Michael_N

There's a photo doing the rounds on Facebook of one is two halves completely smashed up. Can't have nothing these days!

Well I seriously doubt it would be happening between Sheffield and Rotherham. From previous experience it's more likely to be the Rotherham to Maltby end of the route. Suffered from vandalism before on this section especially up on the White City and Model Village estates at Maltby.

Just in case anyone wonders why buses don't turn up, are missing or badly damaged... Seems the X1 route linking Sheffield with Rotherham and Maltby is the main culprit! "Please note that from today (12 January) alternative buses will be used on the X1 service. "Unfortunately we have had six of the usual X1 vehicles (known as Streetdecks) vandalised over the last month. The vandalism has resulted in a shortage of buses to run the X1 service for our customers and we have therefore made the decision to remove these vehicles until further notice. "There has been an investment of over £6million in the X1 vehicles and it’s therefore extremely disappointing that there has been continued acts of vandalism. We would urge anyone who has witnessed these acts of vandalism to contact our customer services team, or South Yorkshire Police." https://www.firstgroup.com/south-yorkshire/news-and-service-updates/news/alternative-vehicles-x1-service

Well the results are in... Unsliven Bridge and Garden Village will retain their evening service, although the SL1 will be downgraded to a hourly service from the 28th January after 8:48pm Monday to Saturday and 5:48pm on Sundays. No changes really to the 57. So once again more cuts to the services around Stocksbridge, along with the recent fare increases to CityWide/TravelMaster tickets etc.

WHY such an early finish? Last X78 doesn't leave Sheffield until 2325 and the last X1 leaves Sheffield at 2307?

Probably the fact that everyone in Stocksbridge/Deepcar/Wharncliffe Side and Oughtibridge has been forced off the direct 57 bus when they chopped it and cut it down to 1 per hour and now forced to use the tram link and tram at Middlewood. Doesn't help that when they chopped the 57, they now use small single deckers compared to the double deckers that were previously used and now due to chronic overcrowding some buses are leaving people standing for another hour in places like Worrall and Wadsley where there are no alternative services. That's good old Stagecoach for you. Slate First what you want, but at least when they ran the 57/58 they provided a much better and frequent service than what is in place now! ---------- Post added 25-12-2017 at 12:26 ---------- Oh look a pig just flew past the window... :hihi:

So when there's 2 or more trams waiting to get into Hillsborough tram stop and stopping all the traffic waiting behind them for a few minutes at a time, this doesn't cause traffic? Likewise with signals for trams having priority and giving general traffic less time on their sequence, this is what backs Holme Lane up etc. ---------- Post added 22-12-2017 at 13:09 ---------- Well said! Peasant waggons on rails haha

9 times out of 10 it's the trams that cause the congestion, particularly in the Hillsborough area.

Usually they are bagged over with a orange bag, and then a few weeks later totally removed. They did this in the past to a number in Rotherham. Cost cutting exercise as they cost more to run and maintain than they actually make back through fines.

Stagecoach don't run a Sheffield to Rotherham service though

£5 All Day Saver, or if travelling together get the family ticket £9 (2 adults and upto 3 children). Only valid on First buses so get the 24/75/76 into town and then the X1/X78 to Rotherham.

Depends where from? You can buy a All Day Saver for £5 to use on First buses in sheffield and Rotherham (X1 or X78 quickest from Sheffield). Takes about 35 mins from town to Rotherham bus station. Think the kids one is £2 but don't quote me on that!

Tbh Wadsley still has the 52A around Ben Lane and the 61/62 that creates a backdrop to the loss of the 57. It's Wadsley Park and Worrall I do feel for, very isolated now since Stagecoach reduced the 57 - yet the buses especially at peak times are still overcrowded and standing loads. Still no news on the alterations, sorry cut-backs to the SL1/SL1A services as yet I see.

Please explain somewhere else in the city, where a change from tram to bus is required to get home - and not through choice at that?

Interesting development... A referendum could be held in a bid to decide the future of devolution in South Yorkshire. Plans to hold a community poll have been announced by Barnsley and Doncaster councils. Voters would be asked to choose between the government-backed Sheffield City Region deal or a proposed Yorkshire-wide deal. The plans are to be discussed by the councils on 9 November and a poll, if approved, would take place in December. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-41833806

That's too much like common sense for Stagecoach or SYPTE to work towards. They want to show that at least one Tramlink service has worked and become popular unlike the Stannington and Killanarsh services - which had alternatives to use. The only reason the SL1/SL1A work is due to the fact that people are forced onto this service to change at Middlewood as the 57 has been that badly neglected and cut over the past few years - not to mention made slower! Say what you want about First, but at least we had a decent, frequent service when they ran it!

