South Yorkshire buses discussion

[Statto]

idiots & it cost £6.000 to install

A £6,000 bus shelter was installed on a road in South Yorkshire despite the street having no bus service.

Timetable changes made a month earlier meant buses no longer call on Tickhill Road in Maltby.

But rather than remove the bus stop it was upgraded with a roof, bench and information panel.

South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) said it was reviewing its installation processes "to prevent this from happening again".

The shelter installation was approved as part of a planning application for a new Home Bargains store nearby and paid for by the property developer, SYPTE added.

The travel body hopes the shelter can be moved to the adjoining Hamilton Road.

Tony Truman, who lives nearby, said: "Someone hadn't done their homework, have they?

"We've heard it on the grapevine that they're now going to move it."

Local residents also spotted the bus stop includes a spelling error, with Hamilton Road missing an 'L'.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-48307285

 

[EnviroExplorer]

Hi all,
As mentioned in the tracker thread, I’m off to Sheffield and Barnsley tomorrow, with the intention of tracking down the remaining Stagecoach ALX300s. If anyone can supply any more information that bustimes cannot, that would be hugely appreciated! Thanks

 

[woodhouse122]

Had my second trip on the X6 yesterday afternoon from Doncaster Sheffield airport to Sheffield.this was my second ride on the service,but the first time on one of the refurbished E300s (last time it was a 22x branded MMC) .DSA is very busy on a sunday afternoon with 3 Tui flights and 3 Flybe services but whilst the car parks were jammed the bus was empty back to sheffield,a shame as Stagecoach have put a lot of effort and money into the service (the refurbished interior was very nice with decent wi-fi and USB charging points)

 

[Galaxy]

Loadings between Bramley and Sheffield seem to be performing better, but nothing sparkling.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Had my second trip on the X6 yesterday afternoon from Doncaster Sheffield airport to Sheffield.this was my second ride on the service,but the first time on one of the refurbished E300s (last time it was a 22x branded MMC) .DSA is very busy on a sunday afternoon with 3 Tui flights and 3 Flybe services but whilst the car parks were jammed the bus was empty back to sheffield,a shame as Stagecoach have put a lot of effort and money into the service (the refurbished interior was very nice with decent wi-fi and USB charging points)

There are a few things that really stick out as challenges for the route.

First of all, whilst the fares look good value in comparison to taxis and parking, the frequency isn't great, especially on a Sunday. Who fancies arriving fresh in from Magaluf, and then realising that you might be spending > an hour waiting for the bus?

Also, there's the publicity. It probably should have a proper livery and identity. I would guess that possibly iport and the airport are supporting the service - they could and should have spent some time ensuring that it was properly marketed.

 

[tbtc]

a shame as Stagecoach have put a lot of effort and money into the service (the refurbished interior was very nice with decent wi-fi and USB charging points)

Shame about the loadings (I see it with a few passengers on in central Sheffield but they could be passengers just seeking a faster alternative from Handsworth into town (than the slow service via Darnall), but nice to see that a mid-life bus can actually be refurbished - as someone who lives on a FSY route, I'm used to seats that are as horrible today as they were fifteen years ago (e.g. the toilet box B7Ls) - I've not been on an XC yet but Stagecoach seem to have done a good job on the vehicles.

Also, there's the publicity. It probably should have a proper livery and identity. I would guess that possibly iport and the airport are supporting the service - they could and should have spent some time ensuring that it was properly marketed.

In fairness to Stagecoach, the majority of buses on the X6 are well branded, and adverts for it seem to be at the back/rear of most Stagecoach double deckers in Sheffield

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

In fairness to Stagecoach, the majority of buses on the X6 are well branded, and adverts for it seem to be at the back/rear of most Stagecoach double deckers in Sheffield

In that case, I take that back. Thought that was the finished example bereft of branding.

 

[tbtc]

In that case, I take that back. Thought that was the finished example bereft of branding.

They did start the service with common-or-garden unrefurbished unbranded buses, when the E300s were being tarted up, which seemed quite poor for Stagecoach (they are usually pretty decent at their marketing, so I was surprised that they started the X6 without getting the buses ready for it).

 

[Galaxy]

Saturday June 29th and Monday July 1st are the first two strike days at First South Yorkshire.

 

[johnnychips]

First Strike postponed.

