@@oldtechnobodycaresabout very true, but I still do think that they could improve the headways, maybe like at least every 20-30 minutes. This would be better as Sheffield has a big population and it would attract more people to public transport.
I stumbled on this channel last Christmas and absolutely loved it despite no interest in trains. It's that time of year again so time for my transport video fix
Im a native Sheffielder who has just moved to London for Uni, I always nerd out to your videos about the tube when in London, and I’ve just returned home for Christmas, and seen this video about home!!!! The Supertram may be the one thing I love more than the tube….👀
It's so weird watching this living in London after being in Sheffield for about 15 years. I always liked how it was "The next stop *by request*"; somehow that felt somehow friendly. The same with "Haffway" - the PA never seemed to have the L in it.
I was going to comment something similar, Haffway always sounded like something from a fantasy novel. Sadly they re-recorded the announcements a couple of years back.
Hey Geoff, if you are confused about the Sheffield tram-train, then you got to see Karlsruhe in Germany. We have normal low-floor-trams, as well as low-floor tram-trains that run on DC like normal trams on older railway routes that have been reconfigured to accomodate the trams. For this purpose, we also use the Class 399 Citylink vehicles, although they are know as "NET 2012" here. And then, we have high-floor tram-trains, that actually run on proper main lines after leaving the towns centre and work with DC (tram network) and AC (railway network).
Similar thing in The Hague, Netherlands: on a few routes, trams share tracks with railway trains and on one route, trams share tracks with a metro route, resulting in low and high platforms next to each other. (and btw, the tram/metro routes I mentioned are also former railway routes)
Awesome to see you doing the Supertram - been waiting for this for a while. The Supertram is an awesome resource in Sheffield but it so desperately needs expanding into a circle route following the ring road of the city, as well as more connections to the North and South of Sheffield. Very cool to see my office and my local stop in a video though!
The Abbeydale Road corridor would be an obvious example. There was also talk at one time of a short branch up Glossop Road to the Hallamshire hospital and Broomhill.
My ideas: - -Red route to Dore via RHH- The idea now is to make a loop around Broomhill, could do that with the purple route - Green route to Chapeltown via NGH (I know the map used in this video has green for the tram-train but its official colour is black) - Orange route as a circle The colour suggestions are not definite: TSY, SYPTE and Stagecoach can decide those.
Ah Geoff, wish I’d know you were there! I’m originally from Sheffield and know all the stops on the Supertram system. It would’ve been great to travel with you. 😊 I was born and spent my formative years in Hackenthorpe, long before the current trams were around. I even remember Sheffield’s original trams and my earliest memory is travelling to Millhouses Park with my mother. It must’ve been during the summer of 1960, when I was 3 years old. I intended to go in the children’s paddling pool, but it rained, so I sat in a shelter in the park with mum, and watched the trams terminating at the loop on Abbeydale Road.
On the blue line, where the reserved track starts, is an area where the Derbyshire border has changed over the past 50+ years. Areas such as Birley, Hackenthorpe and Beighton/Sothall were outside the Sheffield city boundary until 1967 and so were part of Derbyshire until then.
Great video Geoff.(I guess it was fun, fun, fun on the tram, tram, trams). Joking aside this was a great video and it's great to see visuals of all the different tram routes in the UK.
My dad's worked on Supertram since October 1994 and still does. I did my year 11 work experience with them too. I'd have been a great person to be involved in this video. Also Herdings / Leighton road or Westfield are the two stops the are generally the least used stops. Halfway used to be called something like Holway but it changed its name many years ago.
I'd suggest Malin bridge as being up there as one of the least used. Not very far from Hillsborough interchange and there's never more than 2 or 3 people left when it leaves to head round the corner to Malin Bridge! Also not blessed with any parking etc. Perhaps those approaching along the Rivelin Valley by foot might boost the numbers though as it's the first tram stop you come to?
50 years ago as a youngster in Sheffield the question to parents always was 'Halfway to where?'. Even my grandparents who were all born in sheffield and all lived to almost 100 never knew!
Seeing you ride my local tram network is incredible! I regularly use the Yellow route as Middlewood is the nearest stop to me that I can get to by bus from my house
Holbrook was a mining village whose name was changed to Halfway (after the Halfway House pub) to avoid confusion with Holbrook near Derby. And the Halfway pub was the halfway point for the stagecoaches. This is what I been always told
@@pmberry well I try not I fact check it so I’m not telling something what is t right and found 3 sources what confirmed that wiki council archive where the rename was mention and a news paper article What I don’t understand why it was changed
Brilliant Video, this is the only tram network that you can used a disable bus pass on from a different county. Tried it once with a Staffordshire bus pass and let you use it.
The Sheffield trams are also unique in the UK in being considered as bus routes, whereas the tram networks of other cities are separate networks from the buses. The Sheffield tram routes are in the bus databases!
Only just true. In Edinburgh a day ticket for the buses also covers the trams, with one exception: you have to buy a more expensive ticket if you travel to/from the airport. The same is true of a Plusbus: travel to Waverly by train from outside the Edinburgh area and buy a Plusbus with the train ticket: again it covers all the trams except that last stop to the airport. So it is the special rule for Ed Airport that makes your claim true, if only by a technicality...
@@harrierjames7727: Plusbus (where it's available) covers at least parts of most tram system as far as I know, I think Manchester being the only exception to that? (Edit: made the trip not too long ago and while the PlusBus and Supertram websites state that Plusbus is valid, many of the conductors didn't seem to think it was, though they let me go anyway... West Midlands Metro also fully accept PlusBus, though when I went there was no issue using it!)
Fun fact, Sheffield Cathedral was never finished. It's missing a spire. We always made the joke that if the tram only goes to Halfway, where would it end up if it went all the way? Great video. Brought back some great memories.
