Andy C
The original plans showed it as a Wetherspoons pub, howver they pulled out.


What a shame :)

Originally posted by Andy C
The original plans showed it as a Wetherspoons pub, howver they pulled out.

The building needs a lot of money to bring it up to standard - for example I believe the roof is unsafe.

It's got to be worth it for a pub developer to put some money in to fix the roof and restore the bar. With the transformed public space outside the station and the new shops there'll be a lot of potential customers hanging about with money to spend.

Originally posted by nick2
What a shame :) Wethers certainly isn't the best of public establishment Cos in the country, but 'nearly' anything done to repair such features that our underrated station has is always a gudden !

Newcastle station area is very lively in terms of bars etc and i see the same potential for sheffield station area. There is a wetherspoons opposite newcastle station called the union rooms, that has retained its architectural qualities very well under the company, so maybe people shouldn't turn their nose up at them investing in sheff station.

Latest picture of demolition work taken at 14:00 today - Sheaf House demolition (http://www.simoncutts.fotopic.net/p17520297.html)

They seem to have moved quickly.

Well perhaps they'll also do soemthing to make it easier for disabled passengers to book travel arrangements in advance. Their staff have been so rude about what little there is of my voice and the time it takes them to go through what I need for a simple rail ticket. I dont use their booking office any more and their customer services arent that much better.

Perhaps it would have been better if they;d done away with the booking office altogther and put in banks of automated machines.

It's good to finally see those buildings coming down. But it's typical that by the time it's finished I'll actually be living in Sheffield and not commuting from Chessy :) Guess I'll just have to keep popping down to see how they're getting along.

I hopef the do something about the train time displays soon, the ones in Chesterfield are quite nice but the ones in the main area have been crashed for at least 2 months now! It also takes them 2-3 weeks to adjust the clocks for daylight saving time ;)

But overall I think it'll look good.

wendygs: They do have some automated ticket machines in there! I always use them in Chesterfield as for some reason people prefer to queue for half an hour instead of use a ticket machine!?

probedb;

Thanks for your note; appreciated. Have you ever heard of a machine being taken to court for disability discrimination? I love automated machines now; dont have to deal with all of the many rude/ignorant people employed by organisations who dont understand the impact of the service implications of the disability discrimination act.

Midland Mainline do not have adequate facilities for speech impaired users. Machines are for booking tickets on the day of travel and not for other tickets eg special offers or promotions which must be booked in advance of the day of travel.

Estimated: 2.5 million people in UK suffer communications disorders & many other disabilities are equally invisible.

The unacceptable reactions of Midland Mainline staff to my voice (and many others, I might add) are such that I am very keen to apply tedious medical voice care advice to speak little, not speak on the phone and write instead of speak.

Midland Mainline's websit can not manage massive volume of hits eg peak times, presuspposing I trust online payment systems which I dont; customer services dont want to deal with me because heaven forfend they have to do some work;

senior management are burying the issue and Rail Passenger Service seem to think customer services is being extremely tolerant despite the countless delays providing me with the information I need in order to make my arrangements.

No-one in their right mind would ask a wheelchair user to get out of their wheelchair and walk up the Town Hall steps. I therefore dont see why I or other speech impaired people should suffer these deplorable practices either.

In writing, I am sure I "speak" for many other speech impaired people; see link http://www.dipex.org/community/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=141 for another viewpoint. For more info on speech impairment: www.arcos.org.uk

This is not unique to Midland Mainline although I focus only on them because the subhject is their so-called improved services.

While I do not dispute your expieriences in the slightest people in customer services cannot possibly be aware of all disabilites and how to deal with them. even with the very best of intentions.

Every disabled person's disability differs to some degree.

Originally posted by wendygs
The unacceptable reactions of Midland Mainline staff to my voice (and many others, I might add)

I'm intrigued. What is your impediment and what reactions do you encounter?

Are you asked to repeat yourself if they haven't understood?

I know a guy who has a severe stammer which has in the past meant he has really struggled to ask for info or help in many situations. A few years ago he was always carrying a pen and pad and we often used to giggle when in a rush his writing was almost unreadable. Howeveer nowadays he carries a little electronic screen and he can type what he wants and then show it to the other person to get his question across clearly.
Maybe it would be an idea for the customer service points in many places to have this as a facility as a matter of course along with the lowered counters for wheelchair users and the hearing loops for the hard of hearing.

I spent an entertaining evening in a pub with a deaf guy in our group. He had brought a pad along as his preferred method of communication. You can imagine how quickly we ran out of space ;) and began writing between previous lines of conversation.

The beer didn't help either :hihi:

Quite a few issues re my disability and customer services.

Voice loss: I now have a voice which varies from not being able to speak at all to high-pitched, loud and squeaky, not helped by little if any breath control. When I speak it can sound like I am shouting or over-excited.

Medical voice care advice: speak a little, not on the phone and write instead of speak. Hospital card with voice care advice for face-to-face with basics, ie can hear and understand everything said, unable to lipread or use sign language (often ignored) please give me paper and pen to write what I need to say.

HANDWRITING IS A DOWNRIGHT RRPITA. I keep all of my notes because of the way I lost my voice which is not relevant to the issues under discussion.

Solution: Now in final stages of sorting out system to resolve my comms problems which does not include speaking on the phone. Dont/wont use minicom/; it is very expensive and as I have to type anyway it is easier for me to use email/fax.

Reactions from people:

force me to speak when I have no voice and can not speak at all;
refuse to provide me paper so I can write even when they know I can not speak;
accuse me of shouting;
slam phone down on me (when I used to speak on the phone to people I did and didnt know);
refuse to deal with me until I "calm down".
organisations fail to update their databases with my disability needs
dont reply to my letters on any basis or at all
I am ridiculed and mocked
officials and company staff put me in situations where I will be ridiculed;
fax and email headers state these comms should be treated as voice calls and reply by return which are often ignored.
Given unreasonably short deadlines to reply to complex issues.
Children ridiculing me and not disciplined by their parents (if/when they are around)




General Customer Service (CS) issues; R4 has run features in recent weeks. My comments on CS delivery is a well reported fact and not a personal attack on semerpus. I simply comment on MMs poor CS for 2.5 m +/- speech impaired people. Org'n replies rarely ever address my needs/concerns. A Public Sector Senior Manager had the damn cheek to write & tell me I HAD INSTRUCTED them not to proceed with further inquiries; I had written ASKING FOR THEIR ADVICE ON HOW I WAS TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY WITH STAFF. Got stacks of letters of this ilk.Perhaps we should have a thread devoted to CS complaints.

MMCS booking system: Email to notify travel plan; they reply, often too late for me to book at price I want to pay, ie loss of bargain; they want my phone phobic neighbour to book my ticket who gives me an earful every time because he is phone phobic. MMCS do not accept fax/email with my a/c details due to security, privacy, data protection issues. MMCS confirm I identified serious website and database problems (2004, 2005) which I have therefore included in my resume.

MM CS: I informed MM Managegment of my voice loss, include a statement in all my faxes/emails; shown & sent my hospital voice care card. Proof is in audit trail of emails to/from MM CS et al. Perhaps I will now ask my hospital to write to their Group Customer Services Direcotr. They should therefore know how to treat my voice care needs which are extremely well known to them.

IN 21st Century technology exists to help speech impaired people at little expense to organisations. For face to face comms Text to speech software can be used on any computer at only £200 +/-, subject to lciensing arrangements of course. More difficult for phone hence fax/email.

I asked MM Derby senior management to extend their ticketing system to include advance bookings/special promotions which should be easy enough to arrange.

Originally posted by Strix
I spent an entertaining evening in a pub with a deaf guy in our group. He had brought a pad along as his preferred method of communication. You can imagine how quickly we ran out of space ;) and began writing between previous lines of conversation.

The beer didn't help either :hihi:

Strix I am quite sure you ran out of space very very quickly. People under-estimate how much paper is needed to write what we need to say. I am often given the tiniest scraps of paper to write on which barely suffices to say please and thank you. Cant wait to go electronic; I am sure it will transform my life and eliminate all of these tiny scraps of paper and increase my independence.

On the 2nd point you raised with medical advice not to drink, I think beer or lack of it is hardly going to be an issue in my case :)

That sounds horribly frustrating for you Wendy. It's all the more annoying knowing that it would cost them far less to assist you than it does to accommodate wheelchair users :mad:

Perhaps they have an employee who could be your specific point of contact - who knows your problems and can communicate with you appropriately.

Has AndyC seen this thread? (If I'm not muddling my Andies up)

Anyone know what shops we are going to get in the new concourse? Presumably WHSmith will return. A little Sainsbury or M&S would be nice.

Understatement of century strix. After 18 monthos sheer absolute hell is a more apt description and as a result I've got more problems to contend with than you've had hot dinners in the past 6 months. By the way who's Andy?

In any event, I'm copying the link into a most politely couched Dear/Sir Madam letter to MMs Group Customer Service Director in London.

Originally posted by Strix
Perhaps they have an employee who could be your specific point of contact - who knows your problems and can communicate with you appropriately.

