Combing my hair….

Sheffield Supertram tracks represent a real danger for cyclists. At any time there is the risk of a wheel dropping into one of the two parallel groves, in the wet there is also the risk of sliding on the metal tracks. The best route to take is to cross the tracks at 90 degrees, but this is rarely possible. A particular problem is Hillsborough Corner which links two main routes out of the city to the North West. The video shows me negotiating the corner from South to North, but it is actually more difficult in the other direction as the road slopes uphill and turning from Langsett Road into Ripley Road to head up Walkley Lane is effectively an impossible manoeuvre to do safely when the road is wet.

In October I took part in a record breaking event. I wasn’t aware of it at the time but a bike ride that started with a tram trip to Rother Valley Country Park represented a record for the number of bikes on a tram at one time (34 bikes, 1 tandem and 1 trike). This record was reported in the Greater Manchester Cycle Campaign newsletter for December – a document which is worth a read – and repeated in the weekly CTC email newsletter.

The problem is that the record isn’t quite what it seems. Bikes, other than folded bikes, aren’t allowed on the trams in Sheffield. Doesn’t matter how empty they are, no unfolded bikes. The record was set on a tram which had been hired jointly by the local CTC group and the local cycling campaign group Cycle Sheffield (I am a member of both groups). While the October ride was an excellent day out and the tram gets participants out to the flatter edges of Sheffield, there are a number of disadvantages to hiring trams over being able to use normal trams. Firstly all the financial risk associated with the hire is borne by the two cycling groups – the record breaking ride made a profit, but a downpour on the day and consequent low turnout and membership fees are subsidising the operations of the Supertram’s franchise owners Stagecoach. Secondly the rides have to finish at exactly the specified time, too late and the tram doesn’t wait; get a puncture a mile from the end of the ride and the Supertram will leave you behind.

However, perhaps more importantly to me, I am left with the impression that in hiring a tram to allow me to do something that Stagecoach otherwise wouldn’t let me do, we have done the equivalent of giving the school bully my dinner money (something my Mum warned me against doing). Barry Raynor, Secretary of the local CTC group tells me he shares this concen, but he feels we still have a foot in the door and whilst ever we can prove that there is a market for passengers with bikes we still have a remote outside chance of convincing Stagecoach, especially as the number of cyclists continues to increase in the City

I guess this raises the question of why trams should allow cyclists on in the first place. Well one place to start would be to be – as a taxpayer and Sheffield Council Tax payer for many years I helped pay for the network to be built in the first place. Another argument, might be that a lot of civilised places with more cyclists (such as Berlin) let bikes on and it doesn’t seem to cause riots. More fundamentally, I think the argument is about normalising bike use. The ability to do a trip across the extensive and hilly terrain of Sheffield partly by bike, partly by tram would open the opportunity to many more people to cycle rather than drive.

Personally, I don’t think I would use the tram very frequently, but it would be particularly helpful when you want to get your bike to the bike shop – two of Sheffield’s bike shops are directly off the tram route -  Tony Butterworths and Langsett Cycles

If it is a thumbs down for Stagecoach, it is a resounding thumbs up for Northern Trains – officially their policy is 2 bikes per train – however I have seen many more bikes on some trains – and never had a problem with a conductor.