Merry Christmas Geoff and Phil! Love these tram videos! 😀 Stay safe, can't wait to use Soham station in the new year, my new local station! And watch your great content here on RUclips 😄👌🚄🚈
Got news I bought both of the books and they're fab. In the tube book there were lots of things I didnt know. You guys are incredible and I hope you had a good Christmas!
Can't believe the key fact that the Sheffield Supertram has to contend with gradients of 10% and the trams were designed specifically for that. No other tramway in the UK has gradients that steep. Top fact. Only Brazil (Estrada de Ferro Campos do Jordão), the US (Cass Scenic Railway, West Virginia, Austria (Pöstlingbergbahn) and Portugal (Lisbon Tramways) have a railway or tram system operating on such steep inclines or steeper.
@@AhsokaTanoTheWhite User error, accidentally missed due to Wikipedia misread - San Francisco doesn't have trams, it has cable cars, they are pulled up the hills with cables.
@@AndyH2O it's all good, was going to say, I know Sheffield has some steep hills but the supertram doesn't go on any of them, and the San Fransisco one does.
@@AhsokaTanoTheWhite Gradient, how many powered wheels and traction are the key. San Francisco doesn't count because it's a cable car system. Sheffield is fifth in the list of steepest gradients for trams in the world, so for tramways those are steep - It's not like there's a tram going up Blake Street for example but no modern tram (or even old tram) would make it.
Before the pandemic my nephew and I tried in several years to make all the stations during the Snooker World Championchip. Hope it will be again possible in 2022!
I went to a talk about the tram trains. They have special wheels to allow them to run both through National Network points and along street running rails. They also had to fit special check-rails to the points. These stick up more than usual; I think everything except a class 33 is still gauge cleared to run over them.
I always understood the difference between streetcar (tram) wheelsets and railroad wheelsets is that the streetcar wheels have narrower treads that don't overhang the railhead (so as to avoid damaging the adjacent pavement), as well as narrower flanges. This became something of an issue at the trolley museum I'm a member at here in the US (Shore Line Trolley Museum, East Haven Connecticut), as the operating fleet includes a number of rapid transit (metro) cars from New York City, whose wheel profile is more like a railroad wheelset. On sections of the mainline where both operate, one compromise was the use of spring frogs on mainline switches. On the single-point streetcar switches used in yard areas, the flanges on those cars tend to ride up on the edges of the narrow flangeway for the short distance to standard T-rail.
Hello Geoff hope you enjoyed been on the tram-train. The Supertram & Tram-Train now back under Travel South Yorkshire. Also plans for it to go to Stocksbridge and Chesterfield and maybe to Penistone
Glad you enjoyed it David - I also quite enjoyed thinking of things to point out to Geoff...it was like seeing your own home town as a first time visitor!
I live in Sheffield and get these trams almost every single day, it's really nice to see people coming here just to visit and experience the trams. Which, by the way, are 100% eco-friendly!
Stumbled across this video because my kids were watching it to see if they could spot me, I should also mention I'm a supertram driver 😂 Great video mate 👍
One of my favourite tram networks, especially the Yellow Route that I'd regularly take from Middlewood to Meadowhall, when visiting my late grandparents! 😃
The class 399 also operates in Karlsruhe as a "tram-train", but only on DC lines (known as "NET 2012"). Geoff was quite confused by the concept of tram-trains, I bet he would be super confused if he visited Karlsruhe, where there are low-floor tram-trains like the Supertram as well as high floor tram-trains actually running on proper main lines.
in theory its great but in actuality it took years to build just 2 stops when it took 1 year to build the whole yellow and blue route, the tram trains dont go any faster on the track than the road and the trams have to stop at corners to let others pass so they dont scrape each other. its not great. the tram itself is exellent though! they are much more powerfull and have a lot more acceleration, however this does lead people who usually use the '94 trams to almost fall over, haha.
@@Hushey Well then, Sheffield has poorly executed the idea of a tram-train. In Karlsruhe, tram trains are much faster on the "railway" routes than on the roads: up to 80 kph on DC tracks and up to 100 kph on AC mainline tracks. And they don't have to slow down at corners, as it is just a plain old railway line.
@@pixoontube2912 that's the idea. Also the trains here are Diesel multiple units so don't require catenary, so you'd think the tram train uses tram catenary and voltage right? Wrong. Tram train has to stop when it gets onto railway to switch voltage to railway standard even though it dosent need that and no trains use it, plus it only goes on tram track and a bit of railway so you couldn't use elec trains anyway, lmao
Did you notice the tactile paving at all the tram stops that lines up precisely with the tram doors? Useful not just for the blind and partially-sighted, but also for when it's crowded on the platform! Clearly visible at 10:30 at Parkgate Also, on that cronky bit of track (about 10:22) under Tinsley viaduct, where they transfer from the tram network, they always stop and report to the relevant controller.
I think Malin Bridge is the only tramstop sharing its name with a tune for a Christmas carol - Bright and Joyful is the Morn. You probably have never heard of it because it is one of many that are local to that part of the city (and parts of north east Derbyshire). Pubs in quite a few of the villages on the bus toutes past this stop sing them.
