Sheffield - Meadowhall Fares

[vicbury]

Hi all, I thought I would ask here as despite much searching, I can't find the answer online. I'm traveling several times between Meadowhall and central Sheffield tomorrow.

I see that there is a combined bus and tram day ticket available. Do I need to buy this in advance or can I tap on and tap off such as in Bristol area?

Secondly, is there a day ticket that also includes the rail services from Meadowhall?

Thanks as ever for the expertise on here!

 

[Kite159]

Secondly, is there a day ticket that also includes the rail services from Meadowhall?

There is, it's called the "SYConnect+" for £10.70

(Includes all rail services within South Yorkshire plus some short extensions into West Yorkshire)

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Concur that the "SY Connect + Day" (one day ranger) ticket covers all Trains, Buses and Trams in the Sheffield (South Yorkshire TravelMaster) area, is valid all day and priced at £10.70. There's also a 7 day version at £37.70.

 

[vicbury]

Thanks both. Have found that now on the Travel South Yorkshire website. Looks like the easiest way for me will be to buy it through the First Bus app so I'll give that a go. Cheers

 

[robbeech]

There’s a Cross country guard that doesn’t believe these are valid IF they’re bought on a bus app, suggesting they’re only valid on orange rail ticketing stock. (I usually buy them on the Stagecoach app as I start at an unstaffed station)* but of course that’s nonsense. Won’t affect you if you’re only doing Sheffield to Meadowhall of course.


*It might actually be available on the Northern TVM now as they have lots of rangers and rovers.

 

[185143]

There’s a Cross country guard that doesn’t believe these are valid IF they’re bought on a bus app, suggesting they’re only valid on orange rail ticketing stock. (I usually buy them on the Stagecoach app as I start at an unstaffed station)* but of course that’s nonsense. Won’t affect you if you’re only doing Sheffield to Meadowhall of course.


*It might actually be available on the Northern TVM now as they have lots of rangers and rovers.

Oh for f...

I used one bought from the FirstBus app once. A Northern guard tried to scan it, which obviously didn't work. Had no issues accepting it once he'd seen what it actually was. Everyone else just looked at it and moved on without batting an eyelid.

 

[Deerfold]

Oh for f...

I used one bought from the FirstBus app once. A Northern guard tried to scan it, which obviously didn't work. Had no issues accepting it once he'd seen what it actually was. Everyone else just looked at it and moved on without batting an eyelid.

I'm not sure why it's obvious it wouldn't work. The equivalent West Yorkshire ticket, available on the "MCard" app displays two different codes with a button to switch between them. One is scannable by buses, the other on trains.

 

[robbeech]

Oh for f...

I used one bought from the FirstBus app once. A Northern guard tried to scan it, which obviously didn't work. Had no issues accepting it once he'd seen what it actually was. Everyone else just looked at it and moved on without batting an eyelid.

I suspect most XC Guards are aware that it's valid and have no issue with it (i say most, i've likely only ever had 4 tickets check on XC between Sheffield and Doncaster). I was "Let off this time" by the guard who said it wasn't valid, which for those who know me know that this is far far worse than being referred for prosecution. As a point of reference, their issue wasn't that the ticket as a concept wasn't valid on XC but that the method it was presented on (Stagecoach app in my case) was not.

Never had an issue with Northern or TPE with these tickets, regardless of method.

 

[Harpers Tate]

It's a long time ago, but I had the same type of ticket issued on bus ticket stock and had exactly the same "let you off this time" attitude from an XC conductor on a Doncaster > Sheffield trip.

 

[185143]

I'm not sure why it's obvious it wouldn't work. The equivalent West Yorkshire ticket, available on the "MCard" app displays two different codes with a button to switch between them. One is scannable by buses, the other on trains.

Therein lies your answer. The First Bus app just displayed a regular QR code compatible with bus driver's ticket machines.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I'm not sure why it's obvious it wouldn't work. The equivalent West Yorkshire ticket, available on the "MCard" app displays two different codes with a button to switch between them. One is scannable by buses, the other on trains.

That's really interesting. In an ideal world the same code would be scannable regardless of transport mode, but that is a nifty second-best solution.

 

[Mike395]

Therein lies your answer. The First Bus app just displayed a regular QR code compatible with bus driver's ticket machines.

For pedantry - bus ticketing also is moving towards Aztec codes - the MCard app now displays two Aztec codes (you're right, the bus one used to be a QR code going back a few years I think) for bus and train, however they have different payload sizes.