Sheffield Supertram

In common with many British cities, Sheffield used to have an extensive tram network, the Sheffield Tramway (1873-1960). This finally closed in October 1960, it then being argued that motorised buses offered superior economics.[1]

The new Supertram network arose from ambitions held by the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), which had been assigned the role of public transport coordination in the area.[4] SYPTE refined an earlier and more expansive light rail proposal to include pre-existing heavy rail alignments, in order to gain the required permissions to proceed,[4] and deposited several Bills to Parliament in 1985–1990 to gain the necessary powers.[5] Financial approval was given by the Department of Transport towards the end of 1990, allowing the £240 million construction of the initial line to commence in 1991.[6][7]

This line was opened in stages between 1994 and 1995. The first section, located along a former heavy rail alignment to Meadowhall, opened on 21 March 1994.[7] The network was operated by South Yorkshire Supertram Limited,[8] a wholly-owned subsidiary company of SYPTE established to run the venture.

In the early years, the scheme was viewed by some as a failure; passengers continued using cheaper and more frequent buses, and retailers complained about the disruption caused by the lengthy construction works.[9] The complex ticketing system was also a source of irritance and confusion to passengers.[1] It became clear that projections for passenger numbers had been overly optimistic, and concern arose that the system represented poor value for money.[9] The matter of who should bear the cost became an issue.

By 1996, the councils backing the Supertram brought in consultants to draw up options to address major operational and managerial problems.[1] In December 1997, South Yorkshire Supertram Limited was privatised, and sold to Stagecoach for £1.15 million, substantially below the anticipated £80 million that the councils had hoped to raise to help pay off the accumulated debts,[10] leaving several local councils with the long-term debt for the Supertram's establishment.[11] Under the terms of the deal struck by the Labour government, a reduction in operating costs was achieved, but it was calculated that the people of South Yorkshire were each paying 5p per week for the Supertram, which continued over many years.[9] Stagecoach acquired the concession for the maintenance and operation of the Supertram network until 2024.[7][9]

There were initially plans for Supertram to extend services to a greater area of South Yorkshire, such as lines to Barnsley and Doncaster, but progress has been restricted.[9] According to BBC News, frustration was expressed amongst people outside of Sheffield that they were paying for something they do not use.

However, by 2014 plans to extend Supertram were in various stages of action,[9] and patronage had gone up, from 7.8 million passenger journeys in 1996/97, to 15.0 million during 2011/12.[12][9] The increase in usage was credited to various factors. Industry publication Rail pointed towards changes to route patterns, the introduction of onboard conductors, ticket simplification and refurbishment of the trams themselves as having generated greater appeal amongst the public.[1]

Between 2012 and 2017, the number of passengers and operating revenue declined; during 2016/17, the network carried 12.6 million passengers.[13] Reasons presented for the reduction included the disruptive rail replacement effort across the network, which involved partial closures and the use of buses as temporary replacements, as well as the impact of cheaper petrol.[1][14]

Stadler Citylink (Class 399) tram-train No. 399206, pictured in April 2019

Siemens-Duewag Supertram 124 arriving at Gleadless Townend tram stop, on the Blue Route to Halfway

The tram-train extension to Rotherham opened on 25 October 2018,[15] using seven new Vossloh-built Class 399 Citylink articulated electric multiple units.[16] Trams operate on Network Rail's line from Tinsley to Rotherham station and beyond to the Parkgate shopping centre, where services terminate on a short spur at the side of the railway, after travelling on the Supertram line from Cathedral to Meadowhall South/Tinsley.[17][18] The station at Rotherham Central is a combined tram stop and railway station,[19] with platforms 1 and 2 at Rotherham Central extended, with the new extensions numbered platforms 3 and 4 respectively. The stop at Parkgate is a single platform terminus. The first test run of the tram-train service (as far as Magna) was performed in the early hours of 10 May 2018, and the first gauging run all the way to Parkgate occurred in the early hours of 5 June 2018.[20]