the amsterdam lighttrain network was really something to behold before the North-Southline was built, it would've been extremely challanging but cheap, all trams amsterdam, it had a rail-train service as well then. Metro/Underground/SpeedTram Service 51 from Amsterdam central station on the bussy east line underground, and lead you down all the way down through amstelveen, just a few KM short of UITHOORN, that's like the amsterdam version of LUTON, but closer, as the netherlands is too cozy for comfort everywhere. but in Amsterdam South/WTC it changed it electric system, and used pantographs 2 on each set, so 4 or 6. sharing it with a regular tram, thats been modified to run on higher voltage and higher speed. nowadays the new CAF trams only use it with allot of underpasses or overpasses extra built and shorted the line. Now the norh south line is built, EVERYTHIGN changed on how trams and busses are run as the bus or ferry isn't the only way anymore to go north. of ' 't Ei. but YOU WILL DO ALL LINES OF THE AMSTERDAM RAIL and R/NET Rail all the way to rotterdam, using the Dutch national rail (NS) to get on to discover the real SUPERTRAM, known as RANDSTAD RAIL, it shares rail WITH Actual intercity tracks. I double dot dare you
Great video Geoff, been wondering when you’d come and complete the Supertram network! You’ll have to get up early next time and tick off the ‘wrong’ (back) side of the triangle with the few trams that avoid the city centre ;)
I saw the Supertram being built and used it many times. It’s a great service and there extended it still to the hospitals. I love the Tram Train, or Train Tram 🤣👍
The stairs from Sheffield station platforms to the footbridge, and from the footbridge to Sheffield Station tram stop, equate together to about 15 storeys. Anyway, a couple of the trams are hybrids in that they're two-thirds one tram and one-third another following collision repairs. Can't remember which Siemens trams are like that (quick look in a book show that 102 & 111, and 118 & 120, are hybrids but sit to be corrected), but the two Stadler trams that are hybrids are 202 & 204. The tram nerd in me has got all 25 Siemens and 7 Stadlers for haulage, but had to walk through from one end of a hybrid to another for proper tram pedantry. Another Supertram challenge is to get the rare third side of the Ponds Forge triangle between Sheffield Station and Hyde Park. A few early morning and late evening trams to/from Nunnery Depot cover it. Finally - welcome to Sheff, Geoff!
The stop at Netherthorpe Road my late Dad parents lived close to here, and I remember before the trams we could walk under the passageway to get to the nursery I went to
FYI, "Rotherham" is pronounced "Rovrum." It also sounds like they will be adding another station between Meadowhall South and Rotherham Central at the Magna Science Adventure Centre. So you may need to visit again in a few years.
Hello, Phil from the video here! We did point out the possible site of the future Magna Park and Ride tram train stop, but unfortunately it didn't make the final edit. The public consultation closed on Friday 3rd September, and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive are now considering those comments before proceeding with the next stage of the process. You can read more about their plans here: www.rotherham.gov.uk/news/article/386/partner-news-consultation-launched-for-new-magna-tram-train-stop-with-park-and-ride 😀
Stocksbridge got a LOT closer to Middlewood... : ) The bus connection is new (probably more awkward for those living not so far North as I used to be as the "through bus" service is very infrequent). No mention of previous plans to skip over the River Don to the railway line on the other side? Good to see as ever, thank you!
Thanks, interesting point, the tram-train would seem a potentially useful choice for the Stocksbridge line, and maybe cheaper and more convenient than trying to reinstate heavy rail.
Did this myself ages ago. I live in Manchester, and discovered that the return rail fare MCO-SHF was entitled to a free excess fare to Rotheram central by Northern Rail. So unlike you when I did the Superman (sorry Supertram) day out I travelled out to Rotheram by train and started my traverse of the tram routes there. After covering the entire tram network and passing through or changing at every stop, left the network at Meadowhall, then two Northern trains back to Bamford, evening meal in the Anglers Rest, and Northern back to MCO. That meant that I also did all the tram & NR stops by both modes. I also did the entire Manchester tram network when it opened and repeated the traverse each time they opened another terminus. Manchester tip: start at 6:30 pm on a Friday and there is a cheap ticket covering the entire network valid till last tram Sunday -- and it is about the same cost as a day ticket on a weekday. I guess it is possible to traverse the network in a day, but it's a lot more enjoyable to do so on an evening and two days. Gives you a chance to get off and look at interesting track & signal configs -- level crossings and the two places where trams are single line working next to a Network Rail single. They can't let the trams and trains share the same track in Manc because normal trams blow a fuse under Network Rail overhead lines. That, of course, is what makes the experimental Supertrams in Sheffield Super. At present only the tram to Rotheram uses the 25kV: NR claim they will extend the overhead lines for their trains, but no sign yet of it happening for any regular services :( For now at least then the expense of the Supertram and the OLE are really just a proof of concept. Just to be clear: I am not a train enthusiast as such: I am the ultimate anorak, being a track and signalling enthusiast. The purpose of trains and trams is to make the T&S meaningful: what else?
There's something weirdly satisfying about the way the tram does that three-way articulation around the bend at 6:16. Also, I feel like there must be a story behind Sheffield having a street called Donetsk Way.
As a Sheffielder I can tell you that the city is twinned with Donetsk in the Ukraine. It's also twinned with Bochum in Germany and as a consequence there is another thoroughfare called Bochum Parkway.
Hi Geoff, Whata paira nutta's, 😄 quite enjoyed that, those trams are awsome vehicles, I've ridden those myself in recent years when I was trade plating. I've also ridden the Manchester, Rotherham, Nottingham, and Croydon systems. When I rode the Croydon system, shortly after it opened, I did what you've just done, rode the whole system it covered, did it in just over half a day. As you probably know, some of their routes are on former BR track beds. Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2022. 😀👍👏
If you fancy a pint, get a Malin Bridge tram to Hilsborough. The tram stops right outside the Wetherspoon pub ‘The Rawson Spring’. The other handy stop for a pint is Castle Square. The Wetherspoon pub ‘The Bankers Draft’ is less than a minute away.
The CAF Urbos 3 trams on the Midland Metro also have the CCTV wing mirrors. The also have batteries so that they can run on sections where overhead wires were not allowed (like around Bimingham Town Hall which is in a conservation area). And metal fatigue too it seems.....
@08:22 hahaha now thats a local accent if you've ever heard one! Good to see Geoff in my neck of the woods. Sorry you had to visit Rov'rum though.. urghh.. You did right not leaving the train station.