They do and they dont like dealing with me because I use email, ie have to write and commit themselves to writing, and can not speak to me on the phone.

On at least one occasion my neighbour very kindly agreed to speak with them for me; MM said one thing to him and back tracked all the way down the line when it came their emails with me.

That is quite normal and the same for almost all of the organisations I deal with. Those that dont are the exception rather than the norm.

Originally posted by wendygs
Understatement of century strix. After 18 monthos sheer absolute hell is a more apt description and as a result I've got more problems to contend with than you've had hot dinners in the past 6 months. By the way who's Andy?
Just noticed - this is his thread :blush:

I think he works for MM, but I don't know his role :shakes:

think you'll find MM CS head is in Derby NOT London!!

and there will be and M and S on the new station concourse.

yeah, youre absolutely right but my complaint is about MM's Derby CS. They can not be expected to investigate my complaint about them for obvious reasons. I am therefore escalating it up the organisation structure to Board level for equally obvious reasons.

Hey Wendy I've just been told by a MM m8 that they are sending staff on a course now to handle customers religious beliefs!!

Thats obviously much more important.

What the hell does catching a train have to do with religious beliefs!!??!!

Originally posted by semerpus
Hey Wendy I've just been told by a MM m8 that they are sending staff on a course now to handle customers religious beliefs!!

Thats obviously much more important.

What the hell does catching a train have to do with religious beliefs!!??!!


S, to reiterate I am a totally dissatisfied MM passenger with good reason. Explicitly I take exception to MM staff et al thinking my voice loss entitles them to treat me like an imbecile.

On the question you've just put to me, "What the hell does catching atrain have to do with religious beliefs!!??!!!" I would refer you toyour MM m8 contact who is clearly well informed.

I would not be at all surprised to learn MM has had a very serious complaint involving the mis-handling of a passenger's religious requirements.

However that is mere speculation on my part and I would think your MM m8 contact is better informed to clarify this for you.

I know the station is being remodelled to some extent but passing through it yesterday I was not convinced the changes would be hugely beneficial. Having just done return trip to Manchester Piccadilly for the first time in about 15 years I was stunned at the changes at the Manchester end. The whole place has been totally rebuilt and looks like a massive london terminal station with loads of those huge departure boards, dozens of branded shops and various levels leading to the Metrolink (Manchester tram system) and various features. I was knocked out on my first impression as it kind of sums up Manchesters image.......BIG, MODERN, SOPHISTICATED.......

Now Sheffield is a larger City but has a railway station that has never inspired you with that sense of adventure and sophistication. If a city like ours is going to improve its image in the future, it needs to be aware that hundreds of people see Sheffield for the 1st time every day from the railway station poiunt of view, and to me it just says SMALL, DATED, UNSOPHISTICATED....no big departure boards, its always had those tiny TV monitors most of which were never working...

Remember I am comparing Sheffield mainline train station to Manchester Picadilly, but from a 'first impressions of a city' point of view. A lot of work still needs to be done here.......Sheffield is just an important a station on the rail network as Manchester is, with valuable london links and cross country services.

I thought about it as some 6th formers coming to Sheffield for a University open day in front of me walking out the station, gave their first impressions rather loudly. Let us summarise by saying they were not impressed, and had travelled on the seats in front of me from Manchester Piccadilly. I compare those impressions to mine stepping off the train at Manchester and having not seen the station for many years, been knocked out by its hugeness and spacious business like structure and atmosphere.

What can ever be done about this with the existing layout of the staion and its approaches I do not know.

It would be nice if we could steal York train station and have that instead. I think our station is too low, it has no presence, it looks more like a goods depot.

good post

see also Leeds station which gives you that sense of arrival into a big, important city.

arriving in Sheffield station gives you a sense of "what is this backwater?"

When I went to Manchester Picaddilly last year for the first time after several years I was struck by their station which is now very impressive and sophisticated. It is even more years since I've been through or to York and although my recollection is hazy, I was impressed by its sense of character which seemed to be in keeping with the city itself. Has it changed very significantly in the past few years?

My thoughts on Sheffield are that it would be nice if the station reflected the city's status and provided a fully accessible service for all of its passengers regardless of disability.

I think, from speaking to my dad, that Sheffield Victoria was a much better station than Sheffield Midland.

It's much, much brighter than it used to be. Hopefully they'll sort all the departure/arrival boards out once they've finished all the current work. At the moment there's one display in the main foyer which is actually over the area being worked on, most of the clocks don't work either. I think it should be good when it's done...hopefully :)

I think I'm right in saying the following, 'though it's stuff I read a while ago:

The big advantage that Manchester Victoria and Leed City Stations have over Sheffield station is that they are owned and operated by Network Rail (big national company- sort of bailed by the government); Sheffield is operated by the main Train Operating Company who uses it (like the vast majority of UK rail stations) - in this case Midland Mainline.

The TOC's are less likely to invest serioius sums of money in the station as this benefits other TOC's using the station as much as themselves - like Virgin Cross Country and the local network franchises. Instead the TOC's prefer to invest in renewing their own rolling stock.

Therfore the Network Rail operated stations (and I believe there are only about 8 of them in the country - most in London) are at a distinct advantage. The Council in Liverpool were lobbying to get ownership of Liverpool Lime Street changed over from Virgin West Coast Mainline to Network Rail so that it could be vastly improved ahead of them hosting European City of Culture in a couple of years time - arguing that their's was a major station (not sure what became of this).

As it happens, much of the money for the Sheffield Midland Station upgrade has come from a Network Rail grant, but they're never going to pay as much here as they would if it was one of there own stations. For example - cost of Sheff Station upgrade (much of which is in diverting the course of the road outside and building the new public square - not the station itself) just £55M; cost of Leeds City Station upgrade two years ago (just station itself) £100M !

yes i am also quite frustrated in the fact that sheffield midland station is not electrified and that only diesel engines can come thru. this means that we get poor trains that make a lot of noise!! the benefits of electrifying the lines are as i assume u all know are great! it is cheap, the trains go faster, it doesnt leave the whole place dirty, they are a lot smoother to ride on, they make less noise and they are good for the environment!! but yet again we are left behind as nearly evbrywher else except nottingham uses electric.

but i do like sheffield midland as it is tho. i think they are trying to keep it the way it was in the olden times and i think thats good becuase sheffield midland has some beautiful and quant little things about it that modern stations wil not have. personally i like the old fashioned stations and the old trains like the flying scotsman*...starts dreaming of the days when trains were great......so maybe they are just tryin to keep the old charm of it as to how it was.

There are a lot of things I like about Sheffield Station, I like the stone architecture, the white painted wooden/metal trims to the canopies etc.

The station facilities? Well even though it has improved vastly over the past 10 years, one could still say - what facilities???

Sheffield has (at last) got decent passenger lifts (though they are often out of order) er, let me think ... ah yes a pretty cold and draughty waiting area between platforms 2 & 5 ..... not a lot else really.

There's no first class lounge (even Doncaster has a decent first class lounge), the toilets are generally dirty, smelly and very poor. The arrivals/departure boards - well they are difficult to see and when the sun is shining on them they're impossible to read. Now I know a train station is probably not a place people go to other that to get a train or to meet someone from a train, but if you consider the amount of time people spend there (particularly when trains are delayed etc) it should provide much better amenities, shops to browse in, decent clean eating areas etc.

I'm sure the improvements will be just that - improvements. But there is so much more that could be done to make any time spent there a more pleasant experience rather than an endurance. As you say, it is the first impression for many people arriving in Sheffield and it's very poor.

Leeds and Manchester Picadilly are quite superb in comparison to Sheffield (even after the improvements are complete), It's such a shame that after all the disruption of the work being carried out that the interior of the station still won't be first class. :(

Most interesting posts to my original. I agree on all the points above, but should add that Manchester Piccadilly has still managaed to retain most of its original features once you get onto the actual platforms, its just the facade and whole entrance that is transformed to the pinnacle of modernity. Its still got the original ornate white canopies and various ironwork features, etc...on at least some of the platforms.

Obviously Manchester area in rail terms has far more money to spend, you even get PORTERS offering to help anyone with suitcases and bags (they dont call them porters now though)....try and find one of those at Sheffield if you are a little old lady with 9 suitcases and a poorly leg!!!

BUT....Manchester supertram equivalent is nowhere near as good as our system...the METROLINK service uses much cheaper rolling stock, very noisy and basic, and they have simply taken over old British rail lines for all but the central area section. The route to Bury for example, a former British rail line that closed in mid 90's, and my God does the tram lurch about all over the place, still got the old wooden railway sleepers and ancient tracks which are way off accurate gauge. (non stop scraping wheels and squealing traction). So at least Sheffield can do something better than Manchester......

Originally posted by goldenfleece
you even get PORTERS offering to help anyone with suitcases and bags (they dont call them porters now though)....

Luggage Transit Operatives ?

Originally posted by nick2
Luggage Transit Operatives ?

Is that it? I would have thought a much more glamorous label such as 'Customer Liason Officers', or 'Passenger Assistant Managers' or something.......

