This is why a bus service in Sheffield has been barred from hospital grounds

A bus service in Sheffield has been barred from using the grounds of a hospital it serves.
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The 11 and 11a, which run from High Green to Herdings via Sheffield city centre, were meant to stop within the Northern General Hospital’s grounds.

In September, First South Yorkshire announced they would no longer do so, with passengers for the hospital having to get off at the Barnsley Road stop outside and walk, due to the amount of times those buses spent waiting in the grounds.

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At the time, the operator said this was only expected to be a temporary arrangement until the issue was resolved, adding that other buses running less regularly than the 11 and 11a would continue to serve the hospital grounds.

Northern General HospitalNorthern General Hospital
Northern General Hospital

But as part of a new timetable for the routes which is being introduced at the end of January to improve punctuality, Travel South Yorkshire has announced that service 11a will be temporarily suspended between Sheffield city centre and the Northern General ‘as permission has been refused to use the hospital grounds’.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, which runs the Northern General, said it had offered to work with First to see if there is an alternative route for the service within its grounds.

Andrew Jones, facilities director at the trust, said: “We work in partnership with South Yorkshire Travel and over the years we have been very successful in expanding public transport routes to and from our sites.

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“An issue did become apparent with the introduction of the 11a bus because there were simply not enough people at the identified stops to warrant the frequency. This meant the bus was idling outside buildings for longer periods of time than usual which potentially impacts on other vehicles and caused comments from staff, visitors and patients.

“The 11a bus continues to stop outside the Northern General Hospital’s Barnsley road entrance and we have offered to work with First to see if there is an alternative to the initial route within our grounds.”

Number 11a buses were forced to divert on Wednesday evening after coming under attack from vandals on Leighton Road and Gleadless Road.

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