You didn’t mention the closed stop, the one which was moved a short distance to improve the Interchange with the mainline station. Sheffield Interchange Bus Station used to be strange in that it had two sets of roads at right angles, in a sort of L shape. The lower level set were closed some years ago and a building now occupies the site. For several years I used to attend a transport related film at the Library Theatre each November. It finished at about 22:00 and I then had to wait until 01.45 for the first coach back to London. After the waiting room at the Interchange closed I stopped going.
Hello Phil from the video here! Although we didn't have time to mention the Ghost Platforms and everything else in the final edit, they are shown as a cutaway at 0:59 :-)
What a marvellous throwback, to my days at Sheffield Hallam! However - knowing how far out Stocksbridge is to the final stop on the yellow line at Middlewood; I DON'T miss such waits in the reyt cold... ;)
3 года назад+1
brilliant! i would love to see all the tyne and wear metro. mabye even with new train!
The first part that opened was the section between meadowhall and fitzalan square/ponds forge in 1994 then over the following years it extended out to the other areas
Great video and nice to see you up in my city for a change! Only fun tidbit I think you could have added is that the tram changes voltage when swapping from the Tram Network on to the National Rail Network.
Curiously enough I was in Sheffield that same week and rode the tram out to Halfway. Didn't have time to do Herdings Park because it's only an hourly service at present, or the tram-train because darkness fell. The Halfway route has interesting hilly scenery with great views over Sheffield. Halfway looks roughly halfway from Sheffield to Chesterfield, and is quite close to Eckington and Killamarsh on the original North Midland Railway which left Sheffield on a branch to keep to flatter country.
I've actually done this one about 12 years ago, that was before the Rotherham extension. Didn't time it, just did it for fun when my cousin was visiting.
Only just subscribed but been watching for a while. Commented on the Metrolink video asking when Sheffield was coming but never saw it pop up in recommend.
“What are you taking photos of trams for?”
“Because they’re cool!”
AMAZING (and correct) answer, Geoff!
People who live in places with good public transport just take it for granted, which goes to show how effective it is.
Sheffield tramway is not very efficient. Headway’s are usually every hour.
@@harang9759 better than Hourly busses most towns have
@@oldtechnobodycaresabout very true, but I still do think that they could improve the headways, maybe like at least every 20-30 minutes. This would be better as Sheffield has a big population and it would attract more people to public transport.
My Sheffield friend Bliss would like to point out that your pronunciation of Rotherham was... fun
Fancy seeing you here
You're not from New York City you're from Rovvrumm
Nowt in comparison to the pronunciation of gleadless
Also who else has seen some one driving out of the tunnel as t the university looking confused
Rother-ham 🙂
I stumbled on this channel last Christmas and absolutely loved it despite no interest in trains. It's that time of year again so time for my transport video fix
Be sure to also see “All The Stations” plus Geoff’s earlier work at Londonist.
@@erik_griswold oh I watched them all 😂 kept me entertained during lockdown/furlough
Me too
Thanks Czynx, very kind. And thank you for watching! 👋
Holbrook was a mining village whose name was changed to Halfway (after the Halfway House pub) to avoid confusion with Holbrook near Derby
Im a native Sheffielder who has just moved to London for Uni, I always nerd out to your videos about the tube when in London, and I’ve just returned home for Christmas, and seen this video about home!!!! The Supertram may be the one thing I love more than the tube….👀
It is halfway between Rotherham and chesterfield and named after the old pub the halfway house which was a stagecoach stopping point.
Interesting , one does not think of Rotherham being such a kind of important town to be halfway from.
@@highpath4776 the key word being "away" , you don't want to be close
It's so weird watching this living in London after being in Sheffield for about 15 years. I always liked how it was "The next stop *by request*"; somehow that felt somehow friendly. The same with "Haffway" - the PA never seemed to have the L in it.
I was going to comment something similar, Haffway always sounded like something from a fantasy novel. Sadly they re-recorded the announcements a couple of years back.
It was best when they got Jarvis Cocker to do the announcements in his Sheffield Sex City voice. They need to get Sean Bean to record them as well.
@@diskopartizan0850 gutting the changed it that was my favourite announcement
Does that mean you have to ring a bell like on the bus?
@@tobeytransport2802 ye though there are usually people waiting at most stops
Phil is one of the most fun traveling companions I’ve seen! 👏🏽
You may remember him from the Rawcliffe video ...
ruclips.net/video/c8cA4FHURDY/видео.html
Thanks Pokhraj! 🤗
@@philipbrown4290 You were really funny 😂
He is like help me!😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂🤣🤣😂🤣😂
Ok
Hey Geoff, if you are confused about the Sheffield tram-train, then you got to see Karlsruhe in Germany.
We have normal low-floor-trams, as well as low-floor tram-trains that run on DC like normal trams on older railway routes that have been reconfigured to accomodate the trams. For this purpose, we also use the Class 399 Citylink vehicles, although they are know as "NET 2012" here.
And then, we have high-floor tram-trains, that actually run on proper main lines after leaving the towns centre and work with DC (tram network) and AC (railway network).
Similar thing in The Hague, Netherlands: on a few routes, trams share tracks with railway trains and on one route, trams share tracks with a metro route, resulting in low and high platforms next to each other. (and btw, the tram/metro routes I mentioned are also former railway routes)
@@OneKnifeYeHandin Spain we have a diesel tram train by Stadler and a newer one by CAF which connects three cities on broad gauge tracks
Our tram train started a month ago in Hungary, also served by Stadler Citylink (Class 399) trains. 😁
Can't beat a good bit of Phil content! He's a walking fountain of knowledge.
Cheers Mike - glad you enjoyed it!
Brings back memories of being a student. The tram is way better than the bus.
Awesome to see you doing the Supertram - been waiting for this for a while.