There isn't a train station in the town I come from so I was just glad that my accommodation was only 5 mins walk to the train station, which I used to use to get the train home (well, to Kettering).

As long as the train was on time and I could sit on it for a few mins, rather than stand on the platform, then I was happy.

First impressions arriving by train were:

- What a mess
- Where have they put the path this week
- God what ugly buildings

Each of those points is being addressed though, so its just a matter of waiting I suppose.

Picadilly is great, but Victoria still looks a bit grubby though. The Victorian building design has a lot more in common with Sheffield and perhaps this is the problem?

I'll wait until the refurbishment is complete to see the finished look before giving the place my score. I did have a wander round the place a couple of weeks ago and it did look like a building project only half completed and the only trouble was that the few bits that did seem to be finished just loked cramped and some how cheesy. The council keep on going on about the new public square that is going to be in front of the station [more or less] which may end up looking nice [although I have my doubts with a very major road running right past it] but I'd like to of seen the station concourse opened up more rather like say Newcastle and I definitely think access to the platforms would of been better with a much wider bridge and two staircases as those present stirs can feel quite unfriendly if you're caught in a large group all stampeding out at the same time.

As i predicted on a railway thread on here sometime ago people wouldnt't be satisfied even when the station was refurbished and hey we're off to a flying start!


It's still being rebuilt its not halfway finished for gods sake!!

Manchester was lucky most of it could be demolished unlike Sheffield!


The new travel centre is much better,brighter and with more windows! And yes the queues are a lot less even on a friday rush hour!

Arrival and departure screens not installed yet but HUGE new ones are gonna be erected on the concourse and on each platform. as well as new clocks.

One of the new shops is def. a Marks and Spencer (recruitment underway)

New ladies,gents and disabled toilets are being built where the old travel centre was and a new information desk customer reception area.

Golden fleece Sheffield does have porters tho u are right they are called passenger assistants and they are usually very busy dealing with upwards of 100 'booked' assiatnce jobs daily from elderly to disabled passengers.

Hows about waiting til its finished before knocking it...and/or get ya facts right?

When I lmast went to Manchester I was struck by the fact that 70% of trains were late or cancelled. I believe, and do correct me if I'm wrong, but sheffield has only about 2 to " trains an hour late by more than 5 minutes. Why ? Coz sheffield has a better signalling team.

Also, if you would like to know why Sheffield has no rooftop, it's because it's was enlarged in 1911 and lost it's roof then. It has now 9 platforms, which can accomodate about 14 trains (exactly like Manchester with its 14 platforms).
also Sheffield station is a through station so amenities are situated on island platforms rather than at the end like Manchestaaar. This is why Sheffield has 3 buffets, and Manchester has 1 (Just Burger King). Manchester has on the other hand lots of random shops (like a tie shop ???) which in all fairness Sheffield has in the City Centre where they are more suited. We have a small, efficient station.
Manchester is large, quite unpractical with unfriendly ticket checking Northern Staff.

and to finish, Leeds and Manchestaar stations might be bigger, with more shops, but they have no charm, and they look naf: admit it :)

I prefer travelling from Steel City any day.

I was at Leeds station with my gf January 2005, btw she was from Leeds, she said how much better Leeds station was. A stranger overheard her and said Sheffield train station was better!

Manchester always had an impressive City Centre even a long time ago. I used to joke with Cockneys and say that London was the Manchester of the South.

Originally posted by buck
Manchester always had an impressive City Centre even a long time ago. I used to joke with Cockneys and say that London was the Manchester of the South.

Its just a different layout serving a different set of communities....Manchester City Centre reflects the fact that it is largely a whole network of surburban sattelite towns comprising what they decided to call GREATER MANCHESTER in 1974..Bury, Bolton, Rochdale, etc, all complete towns in themselves....in some ways its like London with its integrated bus and rail network, or at least it was when the old Metropolitcan County controlled all the bus and rail services....

Sheffield is not really on the same scale in terms of its network of sattelite towns and villages and essential transport links....

Originally posted by probedb
I think, from speaking to my dad, that Sheffield Victoria was a much better station than Sheffield Midland.


My recollection from the 40s/50s is that both stations were pretty dirty and dismal, but that was in the sooty days of steam traction. Victoria though did have a more cosmopolitan air about it. The Midland station always seemed just a larger version of Heeley or Dore and Totley.

ISTR that Victoria also had a large canopy like Leeds and Picadilly. I think both these staions are laid out as terminal stations, ie arrivals and departures are from the buffers whereas Sheffield Midland is obviously just a pass-through stopping place en route to somewhere else. Hard to disguise it's parochial image ! :)

Originally posted by Captain_Scarlet
Sheffield has 3 buffets, and Manchester has 1 (Just Burger King).

Piccadilly also has sit-down 'buffet'-type facilities in Starbucks, another coffee bar place upstairs (can't remember name), Yates' bar, another buffet on the approach to platform 13/14, buffet on platform 13/14 itself. You can also buy stuff to eat and drink at reasonable prices in Sainsbury or M&S. In Sheff we've got the overpriced Whistlestop thing, and we've still got no bar at all. The main purpose of Burger King is a handy shortcut from platform 1 to the exit.

But Manchester is a big metropolis and the true second city (arguably), so it's not a fair comparison to measure Sheffield against it. A better comparison are Leicester and Nottingham stations which are run by the same company and are also a bit crap and have a small-town feel.

Originally posted by Bilge
You can also buy stuff to eat and drink at reasonable prices in Sainsbury or M&S. In Sheff we've got the overpriced Whistlestop thing


Marks and Spencers are opening a 'just food' outlet at Sheffield train station and are currently advertising vacancies.

Originally posted by Captain_Scarlet
When I lmast went to Manchester I was struck by the fact that 70% of trains were late or cancelled. I believe, and do correct me if I'm wrong, but sheffield has only about 2 to " trains an hour late by more than 5 minutes. Why ? Coz sheffield has a better signalling team.

I couldn't agree more ;)

Damn north westerners.

Although the station is in complete disarray (nay.... is a total SHAMBLES!!!! ) at the moment, this in no way reflects the service given by rail staff...

they are always helpful, and courteous:- pretty much without exception...

(I wish staff on other stations would pull their collective fingers out... *coughs insistently...* Doncaster... I'm looking in YOUR direction..... !!!!!)

PT

Originally posted by psyn
Marks and Spencers are opening a 'just food' outlet at Sheffield train station and are currently advertising vacancies.

Oh lord, I'll be popping in there on the way to work every day after getting off the tram ! There goes the diet and the budget :(

Originally posted by Hels
[B]There are a lot of things I like about Sheffield Station, I like the stone architecture, the white painted wooden/metal trims to the canopies etc.

This is a dangerous quote, if the council get the idea that theres nice architecture somewhere in Sheffield, they'll demolish it and build a 'building of the future', which will also then be demolished in 2015.

Originally posted by Plain Talker
Although the station is in complete disarray (nay.... is a total SHAMBLES!!!! ) at the moment, this in no way reflects the service given by rail staff...

they are always helpful, and courteous:- pretty much without exception...

(I wish staff on other stations would pull their collective fingers out... *coughs insistently...* Doncaster... I'm looking in YOUR direction..... !!!!!)

PT

Beware GNER she will be handcuffing herself to the outside of the train soon!

Sheffield train station has to be the worst of any big city in the country. It is truly pitiful. It would take far more than they are planning to do to rectify this situation.

It's needed work doing for a long time but glad that its now underway. Give it a chance and see the outcome !

I like Sheffield station because you can buy a ticket and see where you need to go and catch your train and then go and catch it. And you can go for a wee if you need to, and buy a newspaper or something to eat or drink.

Good news - the new WH Smith shop opened today, so you can now buy a newspaper on the station!

And the photo booth is back too!

You can now walk through the concourse extension to the car park.

Finally the new departure board has been fixed into place, although it isn't wired up yet.

Originally posted by Andy C
Good news - the new WH Smith shop opened today, so you can now buy a newspaper on the station!

And the photo booth is back too!

You can now walk through the concourse extension to the car park.

Finally the new departure board has been fixed into place, although it isn't wired up yet.

Any pics you could post of this on Skyscraper city?

Are they gonna get the clock outside the station working sometime ? Just says 12:00 all the time :)

Passed through the train station today and was surprised at how big the new concourse is at the station entrance.

Also picked up the latest Sheffield Station update leaflet and it states Marks & Spencers are opening up a unit in the station in October, along side the other new retail units, Starbucks is rumoured to be another new addition at the station.

see new pics here (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=5326996&postcount=189)

yes weatherspoons are or were looking at the site wish mcds would it would be cheaper and easier than using burger king i know a guy who is working on the station well he was last time i saw hime says october it should be done well stage 1

Originally posted by semerpus
Hey Wendy I've just been told by a MM m8 that they are sending staff on a course now to handle customers religious beliefs!!

Thats obviously much more important.

What the hell does catching a train have to do with religious beliefs!!??!!


Semerpus On 24th July I responded to your post above dated 23rd July. As I still question the relevance of your comments about passengers with religious requirements I wondered if you might like to explain your comments and feel disappointed that to date you have failed to reply on any basis or at all.