The existing Siemens-Duewag Supertram fleet were not upgraded for tram-train operation, so were not registered under TOPS and cannot be used on the line as they lack the relevant Network Rail safety systems and crashworthiness. The tram-train scheme was first planned to be in service by 2015 but was delayed.[21][22]

The Class 399 units were built in 2015/16 with the first delivered in December 2015.[23] Until the completion of the tram-train line, some were used to provide increased capacity on the existing Supertram network. They first entered service on 14 September 2017.[24][25]

The tram-train services have suffered with significant problems with reliability since their introduction. On the opening day, the service was suspended following a road traffic collision on the tram network involving one of the tram-train vehicles.[26] The service has also been suspended twice after faults were found on the Citylink units. The first suspension was on 9 April 2019, when the fleet was withdrawn to undergo safety checks, although service resumed the next day.[27][28] The service was later suspended again on 14 December 2019, resuming three days later on 17 December.[29][30] Services have also operated on a reduced frequency several times whilst work has been undertaken on the Citylink fleet.[31]

• 21 March 1994: Fitzalan Square to Meadowhall
• 22 August 1994: Fitzalan Square to Spring Lane
• 5 December 1994: Spring Lane to Gleadless Townend
• 18 February 1995: Fitzalan Square to Cathedral
• 27 February 1995: Cathedral to Shalesmoor
• 27 March 1995: Gleadless Townend to Halfway
• 3 April 1995: Gleadless Townend to Herdings Park
• 23 October 1995: Shalesmoor to Middlewood/Malin Bridge
• 25 October 2018: Tinsley/Meadowhall South to Rotherham Parkgate (tram-train)

A map of the Supertram network. Diagram of the Supertram network

The Sheffield Supertram network is organised around Park Square and consists of four lines - Yellow, Blue, Purple and Tram-Train (black on maps)

The lines, with termini at Meadowhall Interchange, Rotherham Parkgate, Halfway and Hillsborough, all serve Sheffield city centre and meet at Park Square where a triangular junction was constructed to provide interchange between lines and operational flexibility. A pair of small branches serving Malin Bridge, from Hillsborough Interchange, and Herdings Park branch out from two of the main lines.[1]

The Sheffield Supertram runs from Sheffield City Centre north-west to Middlewood and Malin Bridge via the University of Sheffield and Hillsborough; north-east to Meadowhall Interchange and Rotherham Parkgate via Attercliffe; and south-east to Halfway and Herdings Park via Norfolk Park, Manor, and Gleadless.

The three main City Centre stops are located on one side of a former dual carriageway, now a single lane and reserved for buses and taxis only. These three stops are served by all routes.

The tram stops on each of the four routes are as follows:

The off-peak daytime frequencies are:

• Yellow Line - 12 minutes
• Blue Line - 12 minutes
• Purple Line - 30 minutes
• Tram Train - 3 trams per hour

A reduced level of service was introduced across the Supertram network on 23 March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. A modified Sunday timetable was in operation,[32] until services were further reduced to hourly on 1 April.

Stagecoach Sheffield formerly operated the SL1 and SL1a "SupertramLink" routes between the Middlewood terminus of the yellow route and Stocksbridge, via Oughtibridge. The bus ran at the same frequency as the tram and was timetabled to connect with the tram at Middlewood. Through single, return, day and week tickets were available to allow travel on both Supertram and SupertramLink bus services. On 1 June 2020, Stagecoach withdrew the dedicated SupertramLink bus from Middlewood to Stocksbridge, providing an enhanced service on local bus service 57 from Hillsborough to Stocksbridge in its place.[33]

Sheffield Supertram operates the following fleet:

