Andy C

The work at Dore & Totley - both the doubling of the track through the station and the extension of the curve used by freight trains - is all about improving reliability by removing a bottleneck. The platforms have been lengthened to accommodate 6 cars so when Transpennine Express and East Midlands Railway run 6 car trains that call there passengers can access the seats in all 6 cars, rather than the 3-4 cars in the platform. Also as part of the same scheme a passing loop has been added at Bamford, allowing fast trains to overtake slow trains, there has also been resignalling. All the investment together improves capacity on the line so in theory a fourth train an hour could run (current service is a half hourly Sheffield to Liverpool express via Stockport and hourly Sheffield to Manchester stopping trains via Romiley). The problem is whilst there is now capacity for the extra train in the Hope Valley, there isn't in Manchester. HS2 would have resolved that...

Certainly a great statement of intent with the refurbishment, DJs downstairs and gigs upstairs, hopefully it will establish as a music venue again and be a success, my only wish is a better beer range.

could that have been the 752a school bus? https://bustimes.org/services/752a-hillsborough-bradfield-school

Additional bit of news from next door in North East Derbyshire (including Dronfield and Eckington)... Now launched is "Travel Derbyshire on Demand", a new bus service that doesn't have a route or timetable. You can use it for any journey within NE Derbyshire during the daytime Monday to Saturday that isn't catered for by normal scheduled bus services for a flat fare of £4 per ride for adults with Derbyshire Wayfarer tickets also accepted. You need to book your journey on their app or over the phone then the system will generate a bus route that serves everyone that has booked to travel. The service is funded by the Derbyshire Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) which the county council successfully bid to the government for funding . More information including a link to download the app >> https://www.roadxs.com/travel-derbyshire-on-demand/

We already have such tickets in South Yorkshire - https://www.sytravelmaster.com/

First up to mention is the Sheffield Connect City Centre bus service which will see the community minibuses currently operating replaced by electric single deckers with longer operating hours and a second route: SC1 - current route: Sheffield Interchange - Cathedral - Trippet Lane - City Hall - Rockingham Street - Moorfoot - Rail station - Sheffield Interchange SC2 - new route: Sheffield Interchange - Rail station - Moorhead - Moorfoot - Eyre Street - Arundel Gate - Snig Hill - Millsands - Castlegate - Sheffield Interchange bus 2/2a Sheffield - Chapeltown - Hoyland - Barnsley/Grimethorpe : timetable change bus 10/10a Manor Top - Hallamshire Hospital circular : timetable change bus 24 Woodhouse - City - Lowedges : timetable change bus 31 City - Upperthorpe - Hillsborough - Loxley : will no longer run to Loxley and go to Fox Hill and Parsons Cross instead bus 32 City - Northern General : route and timetable change bus 52a Woodhouse - Attercliffe - City - Broomhill - Crookes - Hillsborough: will be extended to Loxley Mondays to Saturdays, replacing bus 31 bus 58 Hillsborough - Wharncliffe Side : timetable change bus 72/72a Chapeltown - Manvers - Wath on Dearne - Swinton : route and timetable changes bus 73 Sheffield - Treeton - Rotherham: timetable change bus 97/98 Totley / Totley Brook - Abbeydale - City - Southey Green - Hillsborough: timetable change bus 137 Sheffield - Meadowhall - Rotherham : timetable change bus 208 Sheffield - Whiston : timetable change bus 218 Sheffield - Totley - Bakewell : summer timetable begins with more Sunday services bus 252 Sheffield - Gleadless - Ridgeway - Marsh Lane - Eckington - Crystal Peaks: timetable change bus M92 Hillsborough - Chapeltown - Harley: timetable change with a Saturday service added bus X1/X10 Sheffield - Meadowhall - Rotherham - Maltby: change of route between Sheffield and Rotherham (to use current X78 route) ; X10 renumbered X2 with some trips extended beyond Maltby to Doncaster. bus X5 Sheffield - Handsworth - Aston - Kiveton - Dinnington: timetable change, some trips extended beyond Dinnington to Maltby bus X78 Sheffield - Meadowhall - Rotherham - Conisborough - Doncaster: renumbered X3, change of route between Sheffield and Rotherham (to use current X1 route), timetable change. More details at https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/en-gb/newsupdates/service-changes#Sheffield Additionally from 22 March Supertram will no longer be operated by Stagecoach, with a new company publicly owned at arms length by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority taking over. This will mean Stagecoach tickets such as the Silver MegaRider and Gold MegaRider will no longer include tram travel (as they won't be a Stagecoach service), therefore the tickets to buy if you wish to combine bus and tram travel will be the all operator products in the Travelmaster range - see https://www.sytravelmaster.com/. If you only travel by tram then the only real difference is that if you currently buy tickets on the Stagecoach website or Stagecoach app you will need to use the new Travel South Yorkshire app instead.