Notwithstanding my disabling speech impairment this has not prevented me from submitting a complaint to my Rail Passenger Council contact in respect of Midland Mainline's Customer Services Manager. This resulted in a reply which confirms how "extremely unreasonable" this Midland Mainline Customer Services Manager was in his attitude to my speech impairment. I was also informed we "had to be fair" to this geezer who sent me a standard reply without knowing all of the facts to my case.

As I had gone to great pains to set out all of the necessary information for a properly informed AND relevant reply does this mean, Midland Mainline has taken on board Dave Blunkett's concerns and now employs illiterate staff who can not read?

Many thanks in anticipation of your early reply.

didnt realise I was expected /required to respond and I won't be.

I have lookmed in the other thread but couldn't find an answer so-

Are they pulling down BOTH of the big buildings that are next to it? i know one has gone but the other one is just covered in scaffolding- i was wondering when they planned to demolish it (if they are)

Thanks :D :D

It will be demolished as well.

I'm not sure as to the exact date it gets pulled down, but judging by the scaffolding I'd say sooner rather than later.

And good riddence to bad rubbish!:clap: :clap: :clap:

It is to be demolished, however there is work to clear the area around it that needs to be done first.

New departure boards on the concourse were switched on and being tested tonight..... looks like the whole new passenger information system is likely to go live soon.

Also the M&S Simply food store has the sign up now, and shopfitters are busy fitting the interior out. Again, see this opening for business in the next few weeks.

New circular kiosk is being constructed on the concourse, not sure what this is. Building work still ongoing on the coffee shop and management offices.

I imagine all the works on the station itself should be complete early in the new year, then the focus will shift outside.

Originally posted by Carmine
It will be demolished as well.

I'm not sure as to the exact date it gets pulled down, but judging by the scaffolding I'd say sooner rather than later.

And good riddence to bad rubbish!:clap: :clap: :clap:

Seems there is a health and safety issue come up with regards to the main road passing the site......

the circular building on the concourse is gonna be the new upper crust shop and the other half of it a coffe shop with table and chairs both in and outside.

Update - M&S Simply food has now been trading for about a week, and the new passenger information system goes live on 9th December.

The station is finally beginning to look pleasant (at last!). But have they got any more staff on the ticket booths? Only, I was going past there at about 4.45pm last Friday and there was a queue of what looked to be 300+ people, right out of the main doors and onto the street! :o

The disappointing part about all the work being done, is the stuff that winds up being un-done :mad:

The beautiful now concourse floor has had something big enough and heavy enough to greak the tiles dropped on it, and somebody has splotted a lump of grout over the breakage to add to the aesthetics of it. Is stuff like this going to be rectified, or is this sort of scrappiness going to be the welcome that visitors to sheffield will see?

PS - what is that glass booth with no floor yet for (opposite M&S)?

originally quoted by Strix:-
"The beautiful now concourse floor has had something big enough and heavy enough to greak the tiles dropped on it, and somebody has splotted a lump of grout over the breakage to add to the aesthetics of it"


oh what a geat pity :( i do like the new flooring!

the new stone flooring is an improvement on the slippy shiny, highly reflective flooring that was there before.(particualrly for people like my friend who uses sticks)

and I am really pleased to see that they have "masked" part of the vast expanse of windows in the ticket office, as the glass roof was reflecting too much on the viewing panels to see the person serving you (which was no good for those with hearing impairment, as they couldn't see to lipread etc)

It does seem to be coming together somewhat,

My only qualm is the distance for disabled/ elderly / paassengers laden with luggage have to trek to and from the car park.. and the taxi area.

PT

A simple explanation to this might be to place a small Help-Desk booth near to the car-park, this way it could be used seperate to the train information desk!

All you would have at the new proposed desk, would be two helpful members of staff who get trolleys and offer a Porters service, should it be needed!

This service is on offer at most bigger stations, but does'nt seem to happen at our Station!

What you reckon PT?

Matt

I assume you didn't notice the disabled car park then PT? It lets straight onto Platform 1 without even having to negotiate the station concourse.

(it's through the arches under the drop-off canopy)

Originally posted by Strix
I assume you didn't notice the disabled car park then PT? It lets straight onto Platform 1 without even having to negotiate the station concourse.

(it's through the arches under the drop-off canopy)

But Presuming you needed to enter at the main entrance to get your tickets etc?????

I feel a porters service at an Help-desk, near to the car-park, would be a better solution????

PT?

Matt

Originally posted by matt1889
But Presuming you needed to enter at the main entrance to get your tickets etc????? Don't they post them to you if you order them online?

Why does the solution to everything have to be to throw people at it? How are you proposing to pay these people Matt? and what quality of person do you think wants to spend the working day hovering about outside in all weathers?

Originally posted by Strix
Don't they post them to you if you order them online?

Why does the solution to everything have to be to throw people at it? How are you proposing to pay these people Matt? and what quality of person do you think wants to spend the working day hovering about outside in all weathers?

You have to remember that they have a responsibility to cater for people of all needs at the end of the day! And if we have to go a bit deaper, then another good prospect gained out of my solution, would be that two or more jobs would be made out of this! And i'm not being funny, but those genuinely seeking work would be prepared to work in any conditions providing the right weather and safety wear was issued!

The Government offer a service, where they are willing to pay half the wages of people set on through certain job seekers schemes!

So my solution achieves:

1 . Better service for people of all needs.

2. Two or more jobs made available.

Im sure this explains itself?????



1.Better

Can I just point out, that a 'solution' does not consist of a tin-pot, non assessed scenario dreamt up in your head Matt? 'Idea' would have been a better label for it ;)

We no longer live in a society where people are grateful for whatever work is available, becasue there is enough work available for people to have choices. Most people would choose not to stand out in the cold and wet regardless of what colour Gortex jacket you issued them with.

The upshot of this is that the likely candidates for interview for your new post as carpark dogsbody, are likely to be those with a poor grasp of english, a poor grasp of the rail network and it's services, and an even poorer grasp of the british geography required to deliver a passsenger to the right platform for the right train.

Think about it.

Who would rather be served by a complete numpty than use the facilities that already have experienced staff? (not that they are always as useful as we'd hope :roll: )

AND they still dont have any facilities for speech impaired people of which there are 2,500,000, that is approximately 25 per cent of all disabled people who are estimated to number 10,000,000 +/-.

Too bad we arent able to get all 2,500,000 in to Sheffield for a speech impaired rally; it would soon shake up the City :)

Originally posted by Strix
Can I just point out, that a 'solution' does not consist of a tin-pot, non assessed scenario dreamt up in your head Matt? 'Idea' would have been a better label for it ;)

We no longer live in a society where people are grateful for whatever work is available, becasue there is enough work available for people to have choices. Most people would choose not to stand out in the cold and wet regardless of what colour Gortex jacket you issued them with.

The upshot of this is that the likely candidates for interview for your new post as carpark dogsbody, are likely to be those with a poor grasp of english, a poor grasp of the rail network and it's services, and an even poorer grasp of the british geography required to deliver a passsenger to the right platform for the right train.

Think about it.

Who would rather be served by a complete numpty than use the facilities that already have experienced staff? (not that they are always as useful as we'd hope )
Well it's pretty obvious that you have a poor grasp on things yourself!

Trying to insult me as if to say my SOLUTION is rubbish, it's not just an idea! I see it as a means of solving the problem rather than just a suggestion!

You think you know everything as per usual dont you Strix!

And if you would allow me to just point out, the unemployed people are not all non-english seeking un-educated asylum seekers as you point them out to be (now whos making pointless comments?), you will actually find a large number of highly educated individuals who are currently out of work, and even the foreign work-force coming to britain have a lot of skills to offer!

You just cant see simple things can you Strix, you have to be right all the time!

Terribly sorry to have such a poor grasp of the situation Matt. You're right - I can see all the out of work computer programmers and engineers queuing up to be rained on and abused by the general public now :roll:

PS - get a grip with those quotes - I object to you claiming I said all that stuff you typed (given that it's libel to state that I said it ;) )

So it must have just been me mis-interpreting things then?

You comments speak for themsellf Strix, I don't need to comment anymore on what your opinions are, I feel the members of SF will be able to make their own minds up there!

Matt

Ah, playground bully tactics ;)

Me and all these people against you....

Please excuse me whilst I read all the posts in your support in the past half hour :roll:

Oh, and your quote is still faulty ;)



Anyway - does anybody think the shortstay carparking is going to become more of a problem when M&S customers start using it as well as the poeple dropping off and picking up passengers?

No because the M&S customers won't be able to get parked anyway. :rolleyes: It's still a nightmare of a place to pick people up from.

There is a customer line (possibly on the Midland mainline website) that you can call if you have a disability and know you will need assistance - I understand you can be met at the station and given any help you need to get you on your way.