The Supertram is an awesome resource in Sheffield but it so desperately needs expanding into a circle route following the ring road of the city, as well as more connections to the North and South of Sheffield.
Very cool to see my office and my local stop in a video though!
It has so much potential, but the tram train is the only major extension it has had in the last 10 years
The Abbeydale Road corridor would be an obvious example. There was also talk at one time of a short branch up Glossop Road to the Hallamshire hospital and Broomhill.
Extension along Eccy Road would be superb. As well as Abbeydale to remove lots of traffic
My ideas:
- -Red route to Dore via RHH- The idea now is to make a loop around Broomhill, could do that with the purple route
- Green route to Chapeltown via NGH (I know the map used in this video has green for the tram-train but its official colour is black)
- Orange route as a circle
The colour suggestions are not definite: TSY, SYPTE and Stagecoach can decide those.
yeah it desperately needs to go South West of the city centre and perhaps a little over the river in the North too
This is probably one of my favorite 2nd gen. tram networks in the UK, especially with the tram train :)
I've just finished university at UoS and this was so fun to watch my old city. Thanks Geoff! :)
PA: "This is the purple route service to Herdings Park."
Geoff: "So the PA there, did it say purple train or purple line?" 😶
it purple route not purple line or train
@@DoncasterNorthModelRailway1867 That's exactly what they were pointing out.
@@TransportofPerth Or was it?
Geoff I glad you managed to go on the Tram Train and Sheffield Supertram network after long time you ticked it off! Congratulations WELL DONE
You'll have to go down the road and do all the stops at the Crich Tramway Museum (and find the last of the original Sheffield trams)
Ah Geoff, wish I’d know you were there! I’m originally from Sheffield and know all the stops on the Supertram system. It would’ve been great to travel with you. 😊
I was born and spent my formative years in Hackenthorpe, long before the current trams were around.
I even remember Sheffield’s original trams and my earliest memory is travelling to Millhouses Park with my mother. It must’ve been during the summer of 1960, when I was 3 years old. I intended to go in the children’s paddling pool, but it rained, so I sat in a shelter in the park with mum, and watched the trams terminating at the loop on Abbeydale Road.
On the blue line, where the reserved track starts, is an area where the Derbyshire border has changed over the past 50+ years. Areas such as Birley, Hackenthorpe and Beighton/Sothall were outside the Sheffield city boundary until 1967 and so were part of Derbyshire until then.
@@martynelse6121 route*
Great video Geoff.(I guess it was fun, fun, fun on the tram, tram, trams). Joking aside this was a great video and it's great to see visuals of all the different tram routes in the UK.
My dad's worked on Supertram since October 1994 and still does. I did my year 11 work experience with them too. I'd have been a great person to be involved in this video. Also Herdings / Leighton road or Westfield are the two stops the are generally the least used stops. Halfway used to be called something like Holway but it changed its name many years ago.
I'd suggest Malin bridge as being up there as one of the least used. Not very far from Hillsborough interchange and there's never more than 2 or 3 people left when it leaves to head round the corner to Malin Bridge! Also not blessed with any parking etc. Perhaps those approaching along the Rivelin Valley by foot might boost the numbers though as it's the first tram stop you come to?
@@harrierjames7727 there’s a park ‘n’ ride car park at Malin Bridge!
50 years ago as a youngster in Sheffield the question to parents always was 'Halfway to where?'. Even my grandparents who were all born in sheffield and all lived to almost 100 never knew!
Seeing you ride my local tram network is incredible! I regularly use the Yellow route as Middlewood is the nearest stop to me that I can get to by bus from my house
Love border anomalies (and similar nerd stuff) thanks for pointing that out.
Stay safe - though times.
Phil is brilliant at comedy with that deliberately late entrance 😆
Holbrook was a mining village whose name was changed to Halfway (after the Halfway House pub) to avoid confusion with Holbrook near Derby.
And the Halfway pub was the halfway point for the stagecoaches.
This is what I been always told
Holbrook lives on though: Holbrook Industrial Estate.
@@pmberry well I try not I fact check it so I’m not telling something what is t right and found 3 sources what confirmed that wiki council archive where the rename was mention and a news paper article
What I don’t understand why it was changed
Brilliant Video, this is the only tram network that you can used a disable bus pass on from a different county. Tried it once with a Staffordshire bus pass and let you use it.
The Sheffield trams are also unique in the UK in being considered as bus routes, whereas the tram networks of other cities are separate networks from the buses. The Sheffield tram routes are in the bus databases!
Is this the reason the tram and tram train service are covered on a plus bus ticket for Sheffield?
Only just true.
In Edinburgh a day ticket for the buses also covers the trams, with one exception: you have to buy a more expensive ticket if you travel to/from the airport.
The same is true of a Plusbus: travel to Waverly by train from outside the Edinburgh area and buy a Plusbus with the train ticket: again it covers all the trams except that last stop to the airport.
So it is the special rule for Ed Airport that makes your claim true, if only by a technicality...
@@harrierjames7727 yes and Edinburgh almost too... see my separate reply
@@harrierjames7727: Plusbus (where it's available) covers at least parts of most tram system as far as I know, I think Manchester being the only exception to that?
(Edit: made the trip not too long ago and while the PlusBus and Supertram websites state that Plusbus is valid, many of the conductors didn't seem to think it was, though they let me go anyway...
West Midlands Metro also fully accept PlusBus, though when I went there was no issue using it!)
Might be because it's run by a bus company
Fun fact, Sheffield Cathedral was never finished. It's missing a spire. We always made the joke that if the tram only goes to Halfway, where would it end up if it went all the way? Great video. Brought back some great memories.
Merry Christmas Geoff and Phil! Love these tram videos! 😀 Stay safe, can't wait to use Soham station in the new year, my new local station! And watch your great content here on RUclips 😄👌🚄🚈
Got news I bought both of the books and they're fab. In the tube book there were lots of things I didnt know. You guys are incredible and I hope you had a good Christmas!