Just to throw a cat in the pigeons, I overheard a Donny driver talking to a passenger who said he was a shareholder, he said ‘it’s Sheffield who lose money, we could lose them and be fine’

A lot of people slag FSW off - looking at a few posters on here - but I go to work on them four days a week in Doncaster and don’t usually have a problem. Some buses have WiFi and don’t advertise it, and they are old but get you from A to B

 

[tbtc]

September services changes announced.

https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/servicechanges/#SeptemberBusServiceChanges and https://www.firstgroup.com/south-yo...tes/planned-changes/september-service-changes

Changes to bus, tram and train services in South Yorkshire
New timetables for bus, tram and train services in South Yorkshire are available to view or download by clicking on the links in the table below.

Supertram Rail Replacement work starts from Friday 19 April until the end of August 2019.

Replacement bus services will keep you moving. To find out more and plan your journey visit our Rail Replacement page.

"Highlights" are:

First's "every twelve minute" 1a (which co-ordinates with the "every twelve minutes" Stagecoach 1) is replaced by a fifteen minute Chapletown - Northern General - Herdings - Northern General service (a loop numbered 11/11a, also replacing the southern 56)

The 95 is extended onto the northern 3/3a, with the southern 3/3a replaced by an extended 56 (which is replaced by the 11a, as above)

The 18 is extended to replace the 38, bringing back a City - Derbyshire Lane - Manor Top - Meadowhall - Shirecliffe - Hillsborough service like the old 2 used to

Generally bad news in northern Sheffield - the 35 is replaced by a diverted 32 (extended to Meadowhall), the 38a is scrapped, the 97/98 are down to every half hour each, the M92 dropped to every two hours (but extended into Hillsborough)

First get the Darnall side of the 6/6a (TM keep the Hallamshire side)

The 4 is scrapped (diverted 181s at RInginglow plus the 218 has been running up Psalter Lane for a few months)

The 31 scrapped and replaced by diverted 52a (Loxley) and 135 (Upperthorpe)

Powell's ambitious X7 (every half hour from Maltby into Sheffield) cut back to just the peak hour service it used to be - but Powells take various local tenders from TM/ SCT (inc the Bradfield minibuses, the inner-city 10) plus the 201 from Stagecoach

Surprisingly First have won a few tenders - they haven't had much success with them in recent times. First running the evening/sunday 25 and 57 (both Stagecoach routes)

A few routes lose their evening and/or Sunday service (or see it chopped, e.g. the 135 will be two separate services with nothing in the middle section between Grenoside and Chapletown)

Looks like a slight increase in the number of journeys from West Yorkshire to Penistone/ Stocksbridge (but nothing like a return to what once was)

(okay, not really "highlights", I accept!)

 

[johnnychips]

First are withdrawing sales of Adult Weekly tickets from purchase from the driver to other methods on 28/10. The leaflet says there will be a ‘Tap and Cap’ facility on contactless payments to £16.50 a week as well as other methods.

It says it takes 14 seconds to pay by cash but only 2 by contactless methods.

On Monday morning, it takes considerably longer for journeys because of this, but a lot of this is schoolchildren renewing their weekly tickets, which can’t be paid for by debit card, I suppose.

Not Too Serious Rant: if I had £1000 I would give it to the first student from a certain Catholic school in Doncaster who said, ‘Why don’t we all move down the bus a bit to leave space for other people getting on?


Edit: just realised this is Donny. Not sure what’s happening in rest of South Yorkshire.

 

[Rod Harrison]

I note ex-Oxford Gold 15610 is at Barnsley for use on the x10 (Barnsley - Leeds). Has it been, or will it be, repainted and branded like the coaches on this route or all upgraded to Gold?

 

[tbtc]

https://www.firstgroup.com/south-yo...d-changes/service-changes-sunday-26th-january