Originally posted by Mathom
No because the M&S customers won't be able to get parked anyway. :rolleyes: It's still a nightmare of a place to pick people up from.
Only because people insist on parking there when they've come to meet a train that's half an hour away still. I often park on the ground floor of the multistorey when meeting Mr Strix off a train. By 6pm the ground floor is getting pretty empty, and it's easier to get back out of the station from there

Originally posted by Mathom
There is a customer line (possibly on the Midland mainline website) that you can call if you have a disability and know you will need assistance - I understand you can be met at the station and given any help you need to get you on your way.
Well I know that, you know that, and presumably PT knows that. There's even a thread on here about a member of staff getting a train to pull in to a different platform for a customer because the lift wasn't working :thumbsup:

It gets me mad when there are people who seem to spend hours hovering in the waiting area with engines running, parked at crazy angles - isn't the waiting time just 15 minutes? If you're trying to get in and get someone who is waiting for you it can be horrible - though it has improved since the taxis were moved away - I've been known to do a pick up on No Frills car park instead.

Originally posted by wendygs
AND they still dont have any facilities for speech impaired people of which there are 2,500,000, that is approximately 25 per cent of all disabled people who are estimated to number 10,000,000 +/-.

Too bad we arent able to get all 2,500,000 in to Sheffield for a speech impaired rally; it would soon shake up the City :)

Do you have any further info on this, wendygs? I'd be interested in looking at a website, etc. 25% of all disabled people being speech-impaired? How can this be? What does the term 'speech-impaired' include?

And, are there really over 10,000,000 disabled people in the country? That means that over one sixth of the population is disabled - more than one in every six people living in the UK. Seems very high, considering we have free health care, free education, decent nutrition, free water and state benefits galore etc..... Not saying (of course, doh) that most 'disabled' people aren't truly disabled. But one in six sounds very high to me.

:)

Originally posted by SHsheff
Do you have any further info on this, wendygs? I'd be interested in looking at a website, etc. 25% of all disabled people being speech-impaired? How can this be? What does the term 'speech-impaired' include?

And, are there really over 10,000,000 disabled people in the country? That means that over one sixth of the population is disabled - more than one in every six people living in the UK. Seems very high, considering we have free health care, free education, decent nutrition, free water and state benefits galore etc..... Not saying (of course, doh) that most 'disabled' people aren't truly disabled. But one in six sounds very high to me.

:)

Well SHsheff I am very sorry but the timing is not at its best because I have a lot of work to do before I leave for London to see my consultants re my continuing voice loss. However as it is you and not these schmoygels who seem to derive pleasure in publicly tormenting disabled people, I've provided some basic info but please do not hestitate to ask further questions and I will do my best to address them on my return.

Last week The Guardian in association with DWP (Dept of Work & Pensions) published a feature on disability awareness and access to work etc. It did not have one reference to speech impairment in any form. The disability statistic was in that feature.

For those who cant access that feature please see page 5 www.brc.org.uk/showDoc04.asp?id=2359 of this PDF document published by Disability RIghts Commission (DRC) to verify the statistic I cited of 10 million but it is not my source. My source for the statistic on speech impairment is Please see the sub-heading on this page "Where we are now" (www.arcos.org.uk/html/C_past_and_present.htm)

Speech impairment is a generic term to cover a very wide range of unrelated diseases, conditions and disorders. Examples of this would include:

accident resulting in damage to the brain/vocal chords/related muscles;
strokes, mouth, throat and larynx cancers;
stuttering and stammering
autism and similar conditions
post-operative after-effects (but can be difficult to prove if this results from clinical negligence


Owing to the immense diversity there is no standard way to communicate with speech impaired people. Some conditions are well documented and ample guidance exists on effective communications. Conditions such as mine are apparently quite unusual and I have had great difficulty in finding out anything about the condition let alone how to treat it or for others to communicate effectively with me.

Even a net trawl on how to communicate with speech impaired people and the stuff Ive found is soooo basic as compared to everything published for wheelchair users, or deaf/blind people etc. Basic advice seems to be patient, dont finish off sentences and admit to not having grasped what has been said. There is far more to it than just that.

After substantial correspondence with Sheffield Council with very obvious reluctance they finally admitted they did not have any resources or reports on access and accessibility for speech impaired people. This is the norm with many organisations I deal with where staff refuse to accept medical advice and are not prepared to make any reasonable adjustments for my disabling voice loss.

Obtaining this admission out of Shefield Council felt like plucking hens teeth and in this case I found one :)

Wendy, there is also considrable speech impairment in a lot of deaf people, by virtue of the fact that they are unable to hear the correct sounds that are needed to make speech.

My own stepson was partially hearing (as was his birth mother), and because of his hearing loss, would frequently pronounce words such as "let" as "lekk"

anyway back to your scheduled topic:- the railway station.

there are probs, as I have said accessing asistance.

If you are a stranger to the city, and therefore the station, and have a mobility or sensory disabilty, how do you wayfind to get the person(s) to assist you? (or of you cannot get about easily, how do you trek around the station to get the help you need, to , wem.. trek around the station?

the taxi rank is one case in question.

The taxis are some distance away from the station itself.

How does someone with a disability, particularly a stranger to the town actually "know" that the staff, if it is required, will fetch a taxi to come to the nearest point, so one doesn'thave to trek a huge distance?

-Or, if, like yourself, Wendy, someone with speech loss, who cannot telephone, for a cab, themselves, how would they know that they would do that for them.

the information needs disseminating. but, "how?" is the question.

PT

PT - do you think a disability assistance information announcement on the train might go a small way towards helping people become aware of what help they are able to get at Sheffield station? They can announce that the M's bar is open and so forth, why not do this too?

Originally posted by Mathom
PT - do you think a disability assistance information announcement on the train might go a small way towards helping people become aware of what help they are able to get at Sheffield station? They can announce that the M's bar is open and so forth, why not do this too?

I think that would be an excellent idea, Mathom. It would be a great help.

There would have to be something in place, though, as an alternative, for people who have hearing loss. It may not always be possible to hear an announcement if you are deaf. (Not all deaf people can use hearing aids, etc)

PT

Originally posted by Plain Talker
Wendy, there is also considrable speech impairment in a lot of deaf people, by virtue of the fact that they are unable to hear the correct sounds that are needed to make speech.

My own stepson was partially hearing (as was his birth mother), and because of his hearing loss, would frequently pronounce words such as "let" as "lekk"

anyway back to your scheduled topic:- the railway station.

there are probs, as I have said accessing asistance.

If you are a stranger to the city, and therefore the station, and have a mobility or sensory disabilty, how do you wayfind to get the person(s) to assist you? (or of you cannot get about easily, how do you trek around the station to get the help you need, to , wem.. trek around the station?

the taxi rank is one case in question.

The taxis are some distance away from the station itself.

How does someone with a disability, particularly a stranger to the town actually "know" that the staff, if it is required, will fetch a taxi to come to the nearest point, so one doesn'thave to trek a huge distance?

-Or, if, like yourself, Wendy, someone with speech loss, who cannot telephone, for a cab, themselves, how would they know that they would do that for them.


the information needs disseminating. but, "how?" is the question.

PT

PT my list is not exhaustive by any means. The research/reply to SHsheffs query took me a good 90 minutes. I am up to my eyes in work I need to complete before I leave for London so do us a favour and be a little more tolerant of other disabilities. Thanks.

Or as happened to me recently on my return from London when I had sprained my ankle, had a fair bit of baggage and simply wanted some help to get from the Rail to Bus Station; it took a good 10 minutes before anyone MM staff dealt with my need. When the Deputy Manager finally come down it was to effectively tell me to get lost.

was feeling so ill it was far too much effort to write and throughout I spoke when ordinarily I would have written. The information assistant had previously told me when someone came to relieve her she would help me which was very nice.

She spoiled it by suddenly elevating hersefl to a voice expert and stating a diagnosis my Consultants had effectively ruled out. So mixed stuff there which resulted in my deciding that yet again MM staff need to get their act sorted.

Originally posted by Plain Talker
I think that would be an excellent idea, Mathom. It would be a great help.

There would have to be something in place, though, as an alternative, for people who have hearing loss. It may not always be possible to hear an announcement if you are deaf. (Not all deaf people can use hearing aids, etc)

PT

They have induction loop facilities and if you look at the modern ATMs you'll find they have suitable facilities. The technology for text to speech software these days is simply amazing and so are the essential speech engines without which the applications wont work.

Originally posted by wendygs
They have induction loop facilities and if you look at the modern ATMs you'll find they have suitable facilities. The technology for text to speech software these days is simply amazing and so are the essential speech engines without which the applications wont work.

thing is, as I said in the original point I made about deafness;

Not all deaf people use hearing aids, and induction loops are as much use as a chocolate kettle, generally, if you don't have a hearing aid

edit to add.. as the chair of a major pan-disability consultative group, within the city, (which publishes academic papers as well) I think my remit pretty much covers the needs of most disabilities, although, naturally it is not exhaustive....

PT

Originally posted by Plain Talker
thing is, as I said in the original point I made about deafness;

Not all deaf people use hearing aids, and induction loops are as much use as a chocolate kettle, generally, if you don't have a hearing aid

edit to add.. as the chair of a major pan-disability consultative group, within the city, (which publishes academic papers as well) I think my remit pretty much covers the needs of most disabilities, although, naturally it is not exhaustive....