Ah, exactly as per the consultation, it will have taken nearly 5 years to become reality though!

The council closed Pinstone Street / Leopold Street and the flagship bus stop facilities in 2020. There have been public consultations that said they would remodel Rockingham Street (as part of the same project as Pounds Park) and Arundel Gate (with bus gate) to create new replacement facilities with appropriate two way road capacity and proper, fully equipped bus stops. 4 years late neither has happened. Buses continue to stop at temporary stops with no facilities in unpleasant locations using unsuitable roads.

The existing contract with South Pennine Community Transport ends when the new electric buses comes in, I'm not sure if it is them or someone else who has won the new contract - it may not be decided yet, the closing date for tenders was a couple of weeks ago. The vehicles themselves are owned by SYMCA.

they are 30 years old. The tram will have been returned to depot to be fixed and a different tram will have been sent out to pick the service up in town.

The charging facilities for the electric buses have only just been installed in Sheffield Interchange and I'm not sure if the contract to operate the service has been awarded to an operator yet. The vehicles are BYD/ADL Enviro200EV buses. The other electric buses and charging infrastructure for South Yorkshire part funded by the ZEBRA scheme are for Stagecoach's Rawmarsh depot to be used on the Rotherham-Barnsley and Rotherham-Doncaster services, those vehicles are Yutong E12s. There are bids in to ZEBRA2 from SYMCA to get electric double deckers for Stagecoach's Ecclesfield and Holbrook depots, also from Derbyshire County Council to get electric buses for Stagecoach's Stonegravels depot.

No problem, they were introduced when the staffed travel shops were closed by SYPTE (as it was then) so have been around a while now, although initially they only sold Travelmaster products.

Confirmed that the line to Halfway and Herdings Park will reopen on Friday 23 Feb and a normal tram service will operate.

There are self service ticket vending machines that sell weekly and monthly passes for Supertram, Stagecoach bus, First bus and Travelmaster at bus interchanges such as Sheffield, Arundel Gate, Meadowhall, Hillsborough and Rotherham. They will continue to sell tram passes under the new operator.

The South Yorkshire Mayor (Oliver Coppard) who is implementing the new publicly owned company that are taking over the trams still hasn't made any announcements but the understanding is the only thing that will change ticketing wise is that Stagecoach only tickets will no longer include tram as it will no longer be a Stagecoach service. So the Stagecoach bus products like MegaRider Silver and MegaRider Gold will continue to be valid on Stagecoach buses but no longer include tram. https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/yorkshire/changes-to-tickets-march-24 Travelmaster products - such as Sheffield CityWide and South Yorkshire Connect - which include ALL operators will not change. https://www.sytravelmaster.com/. These are the tickets you will need to buy if you want to combine bus and tram travel in South Yorkshire on one ticket. Tram only tickets are expected to continue to exist in the same format and price but no longer be sold by the Stagecoach app or website after the operator change. They will continue to be available from vending machines, conductors etc along with a new Travel South Yorkshire app. Concessionary passes valid on all operators that are funded by the South Yorkshire Mayor I'd also expect to continue unchanged (imagine stopping them just before an election....)