Early Sheffield Supertram days
Sheffield was the second UK city to inaugurate a modern light rail system, just 34 years after it bid farewell to its last classic trams. Sheffield followed Manchester in embracing light rail, but compared with the Manchester Metrolink system that has proved locally popular and has been subsequently expanded, Sheffield’s Supertram has had to overcome to initial public scepticism, below-forecast usage and more limited horizons.
I made my first visit to see the Sheffield system in action six months after it opened in March 1994. This view of Düwag unit No.20 (one of 25 that began the service) was taken at Fitzalan Square, initially the city centre line terminus. The plain livery reflected the system’s ownership by South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority. Mounting financial losses led SYPTE to privatise the Supertram operation in 1997. Vehicles were daubed in corporate stripes after Stagecoach took over, continuing to the present day. Sheffield Supertram will revert to public ownership in 2024 when the Stagecoach contract expires. An early priority will be to replace the long-lived Düwag rolling stock.
September 1994
Rollei 35 camera
Fujichrome 100 film.
Early Sheffield Supertram days
Sheffield was the second UK city to inaugurate a modern light rail system, just 34 years after it bid farewell to its last classic trams. Sheffield followed Manchester in embracing light rail, but compared with the Manchester Metrolink system that has proved locally popular and has been subsequently expanded, Sheffield’s Supertram has had to overcome to initial public scepticism, below-forecast usage and more limited horizons.
I made my first visit to see the Sheffield system in action six months after it opened in March 1994. This view of Düwag unit No.20 (one of 25 that began the service) was taken at Fitzalan Square, initially the city centre line terminus. The plain livery reflected the system’s ownership by South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority. Mounting financial losses led SYPTE to privatise the Supertram operation in 1997. Vehicles were daubed in corporate stripes after Stagecoach took over, continuing to the present day. Sheffield Supertram will revert to public ownership in 2024 when the Stagecoach contract expires. An early priority will be to replace the long-lived Düwag rolling stock.
September 1994
Rollei 35 camera
Fujichrome 100 film.