PT

Great. So please lets have a full list of all its publications for speech impaired people and their communications needs. Perhaps you could also explain why none of the organisations in this city seem able to deal with speech impairments and have no suitable facililties.

By the way my original post was not intended to consider any of the communications needs of deaf people because the RNID is there for precisely that purpose. Other than ARCOS which charges for its services, I have not found anything in the UK which deals with adult communications needs other than speech & language therapists which is not a representative body such as RNID or RNIB.

My post purely and simply related to the communications needs of speech impaired people, ie those who either can not speak or have difficulty in speaking for whatever reason; absolutely no other reason. I simply sought to point out that the phrase "speech impaired" is a generic term which covers a very wide range of communications needs. Furthermore there is a page out there somewhere that listed a plethora of conditions from A-Z and I think it may also have mentioned deaf/dumb issues; but again that falls within the remit of RNID.

As the Chair of this supposed [italic]"pan-disability consultative group, within the city, (which publishes academic papers as well)" [/quote] why havent we heard about it before and what does it do to assist with improving facilities & accessibility for speech impaired people?

To date I have seen not a shred of evidence that such facilities exist or that speech impairment needs are respected by any of the organisations I deail with in this City for the entire time since I lost my voice which is nearly 2 years.

Thanks.

the taxi rank still isn't finished yet apparentley as they are waiting the demolition of Dyson house...then it will be moved further up to...

the glass area thats opposite Marks and Spencer that's actually going to be the new (indoor) waiting room/drop off point for taxis

I have on a few oiccasions gone to the trouble of having a walk round the station just to see how things are progressing. It looks so much better than it did a couple of years ago and as it is still a work in progress I think we'rre going to have to just hope that the finished article is accessible for all.
I've got a friend in a wheelchair and have some knowledge of the help that can be given to disabled passengers, for example if required you can be met by a member of staff as you enter the station, they will get you on to your train and then at the other end assuming that you're going to a manned station you can be met and helped to continue your journey.
Wendy don't feel that you have to reply but what would you like these places to put in place to help with your particular disability. I suppose the most important thing is to have trained staff that understand that having a speech impairment is a disability and for the person concerned exttremely frustrating. My friend Matthew has a stutter/stammer that means holding a verbal conversation with him is if not impossible exceedingly frustrating. For ages he carried a pad and pen and would write notes. With the advances in technology he now carries at all times a little diddy keyboard that as he types into it reads his text out in an annoyingly american voice. He's found this very useful and as he can altewr the volume he is now very rarely ignored in shops or the pub or anywhere else for that matter.

by wendygs My post purely and simply related to the communications needs of speech impaired people, ie those who either can not speak or have difficulty in speaking for whatever reason; absolutely no other reason. I simply sought to point out that the phrase "speech impaired" is a generic term which covers a very wide range of communications needs. Furthermore there is a page out there somewhere that listed a plethora of conditions from A-Z and I think it may also have mentioned deaf/dumb issues; but again that falls within the remit of RNID.

As a disabled person, I see that you are making this a personal issue and being unfair to PT. And furthermore you are fragmenting the disabilty movement.

I feel that you are only looking at your own need and disregarding others.

I frequently use MM and have found the staff to be helpful (If treated with respect)

It is you who should be more tolerant to others instead of ME ! ME ! ME! , Oh and dont forget ME AGAIN:rant:

Wendy, I think you are being unnecessarily personal and hostile, when I was being nothing but helpful, pleasant and constructive in my suggestions.

Maybe this is why you are coming up against these barriers and "unhelpful staff" that you are constantly griping about?

The pan-disability group that you are being so scathing about, is actually a council-supported group, that is their main source of reference on disability issues.

It looks at the wider issues and needs, as far as it can, the whole of the community of folks who have disabilities; it does not focus on one type of impairment, to the detriment of others. It tries to accommodate, and find solutions which will suit/ benefit ALL, rather than a single, blinkered stance.

PT

Originally posted by doublewood
As a disabled person, I see that you are making this a personal issue and being unfair to PT. And furthermore you are fragmenting the disabilty movement.

I feel that you are only looking at your own need and disregarding others.

I frequently use MM and have found the staff to be helpful (If treated with respect)

It is you who should be more tolerant to others instead of ME ! ME ! ME! , Oh and dont forget ME AGAIN:rant:

Although I gather you may be disabled Wallbuilder, it is unclear if that is the case or how your disability affects you. I am glad to laern you have such good fortune with MM so perhaps you may like to explain how to communicate.

As regards my previous post, you observed, correctly, that I was angry with PT who I felt and continue to feel missed the point of my original post, ie a simple summary of issues affecting speech impaired people like myself, in good faith to SHsheff's queries.

It was not intended as a major treatise on speech impairment or all of the issues involved, merely a summary which I did my best to outline.

And yes I am very angry over the way I have been treated over the past 2 years with good reason. It is not a joke and has not been funny. I do not like being treated like an imbecile or having people refuse to deal with me because of my voice diffiuclties which one official correctly described as "debilitating". It is also a disgrace that a City which wishes to push forward its vision for the future has no research on suitable communications facilities for speech impaired people.

As also previously stated, it would be very useful for this major pan-City body that PT chairs to make available the research and reports on disability with specific regard to speech impairments. To date the Council has not done any work in this area and nothing has been done City-wide. As there is an estimated 2,500,000 speech impaired people nationwide, I think we can argue that it makes something of a nonsense of your argument that it is all about ME, ME, ME.

Originally posted by Plain Talker
Wendy, I think you are being unnecessarily personal and hostile, when I was being nothing but helpful, pleasant and constructive in my suggestions.

Maybe this is why you are coming up against these barriers and "unhelpful staff" that you are constantly griping about?

The pan-disability group that you are being so scathing about, is actually a council-supported group, that is their main source of reference on disability issues.

It looks at the wider issues and needs, as far as it can, the whole of the community of folks who have disabilities; it does not focus on one type of impairment, to the detriment of others. It tries to accommodate, and find solutions which will suit/ benefit ALL, rather than a single, blinkered stance.

PT

Thanks for your note but as it is gone midnight I do not have the time or energy to debate this any further for the time being. NN
:D

Hi Wendy,
Without knowing a lot morre about your personal circumstances and some of the no doubt totally infuriating responsess from badly trained staff I would never say you're saying 'Me, Me, Me'
I know from my dealings with my friend Matthew that he used to find his speech impairment caused a lot of people to think he was 'thick' which certainly isn't the case. this often led people to treat him in a rather patronising manner.
I think that quite rightly organisations are slowly becoming aaware of the complete spectrum of disabilities but there is still plenty of room for improvement and better training.
I know of disabled people and through conversations with them am often led to see the world in a different light, i.e. through their eyes.
In the case of your disability or any other disability for that matter I happen to believe that education is very important which basically means making able bodied people realise that although they can negotiate the world around them a disabled person may well not find things asa easy.

Maradonna? good, Pele? better, George Best

It's spelt Maradona ;)

Originally posted by WallBuilder
Hi Wendy,
Without knowing a lot morre about your personal circumstances and some of the no doubt totally infuriating responsess from badly trained staff I would never say you're saying 'Me, Me, Me'
I know from my dealings with my friend Matthew that he used to find his speech impairment caused a lot of people to think he was 'thick' which certainly isn't the case. this often led people to treat him in a rather patronising manner.
I think that quite rightly organisations are slowly becoming aaware of the complete spectrum of disabilities but there is still plenty of room for improvement and better training.
I know of disabled people and through conversations with them am often led to see the world in a different light, i.e. through their eyes.
In the case of your disability or any other disability for that matter I happen to believe that education is very important which basically means making able bodied people realise that although they can negotiate the world around them a disabled person may well not find things asa easy.

Whoops wallbuilder please excuse me for having inadvertently referred to one of the previous posters as if it were you. I was so distressed that I misread the name and now realise I should have referenced them as "doublewood".

And yes I think you have summed upnthe entire situation most succinctly. In the case of speech-impaired people "able-bodied" means anyone who is able to speak in a "normal" manner. Most regrettably I am unable to speak in that way; I get a lot of stick, wrongly I think, for challenging people's misperceptions of this disability.

I would like to chat more about this but dont believe I can add anything constructive at this late hour after several very long days. I responded to your post now because I would have felt that I was being very rude to ignore your kindness.

This thread has gone Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off topic. Whilst i'm not disputing the importance of the issue at hand, I see that it is moving away from the actual discussion of the rail station regeneration.

Driving past today, I couldn't see the new information boards on - are they still in a testing phase with them or something?

Last time I was in the station was last month and have to say how impressed I was with the concourse works.

Regarding the taxi rank access at present, yes it is rubbish, but as with most things in this city, it is a work in progress. I was present in a meeting some months back with PT, when the taxi rank arrangements were discussed and at some points, the debate became slightly heated. What I learned from that is that there needs to be greater co-operation between groups such as the Access Liaison Group and developers, so they can understand the needs better - this goes for the station and any other public facility.

