The Anonymous Widower

Extending The Sheffield Tram-Train To Adwick

I must admit, I very much like the Class 399 tram-trains in Sheffield and their German cousins in Karlsruhe.

I am not alone, as talking to an experienced Sheffield tram driver, he said that the extra power of the Class 399 tram-trains have over the Supertrams, mean they handle Sheffield’s hills with ease, when the tram-trains are full.

They have a top speed of 62 mph compared to a British Rail Class 150 train being able to manage 75 mph.

Passenger capacity of the two trains is probably about the same.

The Current Tram-Train Service

The service has the following characteristics.

  • This runs between Sheffield Cathedral and Rotherham Parkgate via Meadowhall South and Rotherham Central stations.
  • Services run every thirty minutes.
  • I have heard rumours that an extra stop is going to be be added at Magna Science Adventure Centre.

London Overground and local rail services in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and other cities in the UK, seem to run at a frequency of four trains per hour (tph).

The Current Northern Rail Service Between Sheffield And Adwick Via Doncaster

The service has the following characteristics.

  • This runs between Sheffield and Aswick stations via Meadowhall, Rotherham Central, Swinton, Mexborough, Conisbrough, Doncaster and Bentley stations.
  • Services run every hour.
  • The service passes Rotherham Parkway Shopping Centre, but doesn’t stop.

Is there a need for this Northern Rail service to stop at Rotherham Parkway Shopping Centre?

The Current Electrification Between Sheffield And Rotherham

This OpenRailwayMap shows the electrified lines between Sheffield and Rotherham Parkway.

Note.

  1. Mauve tracks are electrified with 750 VDC overhead wires, so they can power Sheffield’s trams and tram-trains directly.
  2. Black tracks are not electrified.
  3. Meadowhall and its rail and tram interchange is in the South-West corner of the map.
  4. Note how mauve lines indicate the electrified tram tracks, that curve round the Meadowhall Shopping Centre.
  5. The blue arrow in the North-East corner indicates Rotherham Parkgate tram stop.
  6. The mauve line diagonally across the map, indicates the current electrification between Meadowhall South and Rotherham Parkgate tram stops.
  7. Magna Science Adventure Centre, is just to the South of the electrified Sheffield-Rotherham tram-line.

This second OpenRailwayMap shows the rail and tram lines between Sheffield and Rotherham in more detail.

Note.

  1. Track colours are as in the first map.
  2. The blue arrow in the North-East corner of the map indicates Holmes junction and is the route that Northern Rail’s current Sheffield and Adwick service takes.
  3. Sheffield and Rotherham Central stations are 6.1 miles apart.
  4. Sheffield and Adwick stations are 22.7 miles apart, but the Northern four miles between Doncaster and Adwick are electrified with 25 KVAC overhead wires.

This would indicate that a tram-train with a range of about twenty miles on battery power would be able to handle the route, if it could charge its batteries on the electrified lines.

Terminating a Sheffield And Adwick Service In Sheffield

This OpenRailwayMap shows the rail and tram lines in and through Sheffield station.

Note.

  1. Rail lines are in orange.
  2. Tram lines are in mauve.
  3. Platform numbers in Sheffield station are shown as blue dots. Click on the map to show it on a larger scale.
  4. Sheffield Cathedral tram stop is in the North-West corner of the map.
  5. The triangular junction in the North-East corner of the map, allows trams to use all the main tram lines that go in three directions. A touch of genius as it gives a lot of flexibility, when adding extra services.

Currently, termination of the services from Rotherham and Doncaster is as follows.

  • The tram-train terminates at the Sheffield Cathedral tram stop with a frequency of two tph.
  • The train terminates in Platform 3 in Sheffield station with an hourly frequency.
  • As typically a terminal platform can handle 4 tph, I don’t see why a second Sheffield and Adwick service can’t be running every hour into Sheffield station.

A short length of overhead electrification would need to be added on Platform 3 to recharge any tram-trains terminating in the platform.

It could also become a tram and run to any of the other destinations served from the triangular junction; Halfway, Herdings Park or Malin Bridge. This would allow batteries to be charged as the tram-trains ran across the city.

Remember,  Sheffield station is likely to be electrified with 25 KVAC  overhead wires in connection with running electric trains between London St. Pancras and Sheffield.

If the four bay platforms at Sheffield station, were to be electrified, then these would be ideal for recharging any battery-electric trains or tram-trains, that terminated in the station.

Battery-Electric Trains Between Manchester And Sheffield

Consider.

  • Manchester Piccadilly station is already fully electrified.
  • Currently, all Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield, terminate in Platform 8 at Sheffield station.
  • The distance between the electrification at Manchester Piccadilly and Platform 8 at Sheffield station is 40.2 miles.
  • CAF are promising battery-electric versions of their Class 331 trains.

With a battery range of fifty miles, which is not outrageous, Manchester and Sheffield could be an electric service for the first time since January 1970, when the Woodhead route was closed.

FirstGroup’s Proposed  London King’s Cross And Sheffield Service

This open access service might happen, although with this Government of all the Lawyers we have, who can predict anything.

  • If it does happen, it is likely that the trains will be battery-electric Class 802 trains.
  • These will be the same as those that will be run by Hull Trains.
  • Battery range will be sufficient to handle Retford and Sheffield, which is 23.3 miles and much shorter than Temple Hirst junction and Beverley.

These trains will also need charging at Sheffield.

 

 

 

 

 

The current Sheffield and Adwick service terminates in platform 3 at Sheffield station, so this platform would probably need to have tramway electrification, so that it could charge the trams.

Updating Rotherham Parkgate Tram Stop

My preference would be for four tph passing through Rotherham Parkgate tram stop in both directions, so this would be a tram-train every seven minutes and thirty seconds, if there was only one platform as now.

I’m fairly sure, that Rotherham Parkgate tram stop needs to have a platform in both directions.

This Google Map shows the tram stop.

Note.

  1. The double-track rail line between Meadowhall and Doncaster curving to the South of the Rotherham Parkgate Shopping Centre.
  2. The Rotherham Parkgate tram stop on a spur from the rail line.

I am pretty certain, that a two-platform station could be squeezed in.

February 15, 2025 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment