Tram Train Trial

[BigAl1]

Has the tram train trial been completed and a decision been taken that it has been successful and the service will continue to be operated?. I have not seen anything to this effect and was surprised therefore to see that the PTE are consulting over the building of a new station at Magna. Seems a bit premature to me if not.
 

Can not help noticing that the Northern services will not be able to stop there so if they discontinue the tram train the money will have been wasted.

 

 

[HumbleNarrator]

It's a little bit of a tongue twister that thread title, like -  I'm not a pheasant plucker I'm a pheasant plucker's son, and I'll sit here plucking pheasants  till the pheasant plucker comes.

[Annie Bynnol]

The tramtrain trial has been substantially completed. Technical and construction problems have been identified.

The report is not ready for pubishing.

Future funding of the tramtrain vehicles and the renewal of the Stagecoach contract are now bigger issues.                                                                                                                                                                     

[Jeffrey Shaw]

Do they apologise for the late arrival of the Report? Leaves on the line, the wrong sort of snow, or just the unspecified problems?

[Guest busdriver1]

Given that one of the measures was to be the uptake of passengers I await its publication with interest.

[Resident]

5 hours ago, Annie Bynnol said:

The tramtrain trial has been substantially completed. Technical and construction problems have been identified.

The report is not ready for pubishing.

Future funding of the tramtrain vehicles and the renewal of the Stagecoach contract are now bigger issues.                                                                                                                                                                     

I've heard rumours that they don't want it, no actual evidence this is the case though. 

[Guest busdriver1]

31 minutes ago, Resident said:

I've heard rumours that they don't want it, no actual evidence this is the case though. 

It was rumoured that the pte would take it back in house and order new trams then put it back out to tender then try to get the debt written off. 

[Andy C]

The Tram Train trial is complete. There have been learning points noted and these will advise other Tram Train schemes such as the one going ahead in the Cardiff Valleys. Stagecoach have agreed to keep running the service until the end of their concession. Generally feedback from passengers have been positive and the City Region Mayor has ambitions to expand the Tram Train network to run beyond Parkgate to Doncaster Airport along with a few other lines, Stocksbridge is a potential destination for example. There is also the possibility of replacing some Northern local trains with Tram Trains where there is a demand for an increased frequency but not the capacity at Sheffield Station to handle it.

 

As noted, there are already plans to invest in the current service in the form of a new station with park & ride facility at Magna along with enhancements to the park & ride facility at Parkgate, both of which have been going through public consultation. There has already been improvements to the evening service Monday to Saturday with Tram Train now running every half hour until midnight although with Covid hitting hospitality, entertainment venues and major events it has yet to see full demand for travel to nights out. Christmas shopping may be another time that the Tram Train could prove popular providing services at Parkgate retail park and Meadowhall Shopping Centre that avoid the traffic congestion that builds up on the roads.

 

In terms of the future of the tramway, the current contract with Stagecoach was deliberately timed to conclude at the point the system needs renewing. Stagecoach gave the trams a mid life refurbishment, however the time is coming to look at replacement. The overhead electrics are also ready for renewal and there is still some track that will be due for replacement. The system is owned by SYPTE, the public sector local transport authority.

 

The speculation (and it is nothing more) is that SYPTE aren't likely to let another commercial concession until the fleet and infrastructure is renewed which would suggest two options - either they take it in house or put a contract out to tender for a company to run the service on behalf of SYPTE (where SYPTE specify the timetable and fares, keep the revenue and pay the bills but someone else looks after the day to day operations). That could be Stagecoach or it could be someone else with suitable experience of running a rail system.

 

Anyway, if you haven't used Tram Train and fancy giving it a go, it runs every half hour from Sheffield City Centre (Cathedral) via Sheffield Arena, Meadowhall South, Rotherham Central station to Parkgate. Monday to Saturday the first departure is 05:27 and the last departure is 23:27 whilst on Sunday it runs from 08:30 to 20:30. End to end journey time is 27 minutes.  An all day ticket for the Tram and Tram Train is currently £4.40 and there are also various ticket options that combine tram and bus too. You can read more at https://www.stagecoachbus.com/supertram/tram-train

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Andy C

[Bargepole23]

10 hours ago, Andy C said:

The Tram Train trial is complete. There have been learning points noted and these will advise other Tram Train schemes such as the one going ahead in the Cardiff Valleys. Stagecoach have agreed to keep running the service until the end of their concession. Generally feedback from passengers have been positive and the City Region Mayor has ambitions to expand the Tram Train network to run beyond Parkgate to Doncaster Airport along with a few other lines, Stocksbridge is a potential destination for example. There is also the possibility of replacing some Northern local trains with Tram Trains where there is a demand for an increased frequency but not the capacity at Sheffield Station to handle it.

 

As noted, there are already plans to invest in the current service in the form of a new station with park & ride facility at Magna along with enhancements to the park & ride facility at Parkgate, both of which have been going through public consultation. There has already been improvements to the evening service Monday to Saturday with Tram Train now running every half hour until midnight although with Covid hitting hospitality, entertainment venues and major events it has yet to see full demand for travel to nights out. Christmas shopping may be another time that the Tram Train could prove popular providing services at Parkgate retail park and Meadowhall Shopping Centre that avoid the traffic congestion that builds up on the roads.

 

In terms of the future of the tramway, the current contract with Stagecoach was deliberately timed to conclude at the point the system needs renewing. Stagecoach gave the trams a mid life refurbishment, however the time is coming to look at replacement. The overhead electrics are also ready for renewal and there is still some track that will be due for replacement. The system is owned by SYPTE, the public sector local transport authority.

 

The speculation (and it is nothing more) is that SYPTE aren't likely to let another commercial concession until the fleet and infrastructure is renewed which would suggest two options - either they take it in house or put a contract out to tender for a company to run the service on behalf of SYPTE (where SYPTE specify the timetable and fares, keep the revenue and pay the bills but someone else looks after the day to day operations). That could be Stagecoach or it could be someone else with suitable experience of running a rail system.

 

Anyway, if you haven't used Tram Train and fancy giving it a go, it runs every half hour from Sheffield City Centre (Cathedral) via Sheffield Arena, Meadowhall South, Rotherham Central station to Parkgate. Monday to Saturday the first departure is 05:27 and the last departure is 23:27 whilst on Sunday it runs from 08:30 to 20:30. End to end journey time is 27 minutes.  An all day ticket for the Tram and Tram Train is currently £4.40 and there are also various ticket options that combine tram and bus too. You can read more at https://www.stagecoachbus.com/supertram/tram-train

 

 

 

I used it regularly prior to Covid (change of jobs means I no longer work in Rotherham) and it was a great way to get to Rotherham. Clean and comfortable. It felt like what public transport should be like. Not that I'm decrying our bus services, I'm a regular user of those.

[BigAl1]

18 hours ago, Annie Bynnol said:

The tramtrain trial has been substantially completed. Technical and construction problems have been identified.

The report is not ready for pubishing.

Future funding of the tramtrain vehicles and the renewal of the Stagecoach contract are now bigger issues.                                                                                                                                                                     

It has taken them a long time to identify the construction problems one would have thought that by now they would have been well known

 

Given that the future of the trams is all up in the air it feels somewhat premature to be running consultations about new stations