In general, I think facilities for the disabled have improved significantly in recent years, thanks partly to the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) and the more involvement groups like the ALG can have with developers, and perhaps with Midland Mainline, so much the better.

the new boards are (as I said months ago) a real pain. It is really hard to see which train goes where as the boards constantly change and scroll.
either you're stuck there looking at which station your trains stops, or you've missed your service and it's on another screen because they insist on showing Train #2 and #3 on the same screen.

Some screen with FIXED info would be nice... I'm not Superman I can't look around like lightening.
Screens at Birmingham New Street are for more appropriate and easier to use. And they're flat screen televisions so easier to read than LED screens. pffewww that was my 2 pennies worth.

Originally posted by SWFC00
It's spelt Maradona ;)

I will go and correct that, now, TY for that.

Dinp I hope that you found the attendance at the meeting I chaired, useful.

It was a pleasure to have you attend, and, of course, you'd be more than welcome to attend future meetings, should you so wish.



PT

Originally posted by Plain Talker
I will go and correct that, now, TY for that.

Dinp I hope that you found the attendance at the meeting I chaired, useful.

It was a pleasure to have you attend, and, of course, you'd be more than welcome to attend future meetings, should you so wish.

PT

Thanks PT, it was indeed useful and I hope to be able to attend again before I (hopefully) enter full time work again in the summer, but i'll contact you about that nearer the time.

:)

The main departure board is massive, and is located in front of the Travel Centre, above the self service ticket machines. It shows about an hours worth of trains, with 2 lines for each train, the top line showing the departure time, destination, platform and whether the train is expected on time, and the second line shows all the train's stopping points, which scrolls if it is too long.

There is also a smaller departure board on the platforms, and platform indicators showing the next train in the same format as on the big departure board.

Finally, there are two screens built into the wall of WH Smith, as you walk in from the car park. One is an arrivals board, the other is a departure board.

All the new screens go live on Friday.

Is there any chance they may review the way the info is displayed on the new big screens ? Its all very well if you know the final destination of the train or the time it sets off, but otherwise you have to read through masses of info to see a train that stops where you wanna go.

In Croydon they have a fab board that shows all the stopping points listed from A-Z and against each is the time and platform for the next train you need to catch to go there. Much faster to find what you need if you're not a train spotter/know the local train system :thumbsup:

Personally I don't like those A-Z screens. They have them at Manchester Piccadilly, and it takes ages to find your destination, it's difficult to read as the text is too small, and it tends to flip round before you have read across to see what platform. Even then you aren't totally sure which train it is you are catching.

Generally irregular travellers have checked what time their train is and have come to the station for a specific train, so in my opinion it's much easier to look for the departure time (in time order) and reassure yourself you are looking at the correct time when you see your destination on the calling point list.

Regular travellers who want to know the next train generally know what final destinations to look for, as they are more familiar with the local network, so can easily just scan down the next few trains to leave until they see one that suits.

It is a system that is common across much of the Midland Mainline - the same type of equipment is allready in use at Derby, Loughborough, Leicester, Market Harborough, Kettering and Wellingborough, so many passengers will be familiar with the system. However, for those that aren't, it is a very easy to understand display.

Originally posted by Grissom
Is there any chance they may review the way the info is displayed on the new big screens ? Its all very well if you know the final destination of the train or the time it sets off, but otherwise you have to read through masses of info to see a train that stops where you wanna go.

In Croydon they have a fab board that shows all the stopping points listed from A-Z and against each is the time and platform for the next train you need to catch to go there. Much faster to find what you need if you're not a train spotter/know the local train system :thumbsup:

I can raise this on your behalf, when, in my capacity as chair, I next meet with the train station folks to discuss the access facilities.

PT

Oi! Please don't do that PT :(

That system is a real problem if you're trying to get to a place that has both intercity and local trains going to it.

It isn't unusual to find that if you wait 10mins for the next train to your destination, it will actually deliver you there quicker, but you can only tell that by knowing it's final destination :shakes:

Originally posted by Strix
Oi! Please don't do that PT :(

That system is a real problem if you're trying to get to a place that has both intercity and local trains going to it.

It isn't unusual to find that if you wait 10mins for the next train to your destination, it will actually deliver you there quicker, but you can only tell that by knowing it's final destination :shakes:

:D

'twas only an offer, Strix

:D

PT

Originally posted by Plain Talker
Wendy, I think you are being unnecessarily personal and hostile, when I was being nothing but helpful, pleasant and constructive in my suggestions.

Maybe this is why you are coming up against these barriers and "unhelpful staff" that you are constantly griping about?

The pan-disability group that you are being so scathing about, is actually a council-supported group, that is their main source of reference on disability issues.

It looks at the wider issues and needs, as far as it can, the whole of the community of folks who have disabilities; it does not focus on one type of impairment, to the detriment of others. It tries to accommodate, and find solutions which will suit/ benefit ALL, rather than a single, blinkered stance.

PT

I have discussed this substantially with my speech therapist because it is extremely distressing. She said the experiences I have been having with people about my voice is par for the course, something I can expect to experience as routine etc. A while ago I had a chance meeting with a woman in Sharrowvale who had no voice but which only happens if she has a cold and the infection goes straight to her larynx; she also agreed that people can be quite nasty about the problems involved.

I really like the addition of an M&S Simply Food. Extremely useful!

Originally posted by WallBuilder
Hi Wendy,
Without knowing a lot morre about your personal circumstances and some of the no doubt totally infuriating responsess from badly trained staff I would never say you're saying 'Me, Me, Me'
I know from my dealings with my friend Matthew that he used to find his speech impairment caused a lot of people to think he was 'thick' which certainly isn't the case. this often led people to treat him in a rather patronising manner.
I think that quite rightly organisations are slowly becoming aaware of the complete spectrum of disabilities but there is still plenty of room for improvement and better training.
I know of disabled people and through conversations with them am often led to see the world in a different light, i.e. through their eyes.
In the case of your disability or any other disability for that matter I happen to believe that education is very important which basically means making able bodied people realise that although they can negotiate the world around them a disabled person may well not find things asa easy.

A major problem with disabling speech impairments is that it is precisely because people ARE speech impaired that the issues affecting them are NOT discussed.

Other speech impaired people are far less fortunate than me becasue I have excellent keyboard skills and although acutely distressing, my voice loss is not a direct result of any medical conditions eg strokes, MS etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. I am also extremely articulate and powerful personalities like PT no longer initimidate me.

However it does not make voice loss any easier to handle when people in organisations are so obstructive and unhelpful. As I have quite a substantial amount of paper work on this area I will be more than happy to summarise some of it for a report on the issue in due course to create greater awareness.

It is precisely only lack of awareness of speech impairments is so great that I take every opportunity to raise this topic on SF which has 18,000 users and is therefore an excellent medium to expand on what is actually happening in practice on the ground for speech impaired people like myself.

Originally posted by wendygs
A major problem with disabling speech impairments is that it is precisely because people ARE speech impaired that the issues affecting them are NOT discussed.

Other speech impaired people are far less fortunate than me becasue I have excellent keyboard skills and although acutely distressing, my voice loss is not a direct result of any medical conditions eg strokes, MS etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. I am also extremely articulate and powerful personalities like PT no longer initimidate me.

However it does not make voice loss any easier to handle when people in organisations are so obstructive and unhelpful. As I have quite a substantial amount of paper work on this area I will be more than happy to summarise some of it for a report on the issue in due course to create greater awareness.

It is precisely only lack of awareness of speech impairments is so great that I take every opportunity to raise this topic on SF which has 18,000 users and is therefore an excellent medium to expand on what is actually happening in practice on the ground for speech impaired people like myself.

This is veering off the point again, but I work with the general public (Argos) and we are given no training about how to deal with disabled members of the public.

Granted, access in and around a store can't be compared to the transition from platform to train, but when I am confronted with a customer who has difficulties communicating one way or another, I as much as them find it a diffcult situation.

I'm not trained in sign language or anything specific to dealing with disabilities and in a hectic retail environment, sometimes common sense fails to surface when faced with a situation on the whim. For that I can only apologise, as I, and i'm sure 99% of employees in the public domain do their best to be as friendly and accommodating to every person they can be.

I'd urge you to raise this issue with as many companies as possible if you want to see improvements. I and other customer-facing people do the best we can although its not our fault that we don't know how to deal with every situation possible - we aren't trained to do so.

*digression* I haven't carefully studied every word on this thread, but are the digs at PT necessary? Grow up. * end of digression*

I walked through the station concourse on Tuesday and was happy to see the new information boards all lit up. i think they're much better than the old ones and just hope the sunlight doesn't obscure them int he daytime.

Also, outside the station, it seems they are laying the foundations for the 'Cutting Edge' sculpture - I just hope the station square doesn't take as long as Howard Street's pedestrianisation has

:gag:

Originally posted by Plain Talker
I can raise this on your behalf when I next meet with the train station folks.Please do, as I stated in the thread a few months when I learnt what kind of boards we'd get and how unpractical they are, I am really keen to have them replaced by the ones that are installed at Birmingham New Street which are TFT monitors with NON SCROLLING information.