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Length metres	Capacity			In service	Orders	Fleet numbers	Routes operated	Built	Years operated
			mph	km/h		Std	Sdg	Total
Siemens-Duewag Supertram		Tram	50	80	34.8	86	115	201	25	—	101-125	Blue, Purple, Yellow	1992	1994–present
Stadler Citylink (Class 399)		Tram-train	62	100	37.2	96[34]	150	246	7	—	201-207[lower-roman 1]	Blue, Purple, Tram-Train, Yellow	2014-2015	2017–present
Total									32	—

The network operates 25 three car trams built by Siemens-Duewag of Düsseldorf, Germany, in 1992. The trams are 40% low floor design, the vehicles have been specially designed for gradients as steep as 10%. In the 1980s a design choice was taken to create the longest possible vehicle to avoid multiple working[35] which resulted in a 34.8-metre (114 ft) design, the third-longest tram design in operation in Europe at the time[36] and the longest in service in the UK until the 42.8-metre (140 ft) long Edinburgh Trams were introduced.

Launched in an initial light grey livery, following the awarding of the operating franchise to Stagecoach the trams were reliveried in Stagecoach's corporate livery from 1997. From 2006 the trams were refurbished, and a new dedicated Supertram blue–based livery was launched, with the entire fleet completed in early 2009.

Stadler supplied seven tram-train vehicles, delivered between November 2015 and November 2016.[23]

Detail of the Supertram triangular junction at Park Square

The network is 29 km (18 mi) long, with 60 km (37 mi) of track.[37] It features two types of track; tramway track where either pedestrians or road traffic share the right of way and ballasted railway track when there are no such requirements.

Tramway track consists of a grooved tramway rail set into a concrete base with troughs into which the rails are laid. Most of the track is on-street using 35G-section grooved tram rail, with BS11-80A 80 lb/yd (39.7 kg/m) flat-bottom rail elsewhere.[37] The railway track was supplied by British Steel Corporation Track Products of Workington and laid on sleepers consisting of concrete blocks with steel ties which gives a spring feeling when travelling on these sections. The track is laid on a bed of ballast which in turn rests on a prepared formation. Street crossings are usually laid with grooved tramway rails.

There are some major structures. Two viaducts carry Supertram onto Park Square (a major road junction in the centre of the city), one of them being a six-span viaduct, the other the bowstring steel arch Park Square Bridge. An underpass takes the tram underneath the busy A57 roundabout outside the University of Sheffield.

Donetsk Way tram stop. The platform edge's alignment and rugged paving can be seen.

The Supertram has 50 tram stops,[38] which are generally 26.5 m (87 ft) long and 3 m (9.8 ft) deep and are of a network-wide standard making them easy to understand and use. The design incorporates recommendations made by the Cranfield Institute of Technology who studied ergonomics for both able-bodied and disabled users.[39]

The platforms are 37.5 cm (14.8 in) high, with a 1:20 slope. The platform edge comprises a 60 cm (24 in) wide light-coloured textured paving with strips of 40 cm (16 in) wide edge warning tactile strip. Directional guidance tactile paving crosses the width of the platform to coincide with the tram door locations.[40]

Supertram is powered through 12 electric substations and fed through 107 mm² (0.166 sq in) cross-section overhead line equipment (OHLE) wire.[37] The substations convert the 11 kV AC supply into 750 V DC supply into the overhead. The 12 substations are situated as follows:

The overhead line equipment depends on the location. If the tracks are close together, central poles with 'steady' arms on each side are used. If the tracks are further apart, poles on either side with span wire are used. With aesthetics in mind, a minimum number of traction poles are used and whenever possible the wire is anchored onto neighbouring buildings, and blended into the structures as far as possible, after talks between Supertram, the City Council and landlords.

The contact wires are twin cadmium copper ones, twin wires being necessary because of the high installed power rating of the trams (1 megawatt). The regenerative braking on the tram feeds current back into the wires.

