Supertram line extensions? Sheffield to Rotherham?

[vinceb 10]

How about Manchester, they have very similar trams (in that they can and do run on roads, have different levels inside and are about the same width as here). Do they allow bikes?

 

Apparently not:

Can I take my Bicycle on the tram?

Sorry, bicycles are not allowed on Metrolink vehicles unless they are folding and fully encased.

 

http://www.metrolink.co.uk/contactus/faqs.asp

[alchresearch 215]

Vinceb is right but I have seen bikes on there occasionally but that was a couple of years back.

[Annie Bynnol 613]

But the Merseyrail system is far more akin to the tram than a train. It might run on rails away from roads but is still an electric, short-range mass transit system.

 

Merseyrail:

"All trains have designated areas for cyclists situated at both ends of the train". So other passengers would therefore not be affected by the presence of cycles as they would on Supertram. As they are trains the guard has discretion over how many are carried.

 

Merseyrail 192 miles and 67 stations- ie every 2.8 miles there is a station.

Supertram 18 miles and 48 stations- 2.7 stations a mile.

 

Sadly the Supertram was not designed to carry bicycles.

There is no place to put them as prams/wheelchairs/disabled seats surely have priority-they have people in them.

Bicycle carrying would increase journey times as they would take longer to get on/off and be in the way of other passengers as they enter/exit.

What insurance would the cyclist have to carry to indemnify me and Stagecoach from injury or damage to property?

I hope that cycles could be carried on the tram-train between Sheffield and Parkgate as this is involves a new design and reasonable distances.

Also two-thirds of the routes in Sheffield are flat and you can at most times put your bike on train from Medowhall to Sheffield.

[alchresearch 215]

Merseyrail:

"All trains have designated areas for cyclists situated at both ends of the train". So other passengers would therefore not be affected by the presence of cycles as they would on Supertram. As they are trains the guard has discretion over how many are carried.

 

Those end carriages get filled up pretty quickly - especially if you find some moron with his brand new bike already there won't allow anyone to lean theirs against it for fear of scratching.

 

Luckily the trains have doors on both sides at numerous points of each of the three carriages, and only one side is used (the other would open onto the track!) so plenty of people stand with their bikes at each unused door.

 

Sometimes it gets a little crowded - particularly when people want to stand by the doors and not further down the train in the empty isles - but generally it works OK.

 

Bicycle carrying would increase journey times as they would take longer to get on/off and be in the way of other passengers as they enter/exit.

 

Doesn't happen on Merseyrail so I don't see why it should on the tram.

 

What insurance would the cyclist have to carry to indemnify me and Stagecoach from injury or damage to property?

 

Again, doesn't happen on Merseyrail nor trains in general so why should it with the tram?

 

 

Also two-thirds of the routes in Sheffield are flat and you can at most times put your bike on train from Medowhall to Sheffield.

 

I'd say that 100% of all routes are flat but its still a popular option.

Edited April 18, 2012 by alchresearch

[maloney111 10]

That would have been hideous to look at and hideously expensive I'll bet.

 

yeh it looks great as it is, you get a great view when your stuck behind it for half an hour.

[Annie Bynnol 613]

Trams in the UK do not carry bicycles unless folded.

Sheffield/Blackpool/Croydon/Nottingham/Birmingham/Manchester/Docklands Light Railway and Newcastle are the 8 modern tramways in the UK. None allow unfolded bikes despite campaigns by cycling pressure groups

 

Railway companies can carry bicycles on their trains at the discretion of the guard.

Merseyrail is a railway operated by electric multiple units. It is heavy rail. The trains are bigger. The trains are longer. The doors are wider. There are more doors and so bicycles are carried at the discretion of the guard.

It is an offence to block doorways with bicycles or anything else and as trains use the doorways on both sides their journeys I can only assume that bicycles are continually being moved from one side of the train to the other.

[AndrewC 310]

yeh it looks great as it is, you get a great view when your stuck behind it for half an hour.

 

I would say "think beyond just you and your view from your car", but as with many a motorist, that's not going to happen is it? I mean, after all, you're the only person that matters maloney.

[dosxuk 10]

It is an offence to block doorways with bicycles or anything else and as trains use the doorways on both sides their journeys I can only assume that bicycles are continually being moved from one side of the train to the other.

 

No, they're only permitted to be carried if there is space in the dedicated cycle stowage area. Many local trains can only carry a couple of cycles and if you turn up to a station with a bike, and those spaces are already taken, tough luck - your options are to abandon your bike, or abandon catching the train.

 

Anyone deciding to put their bike against a (unused at that stop) door is likely to be told by the guard that they can't take their cycle on the train, regardless of them offering to swap it from side to side.

 

Numerous cycle groups have also complained about this...

[Annie Bynnol 613]

No, they're only permitted to be carried if there is space in the dedicated cycle stowage area. Many local trains can only carry a couple of cycles and if you turn up to a station with a bike, and those spaces are already taken, tough luck - your options are to abandon your bike, or abandon catching the train.

 

Anyone deciding to put their bike against a (unused at that stop) door is likely to be told by the guard that they can't take their cycle on the train, regardless of them offering to swap it from side to side.

 

Numerous cycle groups have also complained about this...

 

 

In was replying to the following from another post:

Luckily the trains have doors on both sides at numerous points of each of the three carriages, and only one side is used (the other would open onto the track!) so plenty of people stand with their bikes at each unused door.

This post implied that these were events were common on Merseyrail.

 

I totally agree with what you say and said so. I was trying to point out that not only was it an offence but also pretty stupid to place your bike against any door as some stations have single or island platforms where the doors open on the "wrong" side and so the cyclist would have to move their bike, so not only an offence but an inconvenience to the cyclist who would be better off putting the bike in the areas at the ends of the train in the first place.

[maloney111 10]

i would say "think beyond just you and your view from your car", but as with many a motorist, that's not going to happen is it? I mean, after all, you're the only person that matters maloney.

 

correct!!!!

[Guest busdriver1]

correct!!!!

 

Therer is me and all the others stuck behind these trams as well. Annoyingly when you get a look on them between Gleadless and Halfway and apart from a couple of trips there is often more staff than passengers on them.

[Cyclone 10]

Merseyrail:

"All trains have designated areas for cyclists situated at both ends of the train". So other passengers would therefore not be affected by the presence of cycles as they would on Supertram. As they are trains the guard has discretion over how many are carried.

 

Merseyrail 192 miles and 67 stations- ie every 2.8 miles there is a station.

Supertram 18 miles and 48 stations- 2.7 stations a mile.

 

Sadly the Supertram was not designed to carry bicycles.

There is no place to put them as prams/wheelchairs/disabled seats surely have priority-they have people in them.

Quite often they don't have any disabled people, prams or wheelchairs in them, and why should a pram have priority anyway?

Bicycle carrying would increase journey times as they would take longer to get on/off and be in the way of other passengers as they enter/exit.

No more so than someone with luggage, which I've never noticed causing a problem.

What insurance would the cyclist have to carry to indemnify me and Stagecoach from injury or damage to property?

None, just like all the other passengers and all the other stuff they carry onto the tram.

I hope that cycles could be carried on the tram-train between Sheffield and Parkgate as this is involves a new design and reasonable distances.

So you expect people to cycle to the city centre, to catch a train to meadowhall, to catch a tram to rotherham?

Also two-thirds of the routes in Sheffield are flat and you can at most times put your bike on train from Medowhall to Sheffield.

2 3rds of which routes? The tram routes I assume. How does that help if it's a 5 mile cycle to the nearest tram stop and a 5 mile cycle from your destination when you get off. You're saying that because it's flat they should cycle from Hillsborough to Crystal Peaks? Or take a train in a direction they don't want to travel?