Plan To Remove Sheffield Rail Link To Manchester Airport

[nightrider]

13 hours ago, Westie1889 said:

Hope this doesn’t happen as the direct train is a godsend, especially coming back at busy times as it guarantees you a seat whereas changing at Piccadilly makes that much less likely.

 

 

Yup. Have lost count of how many times I had reserved seats on both trains and then found the second train was cancelled and I had to jam in another like a sardine! Thats why I try to use direct trains as much as possible. This is not just about manchester, this is a direct link from a major city to its major airport. Will likely drive and pollute the peak district instead.

[enntee]

Not currently running, but National Express has always been an alternative. Can take up to 2 hours+, but saves changing anywhere.

[Westie1889]

5 hours ago, nightrider said:

Yup. Have lost count of how many times I had reserved seats on both trains and then found the second train was cancelled and I had to jam in another like a sardine! Thats why I try to use direct trains as much as possible. This is not just about manchester, this is a direct link from a major city to its major airport. Will likely drive and pollute the peak district instead.

Spot on it’s a major link and with the planned growth at Manchester airport it would be a shame for Sheffield to be even further away time-wise.

I use it (or did pre-Covid) for work flights at least a couple of times a month and more through the winter, it will make business travel more difficult, especially the early morning flights as the extra time and greater risk due to more connections

probably makes for an overnight stay at the airport.

I used to drive but missed flights due to accidents etc on the roads so the train is the best way.

If this happens I think that Sheffield then has no direct rail link to an airport - not great when trying to pitch for investment in the city internationally.

 

[BigAl1]

I have always allowed for the train to be cancelled heading for the airport. . Yes early mornings are a real pain heading to the airport.

[enntee]

1 hour ago, Bigal1 said:

I have always allowed for the train to be cancelled heading for the airport. . Yes early mornings are a real pain heading to the airport.

Snap.

[Westie1889]

1 hour ago, Bigal1 said:

I have always allowed for the train to be cancelled heading for the airport. . Yes early mornings are a real pain heading to the airport.

In a perfect world yes I would too but I travel too much to allow lots of room for error or I would spend half my week in train stations and airports hanging around etc

tbf the direct train is very reliable, I usually aim to get there 1 hour minimum before my flight and haven’t missed one yet.

I expect I will use Manchester less if they change things and will fly out of London more as I’m down there every Monday in the office.

It seems typical of UK infrastructure projects, to make something better we will make something else worse - crazy really.

Most airports in Europe I use have really good public transport connections for the wider area, In Germany the inter city connections have airports as key hubs so you can go directly to most places really quickly after you land.

Italy is good too and even some parts of Spain as long as you aren’t trying to go north to south or vice versa.

With our relatively small geography surely we should be doing better than this?

 

 

[enntee]

4 hours ago, Westie1889 said:

In a perfect world yes I would too but I travel too much to allow lots of room for error or I would spend half my week in train stations and airports hanging around etc

tbf the direct train is very reliable, I usually aim to get there 1 hour minimum before my flight and haven’t missed one yet.

I expect I will use Manchester less if they change things and will fly out of London more as I’m down there every Monday in the office.

It seems typical of UK infrastructure projects, to make something better we will make something else worse - crazy really.

Most airports in Europe I use have really good public transport connections for the wider area, In Germany the inter city connections have airports as key hubs so you can go directly to most places really quickly after you land.

Italy is good too and even some parts of Spain as long as you aren’t trying to go north to south or vice versa.

With our relatively small geography surely we should be doing better than this?

 

 

Over 10 years usage, I would say that I have had around 10% of the early morning trains trom Sheffield cancelled.

[Westie1889]

8 hours ago, enntee said:

Over 10 years usage, I would say that I have had around 10% of the early morning trains trom Sheffield cancelled.

Wow 10% that’s huge, I must have been lucky.

I see quite a few delays on the Northern services at Dore but hopefully that gets sorted when they finally carry out the work they have planned, although saying that it was originally planned for 2017 I think so don’t hold your breath.

[BigAl1]

I have never caught the early morning trains and have always gone by car for the early mornings

 

To be honest I have always preferred to be at the airport early and as I fly business class then I have the lounge to sit in and relax have a shower and a meal etc

[nightrider]

16 minutes ago, Bigal1 said:

I have never caught the early morning trains and have always gone by car for the early mornings

 

To be honest I have always preferred to be at the airport early and as I fly business class then I have the lounge to sit in and relax have a shower and a meal etc

Yes for early morning flights I have always driven....because you cannot trust the train to turn up. Oh well with no train at all at least we would know where we stand in future!