Can't believe the key fact that the Sheffield Supertram has to contend with gradients of 10% and the trams were designed specifically for that. No other tramway in the UK has gradients that steep. Top fact. Only Brazil (Estrada de Ferro Campos do Jordão), the US (Cass Scenic Railway, West Virginia, Austria (Pöstlingbergbahn) and Portugal (Lisbon Tramways) have a railway or tram system operating on such steep inclines or steeper.
What about San Fransisco?
@@AhsokaTanoTheWhite User error, accidentally missed due to Wikipedia misread - San Francisco doesn't have trams, it has cable cars, they are pulled up the hills with cables.
@@AndyH2O it's all good, was going to say, I know Sheffield has some steep hills but the supertram doesn't go on any of them, and the San Fransisco one does.
@@AndyH2O also, been wondering this for a while, how come the supertram can climb hills and a train can't? Is it weight?
@@AhsokaTanoTheWhite Gradient, how many powered wheels and traction are the key. San Francisco doesn't count because it's a cable car system. Sheffield is fifth in the list of steepest gradients for trams in the world, so for tramways those are steep - It's not like there's a tram going up Blake Street for example but no modern tram (or even old tram) would make it.
Merry Xmas Matey. Thank you for the pure quality you've provided this year. Cheers. Love from Liverpool. X
Been waiting for this for months. Hope you enjoyed Sheff
Before the pandemic my nephew and I tried in several years to make all the stations during the Snooker World Championchip. Hope it will be again possible in 2022!
I went to a talk about the tram trains. They have special wheels to allow them to run both through National Network points and along street running rails. They also had to fit special check-rails to the points. These stick up more than usual; I think everything except a class 33 is still gauge cleared to run over them.
I always understood the difference between streetcar (tram) wheelsets and railroad wheelsets is that the streetcar wheels have narrower treads that don't overhang the railhead (so as to avoid damaging the adjacent pavement), as well as narrower flanges.
This became something of an issue at the trolley museum I'm a member at here in the US (Shore Line Trolley Museum, East Haven Connecticut), as the operating fleet includes a number of rapid transit (metro) cars from New York City, whose wheel profile is more like a railroad wheelset. On sections of the mainline where both operate, one compromise was the use of spring frogs on mainline switches. On the single-point streetcar switches used in yard areas, the flanges on those cars tend to ride up on the edges of the narrow flangeway for the short distance to standard T-rail.
Geoff, your videos are fun and informative as always.
Many thanks!
@@geofftech2 there's a roblox game about the Stagecoach supertram
Phil is the one fun travelling I have ever seen
Hello Geoff hope you enjoyed been on the tram-train. The Supertram & Tram-Train now back under Travel South Yorkshire. Also plans for it to go to Stocksbridge and Chesterfield and maybe to Penistone
Prices have gone up massively now, can't trust Sheffield council to help local people what a surprise
Good old Sheffield. I miss it a lot, taking the tram to Meadowhall on the weekend.
Best video I have seen on the Sheffield trams and a good look at the tram trains. Same model Stadlers due down here in Wales.
Can't believe I missed Geoff in my hometown! Brilliant video, I didn't know about the 200m worth of track that goes into Derbyshire!
Glad you enjoyed it David - I also quite enjoyed thinking of things to point out to Geoff...it was like seeing your own home town as a first time visitor!
I live in Sheffield and get these trams almost every single day, it's really nice to see people coming here just to visit and experience the trams. Which, by the way, are 100% eco-friendly!
gayyyyyy
Stumbled across this video because my kids were watching it to see if they could spot me, I should also mention I'm a supertram driver 😂
Great video mate 👍
Thanks for the video. Nice to know that trams are making a comeback. It gives me a lot satisfaction to see cities adopt sustainable mass transit.
Went up there from Kent a few weeks ago for the football, very much enjoyed riding it!
One of my favourite tram networks, especially the Yellow Route that I'd regularly take from Middlewood to Meadowhall, when visiting my late grandparents! 😃
I'm always happy to see interesting, well-researched, educational channels do well on RUclips.
Just gotta love a well integrated tram train. Love the systems in Germany and this as well!
The class 399 also operates in Karlsruhe as a "tram-train", but only on DC lines (known as "NET 2012").
Geoff was quite confused by the concept of tram-trains, I bet he would be super confused if he visited Karlsruhe, where there are low-floor tram-trains like the Supertram as well as high floor tram-trains actually running on proper main lines.
in theory its great but in actuality it took years to build just 2 stops when it took 1 year to build the whole yellow and blue route, the tram trains dont go any faster on the track than the road and the trams have to stop at corners to let others pass so they dont scrape each other. its not great. the tram itself is exellent though! they are much more powerfull and have a lot more acceleration, however this does lead people who usually use the '94 trams to almost fall over, haha.
@@Hushey Well then, Sheffield has poorly executed the idea of a tram-train.
In Karlsruhe, tram trains are much faster on the "railway" routes than on the roads: up to 80 kph on DC tracks and up to 100 kph on AC mainline tracks. And they don't have to slow down at corners, as it is just a plain old railway line.
@@pixoontube2912 that's the idea. Also the trains here are Diesel multiple units so don't require catenary, so you'd think the tram train uses tram catenary and voltage right? Wrong. Tram train has to stop when it gets onto railway to switch voltage to railway standard even though it dosent need that and no trains use it, plus it only goes on tram track and a bit of railway so you couldn't use elec trains anyway, lmao
Nice one Geoff!!!
The light around the 10:40 mark is fantastic
Did you notice the tactile paving at all the tram stops that lines up precisely with the tram doors? Useful not just for the blind and partially-sighted, but also for when it's crowded on the platform! Clearly visible at 10:30 at Parkgate
Also, on that cronky bit of track (about 10:22) under Tinsley viaduct, where they transfer from the tram network, they always stop and report to the relevant controller.
