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Trams To Hillsborough For Tramlines

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Due to the "Pingdemic" and many staff having to isolate, hope no one is expecting to catch a tram home after Tramlines this weekend... :hihi:

 

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Urgent Travel Advice for Tramlines Festival – Friday 23 to Sunday 25 July

22/07/2021

 

Stagecoach Supertram, SYPTE and Tramlines have issued travel advice for visitors to the Tramlines festival taking place this weekend (Friday 23 to Sunday 25 July).    

A normal tram service is planned to run throughout the day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the area so people can travel to the venue and others can make their journeys as normal.    

However, a joint decision has been made not to run evening trams in the area of the festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening. All services will terminate at Shalesmoor from around 9pm on Friday and Saturday and 8pm on Sunday. This is because Stagecoach Supertram has reduced staff resource at the current time, primarily due to a surge in employees being contacted with a self-isolation instruction through the NHS Test and Trace system.  

Bus services will continue to run as per the planned timetables and Supertram tickets are valid on all buses where trams would have been running. As buses are expected to be very busy, festival goers are advised to make alternative arrangements for their return after the festival.   

Tim Bilby, Managing Director of Supertram, said: “In common with many other organisations across the country, we have seen a surge in staff absence over the last week, largely due to our employees being contacted with a self-isolation instruction through the NHS Test and Trace system. 

“We are continuing to run the vast majority of tram services with the reduced resource we have available, however this does mean we are unable to provide a tram service on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings for people returning from the Tramlines festival.  

“We are planning to run all other services as normal over the weekend and details of our timetable can be found at https://www.stagecoachbus.com/news/yorkshire/2021/july-2021/tramlines-festival-23-to-25-july-2021-travel-information.” 

Tim Taylor, Director of Customer Services from SYPTE said: “We’re seeing a significant increase in related worker absence right across the transport industry and Supertram services are impacted by this.  

“Festival-goers planning to travel by public transport can be confident the network remains safe and clean. But bus services after the event are likely to be busier and journeys might take longer, so please plan ahead and make alternative arrangements where you can.  

“We’re also encouraging anyone using buses, trams or trains over the weekend to continue to follow advice about hand washing and keeping windows open to help with ventilation, wherever possible. Face masks are still mandatory in bus stations and transport interchanges across South Yorkshire, and we’re strongly encouraging people to follow Government guidance that expects and recommends the wearing of face coverings on board public transport, if they can.” 

Timm Cleasby, Head of Operations for Tramlines, said: “We fully understand the pressures key workers are under across the country and for the safety of all festival-goers, we came to a joint decision that services would not run after the event. 

"It won't squash the full festival spirit as we have a great weekend ahead. We advise our ticket holders to look into alternative routes away from the festival."  

 

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I could be wrong but I think they don’t usually run after Tramlines anyway.

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The trams normally do run after Tramlines - every 5 minutes from Leppings Lane from kick out time until the crowds clear, a combination of normal Yellow trams, diverted Blue/Purple trams and extra event shuttles laid on. At close of festival the tram stop is normally fenced into the festival site with its own dedicated exit with stewards along with Supertram staff managing the queue and platform.

 

Unfortunately is looks like the large number of drivers currently self isolating after being pinged by NHS Test & Trace mean this isn't possible.

 

Regular service will run to Hillsborough to get people to Tramlines  up to 8/9pm, then after that they won't run beyond Shalesmoor.

 

Local buses from Hillsborough (7,8,52,52a,57,81,82,86,97,98,135) will accept valid tram tickets to Shalesmoor & City Centre once the trams stop.

Travel info: https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/en-gb/news/afb8b8db-c41e-4a9d-b48f-681f51db9371

 

Note also on Saturday due to Tramlines fringe the 52/52a route via Division Street in the City Centre will be closed to traffic so the buses will be diverted from University of Sheffield via the ring road to Moorfoot then Arundel Gate, missing out Glossop Road, West Street and Rockingham Street. Trams will still serve West Street of course.

 

Trams to Halfway, Herdings, Meadowhall and Rotherham will still run up to the normal time although again some departures may be cancelled due to the staff shortages caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

 

Northern Rail have a similar issue with a number of Sheffield services suspended this weekend due to staff shortages caused by staff being pinged to self isolate: https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/updates/travel-alerts/2947-check-before-you-travel-24-25-july

Edited by Andy C

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Does anyone know why tram was off for four days , Birley lane to Halfway 

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Whilst certainly acknowledging the staffing issues caused by the "pingdemic" I assume they're somehow running to/from Malin Bridge/Middlewood after 9pm this evening (and probably again from Monday).  Wonder what's different about Friday, Saturday and Sunday?

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2 hours ago, Martin C said:

Whilst certainly acknowledging the staffing issues caused by the "pingdemic" I assume they're somehow running to/from Malin Bridge/Middlewood after 9pm this evening (and probably again from Monday).  Wonder what's different about Friday, Saturday and Sunday?

The managers that will be out covering for the isolating drivers, can’t hack the job/large crowds like the regular tram drivers can perhaps?

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Supertram must feel that to employ a large number of staff on Tramline specials is wrong when this would mean these would then be unavailable to operate trams at other times on the network, some journeys are likely to be missing during today and throughout next week,  drivers are limited to how many hours they can work. 

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9 hours ago, nikki-red said:

I could be wrong but I think they don’t usually run after Tramlines anyway.

Agree I’m sure they are usually off after the festival! 

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11 hours ago, Sheffield Monks said:

Ironically the festival is called Tramlines 😂

Nothing gets past you, does it?

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Love it they will take you to the festival but not home.  result people will be forced to drive, no parking nearby and off course added risk of drink/drug driving. Brilliant

 

- oh and we do not care about the local residents who might just want to get home either

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31 minutes ago, Bigal1 said:

Love it they will take you to the festival but not home.  result people will be forced to drive, no parking nearby and off course added risk of drink/drug driving. Brilliant

 

- oh and we do not care about the local residents who might just want to get home either

Of course they don't care about local residents. Several of the roads that we routinely use to get home (such as Dixon Road, Far Lane etc.) are being cordoned off as residents only access because of Tramlines, so we'll be forced to either go a much longer way round or stay at home for the weekend. It's bad enough with the council making us drive miles out of our way without this lot at it as well. Hillsborough Park is simply the wrong place for this festival of has-beens and nonentities, and I'd have thought last year's cancellation would have been an ideal opportunity to discontinue it for good, but I dare say somebody makes lots of money out of it so it will carry on being a complete nuisance for years to come.

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