• Service 10 - will now run hourly instead of half hourly. Beyond Maltby the service is extended to Wickersley and Rotherham via Rotherham Hospital following customer and councillor responses to the First’s public consultation.This service will terminate at Rotherham and will also operate via Broom Valley partially replacing service 113.
• Services 22a and 22c - as per First’s public consultation proposals, these services will operate every 20 minutes at peak times and every 40 minutes during the day.
• Service 113 – As proposed in First’s public consultation the service will be withdrawn. The route will be partially replaced by First service 10.
• Service X1/X10 - following feedback to First’s public consultation the proposed changes to reduce the number of buses to Sheffield to two buses per hour is amended. Two buses per hour on service X1 and two buses per hour on service X10 will continue to operate to Sheffield with two journeys per hour on service X1 operating to Rotherham only and not to Meadowhall or Sheffield. Service X10 is amended to also serve Markfield Drive.
• Service 110 – Is now amended to also serve Markfield Drive
• Service X78 - will have double decker buses introduced to increase seating capacity. Minor timetable changes to be made improve punctuality.
• Service 208 - following feedback to First’s public consultation the proposed change to the route of this service will not take place at this time. Minor timetable changes to be made to improve punctuality.
• Service 74/74a - following feedback to First’s public consultation the proposed changes will not be made and there will be no changes to the route for this service. Minor timetable changes may still be needed to improve punctuality.
• Service 116 - following feedback to First’s public consultation the proposed change to frequency will not take place at this time. Minor timetable changes to be made to improve punctuality. A number of trips on Saturday currently terminate at Thrybergh, these will be amended to operate through to Ravenfield.
• Service i4 - All outbound services will be extended into the iPort, operating via Iport Avenue, Ontario Drive and Railport Way, before returning to Doncaster Frenchgate from Iport Avenue via current route..

So Sheffield - Meadowhall - Rotherham is eight buses per hour (was ten buses per hour, back when the X1 was every ten minutes), but with the X78 at a simple "fifteen minutes" and the X1/X10 a more awkward "every ten to twenty minutes" - eight buses per hour but with gaps of fifteen minutes (twice per hour) - it could only be FirstGroup

 

[317 forever]

From experience, the 81/82 on weekdays between Stannington/Hall Park Head and Millhouses/Dore is a treasure trove of old vehicles. Renowns, ALX400s and Presidents aplenty, though the Renowns often stray onto even the 120 in the evening peak every so often!

The 75/76 and 97/98 also have a decent selection.

Beware that on Sundays there's a lot of Streetlite only operation.

Indeed, I rode a 2003 ex-London Volvo B7TL - President on route 82 one Saturday in September. It incidentally meant my President rides having spanned just over 20 years.

 

[cnjb8]

Hello,
TM Travel have removed branding from Versa 835 YD63 VDX. It was branded for Line 30. Are TM giving up on 30 or just giving up on route branding?

 

[EnviroExplorer]

*If there’s a suitable thread already, apologies did check before I started this one*

Seems the start of South Yorkshire being turned around by new management is underway, with 36275 in this new blue based livery. Hopefully the start of many forthcoming improvements ....

Linked below is 36275, credit to the original taker

First South Yorkshire 36275 BD12 TCO

Explore Alex's Transport Photos' 4422 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[Andyh82]

A bit unusual that it’s almost but not quite the usual First urban template

The cream bit at the front is almost a squared off version of the original Arriva livery

 

[Galaxy]

Doncaster's red livery should be nice!

 

[johnnychips]

There is a thread somewhere about all buses in South Yorkshire so this could be amalgamated. For instance I was surprised today to see Powells operating the previous Stagecoach X20 from Donny to Barnsley.

 

[Roilshead]

I'm not sure the coloured "bubbles" add anything - and what is that about Giles Fearnley along the lower horizontal flash? . . .

 

[Mugby]

It's quite nice actually but of course they were starting from a point which could only be described as rock bottom.

I agree the coloured bubbles look a bit silly, they look like something Stenning would do.

 

[43055]

Very nice. Even better if the interior is done as well.

I'm not sure the coloured "bubbles" add anything - and what is that about Giles Fearnley along the lower horizontal flash? . . .

On other liveries there is normally another line of color say another shade of blue in that area. I think the 'bubbles' are meant to represent snooker balls. If you look at the paneling by the stairs it is covered with a picture of a snooker table.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I'm not sure the coloured "bubbles" add anything - and what is that about Giles Fearnley along the lower horizontal flash? . . .

Suspect that @43055 is on the money that they are snooker balls, given the role of The Crucible in the city.

As for the Giles Fearnley reference, he's obviously just announced his departure from First Bus and he is a Sheffield lad and started work with Sheffield Corporation before SYPTE was formed so assume it's a tribute to him (though it's difficult to read).

 

[cnjb8]

I'm guessing that the cream will change with route branding. I really hope it works for them!

 

[tbtc]

AIUI Mr Fearnley Senior was someone high up in local bus operation - there was a tribute to him on the 1960s liveried Gemini that was repainted in about 2013 or 2014 - so I can see why he's been deemed important enough (though the reference will go above many people's heads, locally).

