'Ridiculous': Sheffield MP demands answers over mining well discovered under tram tracks
“Just how it was not spotted at the time is ridiculous”
An MP wants answers over the sudden discovery of a well under a set of Sheffield tram tracks that has now halted services.
Sheffield Supertram’s blue route is suspended after an an old well - believed to date back to the city’s coal-mining past - was uncovered beneath the tracks at Birley Lane.
Not only does the gaping hole pose an infrastructure problem, but Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts now wants to know how tracks were ever allowed to be built over it.
In a letter to both the South Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayor and head of the Mining Remediation Authority, Mr Betts says the mistake must have been allowed or overlooked when the tram networks was first constructed in the 1990s.
It reads: “Clearly the fault of this lies in the original construction of the tram network. Just how it was not spotted at the time is ridiculous.
“Passenger and staff safety must of course come first, but we cannot see the blue route closed for weeks with no reopening date in site.
“SYMCA and the Mining Remediation Authority must work at pace to solve this and not let my constituents down.
“This may not be their mistake, but they do have to fix it urgently.”
He has also asked if a reduced service on just one of the tracks is possible during repairs, and for transparency from the Mining Remediation Authority, given other holes that have reportedly emerged in recent years around the area.
Ward councillor for Birley Luke Goddard [Reform] - who said he “did not seek to blame” SYMCA or the current Sheffield Council for the mistake - wrote in a Facebook post: “Our tramline on Birley Lane has been built right over what is believed to be an old well, that has now reopened.
“It is amazing that a mistake of this severity was allowed to happen. Thankfully this didn’t cause any accidents, injuries or fatalities.
“How many more wells or mineshafts are directly under the Supertram network?
“Is there any evidence of this well being acknowledged and ignored by staff during the planning or preparation of the tram network, or in the years since its arrival?”
Meanwhile, Mayor for South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard said work is now focused on making the area safe and carrying out a proper repair - though he warned this would “not be a quick fix”.
For passengers travelling the full blue route from Halfway to Malin Bridge, the disruption has meant a journey that would normally be completed on one tram now requires two replacement buses and two separate tram services.