I think Malin Bridge is the only tramstop sharing its name with a tune for a Christmas carol - Bright and Joyful is the Morn. You probably have never heard of it because it is one of many that are local to that part of the city (and parts of north east Derbyshire). Pubs in quite a few of the villages on the bus toutes past this stop sing them.
Thanks geoff for your wonderful videos over the last 12 months merry xmas to you and all of your family cheer's bob from down under.
the amsterdam lighttrain network was really something to behold before the North-Southline was built, it would've been extremely challanging but cheap, all trams amsterdam, it had a rail-train service as well then. Metro/Underground/SpeedTram Service 51 from Amsterdam central station on the bussy east line underground, and lead you down all the way down through amstelveen, just a few KM short of UITHOORN, that's like the amsterdam version of LUTON, but closer, as the netherlands is too cozy for comfort everywhere. but in Amsterdam South/WTC it changed it electric system, and used pantographs 2 on each set, so 4 or 6. sharing it with a regular tram, thats been modified to run on higher voltage and higher speed. nowadays the new CAF trams only use it with allot of underpasses or overpasses extra built and shorted the line. Now the norh south line is built, EVERYTHIGN changed on how trams and busses are run as the bus or ferry isn't the only way anymore to go north. of ' 't Ei.
but YOU WILL DO ALL LINES OF THE AMSTERDAM RAIL and R/NET Rail all the way to rotterdam, using the Dutch national rail (NS) to get on to discover the real SUPERTRAM, known as RANDSTAD RAIL, it shares rail WITH Actual intercity tracks.
I double dot dare you
Never thought id be so invested in a video about trams in a city ive never been to 😂
Worth pointing out that Sheffield & Rotherham PlusBus are valid on Supertram.
Love your vids Geoff, nice to see you somewhere local to me 👍
Used to be local to me, I have since moved to Liverpool. I still miss Sheffield, but at least I have the 777s to look forward to!
Great video Geoff, been wondering when you’d come and complete the Supertram network! You’ll have to get up early next time and tick off the ‘wrong’ (back) side of the triangle with the few trams that avoid the city centre ;)
I saw the Supertram being built and used it many times. It’s a great service and there extended it still to the hospitals.
I love the Tram Train, or Train Tram 🤣👍
Tram train, as it's a tram that can run mainline, a train tram is a train that can be used on a tramway
By far my favourite video, me visiting Sheffield often this is great
The stairs from Sheffield station platforms to the footbridge, and from the footbridge to Sheffield Station tram stop, equate together to about 15 storeys.
Anyway, a couple of the trams are hybrids in that they're two-thirds one tram and one-third another following collision repairs. Can't remember which Siemens trams are like that (quick look in a book show that 102 & 111, and 118 & 120, are hybrids but sit to be corrected), but the two Stadler trams that are hybrids are 202 & 204. The tram nerd in me has got all 25 Siemens and 7 Stadlers for haulage, but had to walk through from one end of a hybrid to another for proper tram pedantry.
Another Supertram challenge is to get the rare third side of the Ponds Forge triangle between Sheffield Station and Hyde Park. A few early morning and late evening trams to/from Nunnery Depot cover it.
Finally - welcome to Sheff, Geoff!
What happens when you include the outdoor stairs behind the station?
@@bfapple They look about 15 storeys high as well.
@@bfapple them steps are ridiculous. parked up there and walked in to the town for uni every day for 3 years.
@@TheFormidableForce I lived up Wybourn way until a few months ago, the stairs were great exercise!
The stop at Netherthorpe Road my late Dad parents lived close to here, and I remember before the trams we could walk under the passageway to get to the nursery I went to
I left Sheffield 25 years ago. What a joy!
I've done exactly what you did in July 2023! All team routes in one day.
FYI, "Rotherham" is pronounced "Rovrum." It also sounds like they will be adding another station between Meadowhall South and Rotherham Central at the Magna Science Adventure Centre. So you may need to visit again in a few years.
Hello, Phil from the video here! We did point out the possible site of the future Magna Park and Ride tram train stop, but unfortunately it didn't make the final edit. The public consultation closed on Friday 3rd September, and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive are now considering those comments before proceeding with the next stage of the process. You can read more about their plans here:
www.rotherham.gov.uk/news/article/386/partner-news-consultation-launched-for-new-magna-tram-train-stop-with-park-and-ride
😀
Its pronounced as either Rovrum (probably a more local one) or Rotherum.
The local pronunciation is Rothrum, not ‘Rovrum’... this is a cockney-ism!
I pronounce it "Rother'um"
Stocksbridge got a LOT closer to Middlewood... : )
The bus connection is new (probably more awkward for those living not so far North as I used to be as the "through bus" service is very infrequent). No mention of previous plans to skip over the River Don to the railway line on the other side?
Good to see as ever, thank you!
Thanks, interesting point, the tram-train would seem a potentially useful choice for the Stocksbridge line, and maybe cheaper and more convenient than trying to reinstate heavy rail.
He looks happier than ever!
Glad to see my local (ish) city been looking forward to this video :)
Nice, I'm glad u uploaded this video Geoff as I love the tram videos and I was hoping u were gonna make another one soon. U gotta make more bro!
Never been to Sheffield but this was great fun, thanks both :)
Did this myself ages ago.
I live in Manchester, and discovered that the return rail fare MCO-SHF was entitled to a free excess fare to Rotheram central by Northern Rail.
So unlike you when I did the Superman (sorry Supertram) day out I travelled out to Rotheram by train and started my traverse of the tram routes there. After covering the entire tram network and passing through or changing at every stop, left the network at Meadowhall, then two Northern trains back to Bamford, evening meal in the Anglers Rest, and Northern back to MCO.