Until today I have turned my back to the new screen and continued using the old CRT TVs which to this date are far easier to use than the new LED scroll menus.

Birmingham's information display:
http://www.vlaki.com/photos//044_England/02000_BIRMINGHAM/02000_New%20Street/20041204_New%20Street_005.JPG
http://www.vlaki.com/photos//044_England/02000_BIRMINGHAM/02000_New%20Street/20041204_New%20Street_003.JPG
They actually take less overall space and show more information.

there's no way they'll replace the new screens after the amount they have cost!.And despite any short comings they may have they are a VAST improvement on what was there previous.

Like I said ages ago on a station related thread....you can't please everyone..and they never will!

I met the MD of Midland Mainline a couple of weeks ago and asked him whether they were going to put in fast ticket machines at the tram end of the station.
I think this would be a great idea as I would actually like to buy my ticket before I travel and I often get the tram to the station.
Anyway, its in the pipeline :)

Oh, and I'm glad M&S has a unit there but I don't think my bank manager will be ;)

Originally posted by semerpus
there's no way they'll replace the new screens after the amount they have cost!.And despite any short comings they may have they are a VAST improvement on what was there previous.They could have gone for an even more efficient system, and cheaper: Solaris, in use in stations all over the world for decades. No problems with glare (Waterloo Station had to add covers over their screens a few weeks after they got installed).
Probably the best system for live departure boards ever invented.

Originally posted by Spanna2005
I met the MD of Midland Mainline a couple of weeks ago and asked him whether they were going to put in fast ticket machines at the tram end of the station.
I think this would be a great idea as I would actually like to buy my ticket before I travel and I often get the tram to the station.
Anyway, its in the pipeline :)

Oh, and I'm glad M&S has a unit there but I don't think my bank manager will be ;)

I believe there has always been plans to put in Fast-ticket machines on the tram stop lobby side, but not until all the building work is complete. However I've heard any new machines have been put on hold as they are looking at getting machines from an alternative supplier, as the current ones supplied by 'Shere' are not reliable enough.

Originally posted by dinp
I walked through the station concourse on Tuesday and was happy to see the new information boards all lit up. i think they're much better than the old ones Except if you're meeting somebody off a train :rant:

The new boards don't bother to tell you where a train is coming from - presumably in the name of 'clarity' :roll:

Originally posted by Strix
Except if you're meeting somebody off a train :rant:

The new boards don't bother to tell you where a train is coming from - presumably in the name of 'clarity' :roll:

Did the old boards tell you where the train was coming from?

Originally posted by dinp
Did the old boards tell you where the train was coming from?
Yes. The trains were identified by their origin and destination, with the time of arrival and departure from this station.

I prefer these to the other ones (including the birmingham ones) purely because i'm used to them from other MML stations.

Just be glad our station is open access :) can't get to meet people on the platforms at most stations

Originally posted by Strix
Except if you're meeting somebody off a train :rant:

The new boards don't bother to tell you where a train is coming from - presumably in the name of 'clarity' :roll:

There is an arrivals board built into the wall of WH Smith, which you see as you come in from the car park.

will there be an AMT coffee stand though, this is the sinle most important issue when discussing the regeneration of the station. AMT have gone and we are the poorer for it - please someone tell me they are coming back soon!

will there be an AMT coffee stand though, this is the sinle most important issue when discussing the regeneration of the station. AMT have gone and we are the poorer for it - please someone tell me they are coming back soon!

they do great yogushakes, it would be a shame for them to go :(

amt won't be returning.. fact.

cafe rizilla (?) opening up a cafe/bar just opposite smiths.

New departure boards don't show where services coming from but there is an arrivals board outside Smiths and all arrivals are announced in, including Nortern terminating services (unlike previously)
However they are are announced in as there departure time from their origin station which is confusing.

Originally posted by caustic
will there be an AMT coffee stand though, this is the sinle most important issue when discussing the regeneration of the station. AMT have gone and we are the poorer for it - please someone tell me they are coming back soon! and an excellent decision that was, no more stinking smell in the station, and no more 3 quid per sarny ! Honnestly not even Starbucks are that expensive !

We could do with a greasy spoon somewhere in a tucked alleyway on the staiton, my belly is hungry early in the morning !

Originally posted by Captain_Scarlet
We could do with a greasy spoon somewhere in a tucked alleyway on the staiton, my belly is hungry early in the morning !
I'm sure nobody would notice a burger van trading from the shortstay carpark of a morning - not amongst all those tradesmens vans that clutter the place up at that time ;)

Originally posted by Strix
I'm sure nobody would notice a burger van trading from the shortstay carpark of a morning - not amongst all those tradesmens vans that clutter the place up at that time ;) give me 'some' credit, I was thinking of somethine vaguely Health and Safety compliant, such as the masters at Mr B's ... B.E.T. ... :thumbsup:

I moved up north in nov 99 and the Train station had scafolding everywhere. It appears to have been like that for an eternity. The station, inside, is looking better, but when will the menace of the dust and roadworks be over?

when will the menace of the dust and roadworks be over?


August, 2184:D (actually, it'll probably be the same then:().

The work outside is being carried out by Interserve on behalf of Sheffield Council. The work inside is done apart from some ongoing minor bits such as repainting, new signage etc.

The Interserve works are due to be complete by December, at which time the road outside will also be realigned and resurfaced and the additional crossing at the bottom of Howard St created.

It does seem to taken an eternity to get it all done though.

It is quite a complicated area to build something and the issues involved in getting it done are numerous and varied.

But it will look good when it is done - IMO.

December opening... i'd expect fully fledged, Jan 07... should be quite spectacular once complete.

should be quite spectacular once complete.Yes the multiple traffic lights all in a line should create a nice vista of red, orange and green.

Mod Note: I've merged this one with a couple of older threads about the same thing- please have a browse as they have lots of discussion about the works, timescales and people's views of them.

Yes the multiple traffic lights all in a line should create a nice vista of red, orange and green.

Always someone winging. Don't drive along there then?

I'll be quite happy when it's finished, be a nice walk up to Howard St for me, make my journey very slightly shorter.

Latest photo (http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e393/SFStrix/SF%20Walk%208SEP06/station/?action=view&current=stationstitch.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1) - taken on Friday

If it's too dark, can somebody tell me so I can do something with it? ;)

there is a program that you can use, which lightens the pic without losing too much of the resolution...

being a typical blonde, i've forgotten the name of it... :(

there is a program that you can use, which lightens the pic without losing too much of the resolution...

being a typical blonde, i've forgotten the name of it... :(

I used PaintShop Pro 5 to adjust the brightness & contrast to give this (http://www.s1tos60.co.uk/images/stationstitch2.jpg).

I used PaintShop Pro 5 to adjust the brightness & contrast to give this (http://www.s1tos60.co.uk/images/stationstitch2.jpg).
Good God! Where's that tall building gone? Where's the Poly buildings? It's been a long time since I saw the station, so maybe I've got the perspective wrong. Where is the photo taken from?

I used PaintShop Pro 5 to adjust the brightness & contrast to give this (http://www.s1tos60.co.uk/images/stationstitch2.jpg).
Cheers sccsux :thumbsup:

I've got photoshop, but it's on the PC, so would have meant booting the other machine up and transferring it ;)

Good God! Where's that tall building gone? Where's the Poly buildings? It's been a long time since I saw the station, so maybe I've got the perspective wrong. Where is the photo taken from?
It's taken from the 4th or 5th floor of the station multi-storey carpark.
The poly is the tallest thing in the centre of the pic, the brown building to the bottom right of that is the NMB. Dyson house has been demolished (and was probably obstructing the stripey building to the left of the pic before).

You may be interested to learn that at the recent National Rail Awards, SYPTE won Project of the year for Sheffield station.

Thanks :) . I hadn't realised that Dyson House had been demolished.

Cheers sccsux :thumbsup:

You're quite welcome (only took a few seconds:D).


I've got photoshop

I really hate that program:mad: I've got v7, but I've still not used it (installed in 2004):o.

You may be interested to learn that at the recent National Rail Awards, SYPTE won Project of the year for Sheffield station.
We know ;) we've got the literature from the award ceremony ;)

Mr Strix's project team got 'Innovation of the year' :banana: :clap: :banana:

Does anybody no what`s wriong with the roof?
Theres always puddles ecerywhere.
Yesterday the booking office was closed and the man on the platform said it was flooded, he was stood next to a big taped off area on platform 5 which was also flooded.
I didn`t think we had that much rain:confused:

Does anybody no what`s wriong with the roof?
Theres always puddles ecerywhere.
Yesterday the booking office was closed and the man on the platform said it was flooded, he was stood next to a big taped off area on platform 5 which was also flooded.
I didn`t think we had that much rain:confused:

I think it was something to do with the sudden, and intense amounts of rain that fell yesterday afternoon...

"Not much rain????? " it came down in bucketloads!

lol i missed most of it in the darkroom, maybe i was just lucky and it didn`t seem any worse than usual when i got out.
I was surprised tho what with it being new and all.