Siemens-Duewag Supertram 122, operating the Purple Route to Herdings Park, on the permanent way leaving Sheffield station for Sheffield College (Granville Road) in July 2004

There is a single depot, located at Nunnery Square, which occupies former carriage sidings alongside the Sheffield to Lincoln railway line. It was designed and constructed by Balfour Beatty on 2.6 hectares (6.4 acres) of land and consists of a three-line workshop building, six stabling sidings, a turning loop, engineers sidings and sundry equipment.

The main offices and reception, supervisor's offices, plant room, staff mess rooms, paint shop, first aid are on the first floor level on the South side of the building. The south-west of the building is home to the Operations and Power Controller's office, where live control of the running of the service is monitored using SCADA, CCTV and radio contact. The depot substation is also located in the south-west corner, two 600 kVA transformer-rectifiers supply the tramway overhead and an 800 kVA transformer feeds the depot facilities.

In the workshop itself are two through-running lines (numbered 8 and 9) and line 10, a stub end. All lines have inspection pits and line 8 possesses a Hegenscheidt wheel lathe. This machine allows wheel turning whilst both sets of doors are closed. The wheelsets are turned in situ. High level access is provided on lines 9 and 10 for servicing of equipment boxes and pantographs. An automated washing machine is located on line 7. The site's security is provided by CCTV and fence guarding and is under control of security personnel housed in the operations centre. Road access is from Woodbourn Road at the end of the depot.

Before the arrival of Supertram, the site was already dedicated to the railway industry. Nunnery engine shed filled most of the site whilst lines of the Midland Railway, Great Central Railway and London & North Eastern Railway irrigated the area and served collieries.

The rules of operation of the Sheffield Supertram are similar to those of a traditional railway. But unlike normal trains, tramways can be operated without signalling, although block signalling is sometimes necessary on single-line sections. The trams are driven on a line-of-sight basis, so that the tram can be stopped if an obstruction is spotted ahead.

The route a tram is to take is computer-controlled. The route is set on a device in the tram before a journey is started, and on approach to junctions, a signal is sent from the tram to a device known as a VIS loop buried beneath the track. This automatically sets the points in the correct direction. Signals, however, are used to give indications to tram drivers when running on-street and at street crossings. As trams have priority[41] at many places, it was necessary to give them different traffic light phases from motor traffic and therefore different types of indication have to be used from those applicable to motor vehicles. Signal phases for the tramway are specifically modified to account for the length of the tram. The tram signals are usually operated alongside and in conjunction with traffic signals. Signals consist of white lights arranged vertically (for go), horizontally (for stop) and a cross (for caution). Two other light arrangement indicate a point direction at junctions.

• Tramway signals
• 
  Proceed
• 
  Stop
• 
  Caution and proceed
• 
  Turning left and proceed
• 
  Turning right and proceed

• Junction signals
• 
  Points set for left
• 
  Points set for right
• 
  Points misaligned or not detected

Points indicators are provided at junctions to indicate the route which is set through the points. At junctions where Supertram and train movements can conflict with road traffic, fixed signals are provided in addition to points indicators. A points indicator may only be passed if it displays the correct route indication for the tram concerned and, where fixed signals are provided, if both points indicators and fixed signals are set for the correct route.

Lineside signals give instructions or warnings to tram drivers. To distinguish them from normal road signs, they are diamond-shaped. The most common are speed restrictions, which are in miles per hour. These are particularly necessary on road-running where trams travel along with road traffic.

The system is owned by the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), which in turn is controlled by the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority, which consists of representatives from the metropolitan boroughs of Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, and Barnsley.

Supertram is operated through an exclusive concession agreement between SYPTE and South Yorkshire Supertram Ltd (SYSL), now a wholly owned subsidiary of Stagecoach Holdings PLC. SYSL holds the concession to operate and maintain the network until 31 March 2024.

Full financial figures do not appear to be published for Sheffield Supertram; SYPTE produces its own annual accounts, but profit and loss figures for the tram operations are not shown separately.[45] The key available trends in recent years for Sheffield Supertram are (years ending 31 March):

Detailed passenger journeys since Supertram commenced operations in May 1994 were: