Buses And Trams - Summer 2021 Services

[Andy C 86]

Timetable changes come in on some routes from 18th July for the summer holidays. In Sheffield:

- routes 1/11 reduced weekday daytime frequency

- routes 7/8 reduced weekday daytime frequency

- routes 24/25 reduced weekday daytime frequency and some minor tweaks to evening timings

- routes 52/52a reduced weekday daytime frequency

- route 120 reduced weekday daytime frequency

- X5/X54 amended timetable reflecting no school travel

New timetables can be downloaded as PDFs at https://travelsouthyorkshire.com/en-gb/newsupdates/service-changes#sheffield.

 

You may also find the bustimes.org website useful, which includes a map showing live tracking of buses for operators participating in the Bus Open Data project - in our area these are currently First, Stagecoach, TM Travel and Hulleys of Baslow.

 

The Hope Valley Explorer tourist bus service H1 will run on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays from 24th July to 30th October. This runs between Derwent Dams (Fairholmes visitor centre), Bamford railway station, Hope, Castleton and the Blue John Cavern.  Details https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/yorkshire/hope-valley-explorer 

 

Seaside Express X98/X99

Alton Towers service X71

Hulleys of Baslow are now operating weekend bus services  from Sheffield to Alton Towers, Skegness, Ingoldmells, Bridlington, Filey and Scarborough. Special fares apply.  See their website or Facebook page. 

Snake X57 

Also on the subject of Hulleys of Baslow, their X57 bus is now running its full schedule from Sheffield to Glossop, Manchester and Manchester Airport with departures every 2 hours and late evening services operating on Friday and Saturdays (last bus back from Manchester City Centre to Sheffield at midnight on those days). Return fare to Glossop is £7.50, Manchester £10, Manchester Airport £15. 

 

Other Peak District buses from Sheffield

Also already operating to summer schedules are the following buses:

65 to Buxton (Stagecoach)

218 to Chatsworth & Bakewell (TM Travel)

257 via Yorkshire Bridge and Bamford to Bakewell (Hulleys of Baslow)

271/272 to Castleton (First and Hulleys of Baslow)

X17 to Matlock via Chesterfield limited stop

Timetables for buses in Derbyshire can be downloaded at http://www.derbysbus.info/times/

 

Coronavirus safety restrictions on public transport

From Monday 19th July most national legal restrictions are lifted although you are advised to carry on doing some things on a voluntary basis until the pandemic is over, this includes wearing face coverings in busy indoor/enclosed places such as on buses, trams and trains and maintaining social distancing where possible. Public transport operators are making the full capacity of vehicles available from Monday but ask passengers are considerate and follow that advise where possible. The Sheffield City Region Mayor has made it a legal requirement locally to continue wearing face coverings in bus stations unless exempt.

 

Public transport operators like many businesses are struggling to fully staff due to the numbers getting "pinged" to self isolate by the NHS Test & Trace app so missing services are possible and passengers are advised to allow extra time for journeys as a precaution.

 

Zoom Beyond - new concessionary pass for 18-21 year olds

Those in the 18-21 age group can now apply for a Zoom Beyond card which entitles them to travel on buses and trams within South Yorkshire for just 80p per ride. See https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/en-gb/ticketsandpasses/18-21-pass

 

Buying unlimited travel passes online

Here are the links

Travelmaster (accepted by all operators)

First (or use their app)

Stagecoach (or use their app)

 

Supertram

• Yellow route (Meadowhall-Middlewood) now running the full pre-covid timetable with trams up to every 10-12 mins Mon-Sat daytime and every 20 minutes evenings and Sundays.
• Blue route (Halfway-Malin Bridge) continues to run an amended Covid timetable with trams every 15-20 minutes.
• Purple route (Herdings Park-City) is now running the pre-covid timetable with trams every 30 minutes all day every day.
• Tram Train route (Parkgate/Rotherham Central-Sheffield Cathedral) is running about every 30 minutes all day every day including late evening services Mon-Sat (last departure from Sheffield to Rotherham now at 23:27 on these days).

More information at supertram.com

 

Tram tickets continue to be frozen at last years prices, additionally a new Flexi5 ticket deal has been introduced exclusively on the Stagecoach app offering 5 tram DayRider tickets for the price of 4, which may be attractive to part time commuters who do not travel often enough for a weekly or monthly pass to be worthwhile.

 

Tramlines festival : 23-25 July, Hillsborough Park

To get there by tram the best entrance is Middlewood Road which is close to Hillsborough Park tram stop on the Yellow route, alternatively it is walkable from Hillsborough which is also on the Blue route. Coming back the festival exit for the tram is Leppings Lane, follow the signs in the festival site. Post event (22:00 Fri/Sat, 21:00 Sun) this will be the only tram stop in the area open for an hour or so and will have extra trams and a queuing system staffed with stewards and conductors. There will be changes to the Blue and Purple routes to facilitate this. More info here.

For travel to the festival by bus check out the Travel South Yorkshire information page here.

 

Family travel tickets

•  First bus offer a family all day travel ticket valid for up to 2 adults and 3 children offering unlimited travel across their network in South Yorkshire and the Hope Valley costing £9 on their app or £10 from the bus driver.
•  Stagecoach offer a choice of 2 family tickets - Tram Only for £9 or Gold for £12. The Gold ticket includes all Stagecoach buses in South & West Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire as well as Supertram.
•  Stagecoach also do a weekend "Five for a Fiver" offer allowing a group of up to 5 people travelling together unlimited all day travel by Stagecoach bus (does not include tram) across South Yorkshire and Chesterfield for just £5. This is available Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays plus Friday nights.
• Hulleys of Baslow offer a Family Hopper ticket for £16 on their core Peak District network including Sheffield. It can't be used to travel to Glossop/Manchester or Alton Towers.

Edited July 16, 2021 by Andy C

[GleadlessLad 12]

Thanks Andy.

 

Do you have any idea please of any plans by Supertram to reinstate the pre-Covid timetable for the Blue Route? 

 

Currently the last tram from Malin Bridge to Halfway departs Malin Bridge at 21:43.  This means that there's no service whatsoever from  City Centre to Halfway after 22:00.

Edited July 17, 2021 by GleadlessLad

[Andy C 86]

20 hours ago, GleadlessLad said:

Thanks Andy.

 

Do you have any idea please of any plans by Supertram to reinstate the pre-Covid timetable for the Blue Route? 

 

Currently the last tram from Malin Bridge to Halfway departs Malin Bridge at 21:43.  This means that there's no service whatsoever from  City Centre to Halfway after 22:00.

Are you sure that is right? The timetable currently on the Stagecoach website shows the last trams from Malin Bridge being 23:23 to Halfway (23:39 at Cathedral) and 00:03 to Cricket Inn Road. https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables.

 

I imagine the reduced daytime frequency will stay until the industry wide staff shortages caused by staff being pinged by the NHS to self isolate is over and demand for travel during the summer holidays is typically lower anyway.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Andy C

[GleadlessLad 12]

Thanks Andy C - you're right, the timetable on the website via the link does indicate that, wef 12 April, the late evening trams will be running on the full Blue Route, thank you.

 

It's a bit odd because I previously downloaded a Blue Route timetable, via a link which Supertram had posted on their Twitter Feed, which also states wef from 12 April - & that definitely shows that the last tram from Malin Bridge to Halfway departs Malin Bridge at 21:43, thereafter they terminate at Cricket Inn Rd instead of Halfway.  I guess that it's probably been updated since.

 

For me, the reduced daytime frequency isn't really an issue at present because I'm fortunate enough to still be working at home, which won't change for the foreseeable future.

 

Thanks again.

Edited July 18, 2021 by GleadlessLad

[Andy C 86]

7 hours ago, GleadlessLad said:

Thanks Andy C - you're right, the timetable on the website via the link does indicate that, wef 12 April, the late evening trams will be running on the full Blue Route, thank you.

 

It's a bit odd because I previously downloaded a Blue Route timetable, via a link which Supertram had posted on their Twitter Feed, which also states wef from 12 April - & that definitely shows that the last tram from Malin Bridge to Halfway departs Malin Bridge at 21:43, thereafter they terminate at Cricket Inn Rd instead of Halfway.  I guess that it's probably been updated since.

 

For me, the reduced daytime frequency isn't really an issue at present because I'm fortunate enough to still be working at home, which won't change for the foreseeable future.

 

Thanks again.

Mistakes can happen and probably did...

[BigAl1 143]

Hulleys of Baslow are now operating weekend bus services  from Sheffield to Alton Towers, Skegness, Ingoldmells, Bridlington, Filey and Scarborough. Special fares apply.  See their website

 

it may well be on their web site somewhere but i could not see it

On 17/07/2021 at 18:13, GleadlessLad said:

Thanks Andy.

 

Do you have any idea please of any plans by Supertram to reinstate the pre-Covid timetable for the Blue Route? 

 

 

I think you can safely assume that Supertram will try and keep it as long as possible.

[Andy C 86]

22 hours ago, Bigal1 said:

I think you can safely assume that Supertram will try and keep it as long as possible.

Certainly whilst the "pingdemic" is ongoing I suspect..