That meant that I also did all the tram & NR stops by both modes.
I also did the entire Manchester tram network when it opened and repeated the traverse each time they opened another terminus.
Manchester tip: start at 6:30 pm on a Friday and there is a cheap ticket covering the entire network valid till last tram Sunday -- and it is about the same cost as a day ticket on a weekday. I guess it is possible to traverse the network in a day, but it's a lot more enjoyable to do so on an evening and two days. Gives you a chance to get off and look at interesting track & signal configs -- level crossings and the two places where trams are single line working next to a Network Rail single. They can't let the trams and trains share the same track in Manc because normal trams blow a fuse under Network Rail overhead lines.
That, of course, is what makes the experimental Supertrams in Sheffield Super.
At present only the tram to Rotheram uses the 25kV: NR claim they will extend the overhead lines for their trains, but no sign yet of it happening for any regular services :(
For now at least then the expense of the Supertram and the OLE are really just a proof of concept.
Just to be clear: I am not a train enthusiast as such: I am the ultimate anorak, being a track and signalling enthusiast. The purpose of trains and trams is to make the T&S meaningful: what else?
There's something weirdly satisfying about the way the tram does that three-way articulation around the bend at 6:16.
Also, I feel like there must be a story behind Sheffield having a street called Donetsk Way.
Hello Phil from the video here - one of Sheffield's twin cities it Donetsk, so we named a road, and later a tram stop, for them!
As a Sheffielder I can tell you that the city is twinned with Donetsk in the Ukraine. It's also twinned with Bochum in Germany and as a consequence there is another thoroughfare called Bochum Parkway.
Ah, makes sense. Centers of steel production and all. Thanks!
Hi Geoff,
Whata paira nutta's, 😄 quite enjoyed that, those trams are awsome vehicles, I've ridden those myself in recent years when I was trade plating. I've also ridden the Manchester, Rotherham, Nottingham, and Croydon systems. When I rode the Croydon system, shortly after it opened, I did what you've just done, rode the whole system it covered, did it in just over half a day. As you probably know, some of their routes are on former BR track beds.
Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2022. 😀👍👏
8:22 “because it’s cool” 😄
If you fancy a pint, get a Malin Bridge tram to Hilsborough. The tram stops right outside the Wetherspoon pub ‘The Rawson Spring’.
The other handy stop for a pint is Castle Square. The Wetherspoon pub ‘The Bankers Draft’ is less than a minute away.
Been to Sheffield before during the end of the first lockdown and it was amazing to ride the trams in Sheffield
Such enthusiasm Geoff. Great.
The pronunciation of some of these is amazingly southern 😂
Happy New Year @Geoff Marshall looking forward to the next informative video! All the best for 2022.
Aaaah cool thanks Geoff! All this is in my back garden (not literally haha)
I've seen a few of David Frankal's videos on the Sheffield Supertram. Cool to see it from your perspective.
The CAF Urbos 3 trams on the Midland Metro also have the CCTV wing mirrors. The also have batteries so that they can run on sections where overhead wires were not allowed (like around Bimingham Town Hall which is in a conservation area). And metal fatigue too it seems.....
Really interesting Geoff. Keep up the great videos.
@08:22 hahaha now thats a local accent if you've ever heard one! Good to see Geoff in my neck of the woods. Sorry you had to visit Rov'rum though.. urghh.. You did right not leaving the train station.
I love the look of the super trams I wish I lived in Sheffield but I live in London and my favourite ones are the Stagecoach ones
I was a conductor on Supertram between 2008 - 2011, a fair few things have changed since then.
The TramTrain services are also allocated reporting numbers, as they partly run on National Rail tracks.
I like the lady asking why you were taking photo's of the tram lol.
Yes Geoff! What a guy, been waiting for this!
You didn’t mention the closed stop, the one which was moved a short distance to improve the Interchange with the mainline station.
Sheffield Interchange Bus Station used to be strange in that it had two sets of roads at right angles, in a sort of L shape. The lower level set were closed some years ago and a building now occupies the site.
For several years I used to attend a transport related film at the Library Theatre each November. It finished at about 22:00 and I then had to wait until 01.45 for the first coach back to London. After the waiting room at the Interchange closed I stopped going.
Hello Phil from the video here! Although we didn't have time to mention the Ghost Platforms and everything else in the final edit, they are shown as a cutaway at 0:59 :-)
What a marvellous throwback, to my days at Sheffield Hallam! However - knowing how far out Stocksbridge is to the final stop on the yellow line at Middlewood; I DON'T miss such waits in the reyt cold... ;)
brilliant! i would love to see all the tyne and wear metro. mabye even with new train!
The first part that opened was the section between meadowhall and fitzalan square/ponds forge in 1994 then over the following years it extended out to the other areas
Great video and nice to see you up in my city for a change! Only fun tidbit I think you could have added is that the tram changes voltage when swapping from the Tram Network on to the National Rail Network.
Curiously enough I was in Sheffield that same week and rode the tram out to Halfway. Didn't have time to do Herdings Park because it's only an hourly service at present, or the tram-train because darkness fell. The Halfway route has interesting hilly scenery with great views over Sheffield. Halfway looks roughly halfway from Sheffield to Chesterfield, and is quite close to Eckington and Killamarsh on the original North Midland Railway which left Sheffield on a branch to keep to flatter country.
I always watch your videos and end up wanting to plan a crazy pub crawl.
Geoff I love it so much THANK YOU FOR FINALLY DO IT 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Arghhh I’ve been waiting for this for so long you don’t understand
I've actually done this one about 12 years ago, that was before the Rotherham extension. Didn't time it, just did it for fun when my cousin was visiting.
Only just subscribed but been watching for a while.
Commented on the Metrolink video asking when Sheffield was coming but never saw it pop up in recommend.