Investigation: Looking at Sheffield public transport including Sheffield buses and Sheffield train station links
and live on Freeview channel 276
These are just some of the questions that The Star’s team have been investigating over the last month, seeking answers to reader queries such as why are there so many disruptions to Sheffield buses and when will First Bus and Stagecoach driver shortages end; how will major rail plans bring jobs and investment to the city; and where could Sheffield’s tram network be extended to?
We’ve also looked into the cancellation of some Sheffield to Manchester Airport rail services, and how there are plans for £16 million to be spent on a fleet of electric buses serving Sheffield and South Yorkshire.
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Hide AdAs well as asking members of the public what they think about Sheffield’s transport infrastructure, our readers had their say on these issues – don’t forget you can share your views by writing to [email protected]
INVESTIGATION: Looking at Sheffield public transport including Sheffield buses and Sheffield train station links
Key Events
- How major rail plans could bring jobs and investment to Sheffield
- First and Stagecoach reveal how long bus cancellations could last
- The public have their say on where Sheffield’s tram service should go
Sheffield bus driver shortage: First and Stagecoach reveal how long cancellations could last
Bus services in Sheffield are still being cancelled due to the national driver shortage, with dozens of services being affected each day.
And the bad news for passengers is that the disruption could be set to continue for some time yet.
Both First and Stagecoach have issued an update about the crisis affecting bus services across Britain, and they say that although new drivers are being trained it takes several weeks before they are ready to hit the roads.
'Golden age of transport choice' for Sheffield - but will drivers agree?
Dame Sarah Storey is keen to play down suggestions of growing conflict between drivers and cyclists - as record sums are spent on bike lanes in Sheffield.
The region’s Active Travel Commissioner does not think there is more aggression towards riders due to new measures that challenge motorists’ domination of the roads.
The gold medal winning Paralympic cyclist says there is no ‘us and them’ because most riders drive too.
This is despite a photo emerging of an overtaking motorist making a rude gesture at her. It was snapped during a police ‘close pass’ operation on the A57 which saw officers stop 20 - almost a fifth - of 110 overtaking drivers.
Editor: Expensive, unreliable public transport isn’t up to much
Our public transport isn’t up to much, is it?It is a pretty depressing conversation in any city as we face a climate crisis but it is more painful in Sheffield than most as we used to have the best service in the world.
I don’t know anybody who grew up in Sheffield when bus services were at their peak who doesn’t still talk about those days with a smile. And there is no amount of head shaking and muttering about Sheffielders being stuck in the past that will make that change, because we know the value of what was taken from us. We also know the heavy price our city is paying because that gem was not protected.
There is a way our leaders could consign that conversation to the past though – give us the public transport which we demand and deserve.
I was sitting listening to somebody from Birmingham yesterday as she enthused about plans to extend trams in her city – they’ll even be fully accessible, she delighted in telling me.
Sheffield’s shocking spate of road deaths – how officials hope to make city’s roads safer
When Rita Magni died after being struck by a car on Phillimore Road, near Phillimore Community Primary School, Darnall, on Monday, it was the latest in a series of tragedies.
The previous morning, 23-year-old Junaid Latif died after a crash on Moore Street, close to the inner ring road.
Less than two weeks earlier, a pedestrian died after a collision on Prospect Road, Lowfield.
But what is being done to make Sheffield roads safer?
The Star readers have their say on Sheffield buses
Reader’s letter: “With services this unreliable, why would anyone want to use Sheffield’s buses?”
MP Louise Haigh’s campaign for better buses in Sheffield is a great idea, but unfortunately it doesn’t go far enough. The list doesn’t include all the buses in Sheffield so it is impossible to send every complaint to the website.
Reader’s letter: ‘Bus drivers are leaving at an alarming rate, at my depot alone at least 20 have left’
Your article on the bus driver shortage puts staff shortage in inverted commas almost as if Stagecoach are lying about a shortage of drivers.
The direction of travel is clear - but will Sheffield miss the bus?
A new lunchtime rush hour is emerging in Sheffield after the pandemic upended office life.
Bus operators believe the new peak is due to work-from-homers meeting up after a morning on their own.
Nigel Eggleton, managing director of First Sheffield said buses were noticeably busier in the middle of the day.
Sheffield transport: Growing clamour to return buses to public control
Sheffield buses are now so bad they should be taken back into public control.
That’s the demand from a growing number of passengers and politicians who believe privatisation has failed - as shown by falling numbers and rising complaints.
Some 35 years after deregulation, and in the throes of a climate emergency, there is a clamour to bring back the glory days of mass transit.
New £16m fleet of electric buses planned for Sheffield and South Yorkshire by 2024
Nearly £16 million would be spent on a fleet of electric buses serving Sheffield and South Yorkshire, under new plans.
The money would pay for 27 electric buses – the first to be introduced in the region – including a Sheffield city centre shuttle bus similar to the old FreeBee bus service which The Star has campaigned to get reinstated.
The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority – as Sheffield City Region is now known – has submitted a bid for £6.8m from the Department for Transport under the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas Scheme.
If successful, that would be topped up with just under £7m capital funding to buy the buses and £2m to run the shuttle bus service for the first five years, provided by the mayoral authority.
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