Sheffield-Catcliffe-Rotherham Bus Woes

[Timewarper 10]

I thought I'd start this thread just to get an idea of how many other people are having problems with these services.

 

Background: For ages there were fairly OK bus services between these areas (when they ran to time, or at all!) until the 32 and X14 services were taken off in July and swapped for the 70, 72, 72A and 74.

 

Before the changes I was able to just leave an hour and a half to get to work and it took me approximately an hour to get home, whatever shift I worked. Now, if I work a Sunday shift I have to leave at least 2 hours to get to work and, unless I walk to Asda at Handsworth I have no choice but to go right into Sheffield and dog-leg back to where we live after the end of my shift. It's as bad at night too. There's only one bus that serves the area (unless I walk to Handsworth along a narrow, rough path through the woods along the side of the Parkway) and it runs at three minutes to the hour, which is totally no good when your shift finishes at 8pm or later - and it goes all the way into Sheffield - so there's that dog-leg again, taking nearly two hours for me to get home.

 

It's worse for some of my colleagues - there's no buses at night that run to Swallownest, so they either have to rely on friends, colleagues or driving family members, or walk home, which is not a safe option at this time of year.

 

Yes I've complained. I was told that it's being reviewed "in the Autumn" (no idea when in the Autumn, though!), another colleague was told in October, and another was told that they wouldn't be looking at it until at least next January!

 

How many others reading this have complained? What were you told? Were you given a resolution or fed a total crock? Let us all know. We might be able to get something sorted if we all band together...

[Andy C 86]

Where do you commute between?

 

All the changes are part of the new Rotherham bus partnership which was designed to improve buses in the Rotherham area, following extensive public consultation. It does however include a few cuts to services that no longer justify a subsidy due to low passenger numbers. I also feel they seem to be throwing up a lot of glass walls at city boundaries.

 

http://www.rotherhambuspartnership.co.uk/

[Fogey 10]

Funnily enough I wrote to my MP amongst others earlier this week complaining about the organisation of public transport services.

[Timewarper 10]

Andy, personally I commute between Hackenthorpe and the top of Woodhouse Road/Manor Top-Catcliffe during the week and Saturdays but on Sundays it's Hackenthorpe-city centre-Catcliffe.

 

Someone at Travel Line a while ago had said that there had been a public consultation meeting about the service for Sheffield last November but I didn't see anything anywhere about it and I don't know anyone else that did either.

 

The thing is, with the way they're working the buses now it's as though they're trying to get rid of the services entirely by making them as awkward as possible for people that work late (staff in Morrison's next door to us don't finish until 11pm so have it even worse), almost as though they're trying to make out that they're "underused" and so not worth the cost of running. I mean, why make the services run at such daft times and make it so difficult for people that use them on a daily basis?

 

The number 70 doesn't even go anywhere near Rotherham now - it runs a Dore-Poplar Way (Catcliffe) circular route.

[sheflad 11]

The reason that the 32 was changed was due to the flow of passengers that used that service in that people from the manor end of the route mostly only travelled between there and handsworth / catcliffe. Which is what this service caters for and the new 72 still provides a fairly quick service for Rotherham or Sheffield City centre for the other customers on the old 32 route to and from Rotherham.

[Andy C 86]

The consultation which was available online as well as at roadshows was discussed at the time on Sheffield Forum here: http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1245219&highlight=rotherham+bus+consultation.

 

Journeys to/from Sheffield City Centre and Rotherham town centre have genuinely improved. For example I travel to Harthill most Sundays and before there was one bus an hour from Halfway tram terminus. Now there is a direct Sheffield-Harthill bus every hour (the 74) as well as the Rotherham-Harthill bus every hour (29A) which is timed to connect at Kiveton with the X5 - effectively offering a bus every half hour - double what existed before.

 

I do feel that a lot of journeys, especially orbital ones, haven't been considered and that isn't just in this particular case.