GleadlessLad Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 I had a ride on the Tram Train this morning, for the first time. Trams from Sheffield at 39 & from Parkgate at 09 were - again - cancelled until further notice, so only 2 trams per hour with an approx 30 min frequency. Tram to Parkgate departed Cathedral 3 mins late. Had a look around Parkgate (was impressed at the range & no. of shops!) then caught a tram to Rotherham Centre - which departed from Parkgate 4 mins late. Had a quick look around Rotherham Centre then another late tram (5 mins overdue this time) back to Sheffield. Supertram official at Rotherham Central said that the reduced service was due to "technical issues" - I did see a Tram-Train vehicle parked in the depot as we went past & it wasn't the same tram which was damaged on the opening day... Tram-Train on the outward journey (timetabled 09:27) wasn't at all busy but the return from Rotherham (timetabled 11:02) was well used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest busdriver1 Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 There are many benefits of such a contract but what was being suggested was that Stagecoach had not had any significant input into this vitally important part of the contract and therefore any problems were the fault of the PTE/Govt. and "not us gov" Wasn't the original idea many many years ago for the tram train to be run by Northern rail therefore explaining why stagecoach were not involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resident Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Having the manufacturer on contract for repairs and maintenance rather than your own in-house teams saves money, both instantly and in the long run. In terms of instantly, these new tram-trains will have a lot of parts that require specialist tools so having the manufacturer, who already has them, doing all the work means you (the company) don't have to fork out thousands for your own set. In the long run. Put it this way. If you tried to change a part on your car and in the process broke either the new part or something else on the car then you'd be liable for replacing it. If on the other hand you sent it to the dealership to do and that happened then that cost liability is on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigAl1 Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 Having the manufacturer on contract for repairs and maintenance rather than your own in-house teams saves money, both instantly and in the long run. In terms of instantly, these new tram-trains will have a lot of parts that require specialist tools so having the manufacturer, who already has them, doing all the work means you (the company) don't have to fork out thousands for your own set. In the long run. Put it this way. If you tried to change a part on your car and in the process broke either the new part or something else on the car then you'd be liable for replacing it. If on the other hand you sent it to the dealership to do and that happened then that cost liability is on them. As i said these types of contract are common in the rail industry and are an excellent idea. My only issue was the implication that the contract was awarded with out the input of the user which would be odd if the operator was known - I have no idea if it was originally intended when they were ordered that Northern rail would run them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GleadlessLad Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/tram-train-derails-at-rotherham-central-1-9467435 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woah Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, GleadlessLad said: https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/tram-train-derails-at-rotherham-central-1-9467435 False story: https://twitter.com/SCSupertram/status/1067846376321662976?s=19 Edited November 28, 2018 by woah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjones787 Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 What actually happened was the driver apparently locked himself out of the cab and they had to send a key by road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigAl1 Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 (edited) Unbelievable I know but I went to Parkway the other day and the Pid was actually providing correct information and working as intended for the first time in several visits instead of rubbish - I hope that this continues and was not a one off Edited November 29, 2018 by amnicoll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GleadlessLad Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 7 hours ago, amnicoll said: Unbelievable I know but I went to Parkway the other day and the Pid was actually providing correct information and working as intended for the first time in several visits instead of rubbish - I hope that this continues and was not a one off The sign at Granville Rd (heading away from town) is still regularly all over the place - e.g. the tram towards Herdings Park due at 16:21 is frequently shown to be running on time - minutes counting down & "Due" then appears at 16:21 - & then it suddenly indicates "5 mins". Then the tram nearly always turns up at about 16:27 - 6 minutes late - with the sign showing "3 Mins". at that point.. 23 hours ago, woah said: False story: https://twitter.com/SCSupertram/status/1067846376321662976?s=19 I think you're right - I see that the Star's tale of derailment now seems to have vanished from their website! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigAl1 Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 Indeed the rest of the Pids are still an embarrassment (or would be if it was possible to embarrass the PTE and Stagecoach) however as I understand it the ones at parkgate were provided by Network Rail and on the whole network Rail ones work pretty well (not flawlessly) so it was a suprise in the early days to see the rubish on the Pargate displays "Arriving tram do not board" on day of opening "contact staf"f a week later (of course the station is unmanned) Wrong train info a week later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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