Snake or Woodhead Pass : Which Sheffield to Manchester route?

[hels1977 10]

If it's such a nightmare, why do people drive to Manchester? Why don't they get the train instead? Is it because it takes too long to get to Sheffield station?

 

It might be because driving is cheaper. Even with the cost of fuel - driving is still cheaper than the train. £17.40 for a normal return - fuel to Manchester and back is cheaper, by a long chalk.

 

A season ticket is £263 for 1 month. Say 5 days on a regular commute x 4 weeks, 20 days is about £13.50 a day - still more expensive than the train.

 

The only way the train becomes cheaper is if you don't have parking and need to use Manchester city centre carparks, some of which are around £8-£10 a day.

[zippy 10]

Possibly never.

 

You can bet that if it was in the home counties it would be a national emergency..

 

hardly Snake is one of a number of routes from the North midlands, South and west yorks over to Stoke / stockport / manchester

 

A50 / A6/ snake/ woodhead/ holme moss (firmly light vehicles only ) / a couple of routes that got through hudds and halifax / M62

 

add to that difficulties of developing in the Peak Park when there is the A50. A6 and M62 as well as the other routes in existance ...

[MichaelJP 10]

It is a very important route though, the Woodhead is already saturated with heavy lorries and Castleton/Winnat's Pass would not stand heavy traffic volumes.

 

Its always been subject to subsidence, especially that section from Alport bridge that runs alongside the river on the side of the valley.

 

Maybe there should be a lorry ban from now on, nothing over 10 tonnes.

[chris@25 10]

I emailed Derbyshire CC and got this reply:

 

 

The latest news regarding the Snake Pass is that it will be closed for

the foreseeable future as the landslip has not yet ceased its movement.

As soon as this movement has stopped a full and no doubt lengthy

assessment will be carried out on how best to proceed with possible

repairs to prevent a reoccurrence. I am sorry I can be no more

definitive over the timescales, however, I am sure you can appreciate

our concerns for public safety.

[hillsbro 33]

We've been here before. In the 1970s, west of Castleton, the A625 went via the foot of Mam Tor, but the road was forever subsiding. After several patch-up jobs the subsidence became so bad that they gave up and closed the road. So we were left with the narrow road up Winnats Pass with its 1 in 5 gradient. If the Snake Pass also had to be closed permanently (as per post #61 on this thread) then that would be another route to Manchester gone west (no pun intended).

 

People sometimes wonder why there is no direct motorway between Sheffield and Manchester. Such a motorway was considered in the 1960s and 1970s, branching off the M1 near Chapeltown and going more-or-less via the Stocksbridge by-pass and over Woodhead. But that would mean building a motorway through a national park (horror of horrors...) and so all we have is the upgraded A616 from Junction 35A and the by-pass, leading to the Woodhead bottleneck. An American friend whom I met at Manchester Airport was amazed that there wasn't a good, multi-lane highway connecting the two cities.

 

As and when the Snake Pass is open again, I quite agree with MichalJP that banning lorries from using it would help, as subsidence is likely to be a continuing problem and HGV's must take a heavier toll on the foundations.

[spoofs 10]

I agree about Sheffield getting cut off . I work in Manchester and take the train mainly but the East Midlands trains are appalling ( I need to catch these as get off at Oxford Road). They are often late, often cancelled and I keep getting put off at Stockport to catch the Trans Pennine. Sometimes I need to take the car but with the Snake closed, the Stocksbridge/Oughtibridge Road closed for coming back , and the A6 like a car park at busy times... How difficult can it be to travel 35 miles between two major Uk cities!

 

Interestingly enough, I used to work in Leeds ( a similar distance) and the journey, even at busy times , used to take 1hr 15 max. It takes me 2 hours to get to Manchester at the moment.

[hels1977 10]

Slightly off topic...agreed about East Midlands service, Spoofs, I do the journey myself. The Norwich, Nottingham trains are appauling but I highly recommend the Cleethorpes service from Piccadilly (when there's not a derailed train though). It's generally less crowded and Oxford Road is a short walk from Piccadilly or change etc. I have to ask though - 2 hours? You're not getting the slow train that calls *everywhere* per chance? If you get the fast one to Piccadilly then change to platform 14 for an Oxford Road train it's much quicker. I can't figure out how it's 2 hours long though, even on a bad day!

 

If Snake's Pass is closed for good then it's just another life blood closed to Sheffield for commuters and business alike. Not everyone wants to or needs to take the train - and based on the East Midlands level of service, that would be completely understandable.

[spoofs 10]

I've just read the post about why don't people take the train to Manchester?? - I prefer the train but it keeps making me an hour late for meetings - the service from East Midlands Trains is terrible with hardly any trains on time and many cancelled - standing up - not enough carriages - and the fares have just gone up to over £18 for a day return. Its not worth getting a season ticket unless you go every day - which I don't. I was even late for the interview for the job I have now because the East Mids Train to Manchester was 50m late. I now travel by train 2 - 3 days a week and drive when I need to be somewhere in the North West on time!

[hels1977 10]

Which service to you catch Spooks?

[spoofs 10]

No I don't take the slow train - the 2 hours includes the time it takes me to get to the station in Sheffield - and I drive usually. If I took the bus it would be even longer. I live in S11 and traffic into town is slow . Driving ( even with the queue in Mottram when the Snake is open) is quicker as I live within easy reach of the Snake.

 

I would like to use my car much less but if I used purely public transport, commuting to Manchester would be untenable as I would have to spend 4.5 hours a day travelling to work and back.

[hels1977 10]

Oh okay, yeah I suppose mine is 1hr 20min ish minutes door to door, it's not the train that takes the time, it's the station and back... That said the TPE services do usually get me there in 1hour or less most days. I also refuse to travel to the station at peak times, I'd rather work stupidly long days than face Sheffield station at 8am or 5pm. *shudders*

[TeaFan 10]

It might be because driving is cheaper. Even with the cost of fuel - driving is still cheaper than the train. £17.40 for a normal return - fuel to Manchester and back is cheaper, by a long chalk.

 

A season ticket is £263 for 1 month. Say 5 days on a regular commute x 4 weeks, 20 days is about £13.50 a day - still more expensive than the train.

 

The only way the train becomes cheaper is if you don't have parking and need to use Manchester city centre carparks, some of which are around £8-£10 a day.

 

Cheers for that. I guess this is why people say that, despite the high cost of fuel, driving has been getting progressively cheaper than public transport for many years. This seems like a bad idea to me (and probably to lots of people stuck in traffic between Sheffield and Manchester). It's almost as if we need a well-subsidised national rail network based around providing service instead of making a profit. On second thoughts, that would never work: some scumbags would just come along and privatise it.