It's... a nice enough livery... I'm a little surprised at the colours used - local buses went from "navy/cream" to "brown/cream" to "brown/ red/cream" to "red/yellow" in the years before First's palette took over - so it's not like there's any particular history to the colours (compared to some "local" First liveries like the green in Aberdeen or the blue in Stirlingshire)... blue also runs the risk of alienating half the population of Sheffield (given the United/ Wednesday thing - the depot at Olive Grove is roughly where Sheffield Wednesday started out, but is fairly close to the United ground).

The snooker balls are a nice touch - I'll admit I assumed they were balloons at first sight (given the different sizes) - a splash of colour with some local significance - something that isn't exactly the same as other cities.

Mixed feelings about the "Arriva" bit at the front - at least it's taking the shape of the doors into account (rather than the Stagecoach approach, which tries to have complicated swoops but then they are hidden behind big black windows/ doors/ screens) - so at least this has been designed with the door in mind

If they wanted two tone blue, I'd have preferred if they'd applied the "Steel Link" livery to the rest of the fleet - https://fellowsfilm.com/downloads/first-south-yorkshire-x1-steel-link.2518/ - but many/most of those buses are leaving the fleet.

 

[swifty]

Very nice. Even better if the interior is done as well.


On other liveries there is normally another line of color say another shade of blue in that area. I think the 'bubbles' are meant to represent snooker balls. If you look at the paneling by the stairs it is covered with a picture of a snooker table.

The seating has been trimmed in a dark blue version of the new First ‘lines’ moquette.

 

[TheSel]

Suspect that @43055 is on the money that they are snooker balls, given the role of The Crucible in the city.

I thought it was just to encourage users to cue before boarding.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

AIUI Mr Fearnley Senior was someone high up in local bus operation - there was a tribute to him on the 1960s liveried Gemini that was repainted in about 2013 or 2014 - so I can see why he's been deemed important enough (though the reference will go above many people's heads, locally).

It's... a nice enough livery... I'm a little surprised at the colours used - local buses went from "navy/cream" to "brown/cream" to "brown/ red/cream" to "red/yellow" in the years before First's palette took over - so it's not like there's any particular history to the colours (compared to some "local" First liveries like the green in Aberdeen or the blue in Stirlingshire)... blue also runs the risk of alienating half the population of Sheffield (given the United/ Wednesday thing - the depot at Olive Grove is roughly where Sheffield Wednesday started out, but is fairly close to the United ground).

The snooker balls are a nice touch - I'll admit I assumed they were balloons at first sight (given the different sizes) - a splash of colour with some local significance - something that isn't exactly the same as other cities.

Mixed feelings about the "Arriva" bit at the front - at least it's taking the shape of the doors into account (rather than the Stagecoach approach, which tries to have complicated swoops but then they are hidden behind big black windows/ doors/ screens) - so at least this has been designed with the door in mind

If they wanted two tone blue, I'd have preferred if they'd applied the "Steel Link" livery to the rest of the fleet - https://fellowsfilm.com/downloads/first-south-yorkshire-x1-steel-link.2518/ - but many/most of those buses are leaving the fleet.

I’d completely overlooked the colour issue vs the tribal aspect of football teams. Perhaps they should’ve gone for Terrier green and yellow?

I think the dark navy is a nod to SCT but that might be rather dark as the main colour. For that reason, I’m not a fan of the Steel Link livery - just my opinion but find it too cold, too somb

The seating has been trimmed in a dark blue version of the new First ‘lines’ moquette.

Is it a group thing? The Midlands ones have it but Kernow/Cymru have something similar but different whilst WoE have something else.

I thought it was just to encourage users to cue before boarding.

Bedum and tish!!

 

[Robertj21a]

I’d completely overlooked the colour issue vs the tribal aspect of football teams. Perhaps they should’ve gone for Terrier green and yellow?

I think the dark navy is a nod to SCT but that might be rather dark as the main colour. For that reason, I’m not a fan of the Steel Link livery - just my opinion but find it too cold, too somb



Is it a group thing? The Midlands ones have it but Kernow/Cymru have something similar but different whilst WoE have something else.


Bedum and tish!!

Any similarities are likely to be with the First Midlands fleets given that their MD now has responsibility for South Yorkshire.