You need to remember, the PIDs are the same as those used for the buses and do operate well if they are working and collecting the data. If no data is received, then the time is shown (YELL 12:09 Middlewood) and this is just estimated timetable information that is the same shown in the timetable case. They only work well if they are live tracking (YELL 6 Mins Middlewood). If timetable information is shown and the tram is late, or a late Blue turns up before a Yellow this presents to passengers that they are useless and don't work/update accurately. ---------- Post added 27-10-2017 at 11:13 ---------- Back the discussion about the bus service to Stocksbridge, Stagecoach Bus are launching a consultation about the future of the SL1/SL1A services following the announcement of the Supertram timetable change from 28 January 2018. The consultation and options available are here: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/yorkshire/sl1consultationoct17 In short - another cut in the service, following on from the major cut backs to the 57. Down from 6 buses to 5 buses per hour - with a decision to be made to either not serve Unsliven Bridge or Garden Village in the evenings, leaving no evening service provision for which ever of these areas becomes unfortunate...

No, I would prefer a robust and reliable transport system, one which was designed to not cause more traffic issues than it solves - Hillsborough Corner, Shalesmoor and Granville Road/Shrewsbury Road being prime examples. The system should have been fully segregated to start off with, instead we have the current system that was planned to 1970s travel habits and patterns. Indeed even the system was routed past Kelvin Flats and Norfolk Park for the high-rise flats and large housing estates, that were pulled down a few years after the system opened - bizarre!

That's funny as the new route maps show the route to be red in colour? Maybe they just wont show the red square on the front of the trams?

It's about time the entire tram system just got scrapped. Still haemorrhaging money and still requiring tax payers of South Yorkshire to fund the system, almost 25 years after it was 1st introduced! The PIDs are a complete waste of time, bought on the cheap by PTE (some of the busiest stops like Hillsborough and Fitzalan Square don't even have them!) and a constant battle over who is it fault. Stagecoach or SYPTE. The SYPTE have never had a good reputation, just look at the mess they have created with the Sheffield Bus Partnership. Thank god they stopped short of full regulation as imagine the dire service we would have had now! ---------- Post added 27-10-2017 at 11:00 ---------- Only been 2 years+ with little change noted.

The main problem is the SL1 and Tram is not a guaranteed connection. You should wait no more than 10 minutes, but with traffic and the way the buses seem to run around in pairs it is never the case. This is why we need a more direct through service to Sheffield and Hillsborough which was my point all along. A 15 minute combined 57/58 like we used to have, instead of the pointless 10 minute SL1/Tram combination with increased waiting at Middlewood.

Probably because it's a direct service and not sure where you travel to and from, but looking at the timetables provided both the SL/Supertram and 57 should take around the same journey time. However the 57 has the advantage of been a through service and no worries about the tram pulling away as the bus pulls in at Middlewood like what generally happens. It's a shame that we have seen the 57 (and old 58) services been downgraded so much. Once a very busy and popular service with First, until Stagecoach muscled in and created the SL. Now it seems like it was a case of them biting too much off than they can chew, given the downgrades to the 57 and complete withdrawal of the 58.

But it is still an increase and these pennies all add up. CityBus also not valid so you need to buy a CityWide ticket due to changing onto the tram. The main point still remains would people prefer a bus through to the city centre, without the need to change (like the 57/58 used to provide) even if less frequent, or a bus and tram with no guaranteed connection meaning as a bus pulls in, the tram pulls out like what usually happens and you're stuck at Middlewood waiting for anything upto 10 minutes on a good day.

Good on Barnsley and Doncaster for fighting for their corner and putting the needs of their residents 1st. Not everything is revolved around Sheffield and on the whole I can see their point - Yorkshire will have more clout and is much well known than just Sheffield on its own. Was never keen on Sheffield also covering Chesterfield and Worksop, apart from few workers who commute between these places, they have very little in common with the rest if South Yorkshire in terms of workforce and it always looked odd. Plus why was there a need for it to be called the Sheffield City Region?

But is that really the case considering the SL1/A buses are every 10 minutes and relitavely full. Just a case of Stagecoach being greedy and forcing everyone to pay twice with a change of mode at Middlewood - or pay for a more expensive bus and tram daily/weekly ticket. If there was a choice for people, would people still do this or prefer a more direct and frequent bus into the city centre like the old 57/58 used to provide, that was my main question.