Oldest routes in Rotherham (Read 1,225 times)

[dougie]

I was thinking earlier today, there can't be many routes in the Rotherham area that have remained since deregulation.

All I can think of are the 19 to Worksop, 69 to Sheffield, 108/109 to Rawmarsh and 227 to Barnsley.

The local SYT/ First Rotherham routes have all been renumbered, the Dearne Valley ones too, even the X78 is a fairly new number (being the 277/278 for a long time).

How many other Rotherham routes have kept the same number for a decade?

[thrybergh]

Like you say they have all being renumbered now, the Stagecoach ones just last week and the First ones back in 2002 when the Metro (now Overground) was launched. Rotherham also had quite a few cross town routes such as the 137 & 138 for example.

Most were just changed to simple numbers though so the 100 became the 10, the 101 became the 1, the 102 became the 2 ect.

Of what I can remember we had in Eastwood the 121/123 (Sunnyside/Ravenfield - Rotherham / Sheffield) the Sheffield extension was withdrawn a few years ago though, tan via Carlisle Street to the bottom of the Moor if I am correct. We also had the 137/138 which ran from Thrybergh to Meadowhall (137) and Kimberworth either Bents Road or Beckett Crescent (138) and last but not least the X78, but this was running via Ferham Road at the time, which IMHO made the route a lot quicker (part of route 14 now, was the 601 & X78).

On the top road in Eastwood we had the 111/112 & 115 (which were then changed to the 7/8 (East Herringthorpe - Meadowhall) 11/12 (East Dene Circulars) and then the 7/8 was chopped as a cross town route and the 15 was brought in.

Other than the ones that you have mentioned Dougie I can not think of any more, but is it just me or where the old numbers better, as now a lot of routes from Rotherham run into Sheffield and it just gets confusing having the same numbers in the same area (as Rotherham is practically a suburb of Sheffield now having being swallowed up by Sheffield just like what Stockport has being with Manchester).

[westgate]

You are correct about the 108/109 route dougie, am I correct in thinking that the 226 route in north Rotherham from Barnsley to Thurnscoe and the 229 route numbers have not changed in the past decade at leased?

There is also the 70 running from Westfield to Rotherham via Crystal Peaks, Handsworth & Darnall which has not changed route number, if I am correct.

[dougie]

westgate said:

There is also the 70 running from Westfield to Rotherham via Crystal Peaks, Handsworth & Darnall which has not changed route number, if I am correct.

It was the 469/470/471 for a while (every half hour from Crystal Peaks to Meadowhall), but I can't remember when it changed.

Good point about the 226, not many that have stayed the same though!

[jameyboy06]

i think it would be better to do like in west yorkshire with first
leeds services 1-100
huddersfied 300 series
halifax 500 series
bradford 600 series

[westgate]

Oh right, I can not remember those route numbers dougie.

And yes very true, with First they were all in the 100 series except for the 601/602 & the X78.

How long as the X12 being running as it must be a good few years now I can remember it for the past 9 years so far with Clarksons, then First Mainline & now Stagecoach for 3 years each.

The Yorkshire Traction numbers were all changed back in 2000 if I remember correctly to cause less confusion this is when the 70/75/76/77 & 79 routes were created from the old network of the 29# series. But now these are back to three digit series again such as the 218/220/221 plus many more.

As you say not many in Rotherham, if at all any have remained the same.

[westgate]

jameyboy06 said:

i think it would be better to do like in west yorkshire with first
leeds services 1-100
huddersfied 300 series
halifax 500 series
bradford 600 series

First did used to be like this (well Mainline) then it was all changed to make things easier and simpler (which for me makes it harder) as you can have a 15 bus service in Doncaster and a 15 bus service in Rotherham for example.

If I remember correctly Sheffield was 0 - 100

Rotherham 100 - 200

Doncaster 400 - 500? (not sure about Doncaster)

And then some limited services such as the 501/502 in Sheffield & the 601/602 in Rotherham running to Meadowhall.

[dougie]

westgate said:

How long as the X12 being running as it must be a good few years now I can remember it for the past 9 years so far with Clarksons, then First Mainline & now Stagecoach for 3 years each.

The X12 is a funny one. It used to be the X32 (to tie in with the X31, X32, X33, X34, X38 and X39 from South Yorkshire to West Yorkshire), but when Chesterfield Transport won the tender (15-20 years ago) they ran it as an extension of their X12 (the X10/X11/X12 were the Chesterfield - Sheffield direct version of the current 727).

It ran as a through service from Chesterfield to Barnsley via Sheffield, Meadowhall and Rotherham.

The X12 number has stuck, even though the Chesterfield end of it has changed numbers a few times since! Bit like the 22 in Sheffield, which has kept the same number even though it's changed it's northern end and southern end completely! (or Trigger's broom in Only Fools and Horses, if you know what I mean )

[djebelgoraa]

The original SYPTE numbering system was from 1974-1986:
1-99 Sheffield
100-147 Rotherham
148-199 Doncaster
200-299 Inter-district services & Cross boundary routes
300-399 Barnsley
400-499 Cross boundary Services & YTC Schools.
500-599 Special routes eg City Clipper
700-799 Steelworks routes
800-899 Services for the disabled and YTC Pit buses.
Even during this time there were a few anomalies, e.g some East Midland routes in Doncaster with "Sheffield" numbers

The 108/9 Rawmarsh Circle were introduced shortly after deregulation. Prior to that there was a 106/7 Circle plus the 104 to Manor Farm which were combined into the 108/9. Must dig out the old SYPTE timetables and have a check!

[thrybergh]

djebelgoraa said:

The original SYPTE numbering system was from 1974-1986:
1-99 Sheffield
100-147 Rotherham
148-199 Doncaster
200-299 Inter-district services & Cross boundary routes
300-399 Barnsley
400-499 Cross boundary Services & YTC Schools.
500-599 Special routes eg City Clipper
700-799 Steelworks routes
800-899 Services for the disabled and YTC Pit buses.
Even during this time there were a few anomalies, e.g some East Midland routes in Doncaster with "Sheffield" numbers

The 108/9 Rawmarsh Circle were introduced shortly after deregulation. Prior to that there was a 106/7 Circle plus the 104 to Manor Farm which were combined into the 108/9. Must dig out the old SYPTE timetables and have a check!

Thanks for posting that list djebelgoraa , on a slight related note when did the 601/602 start running then, as I notice there are now 600 series in the SYPTE list?

[dougie]

thrybergh said:

Thanks for posting that list djebelgoraa , on a slight related note when did the 601/602 start running then, as I notice there are now 600 series in the SYPTE list?

When Meadowhall opened, the "City Clipper" 500 was extended from Sheffield to Meadowhall as the 501, so 601 was a natural number to use for the Rotherham to Meadowhall route.

Obviously there was later a 502, and 600/602, but the idea of the 501/601 made a lot of sense. Back then, I always wanted them to run as a "through" route from Sheffield to Rotherham via Meadowhall (which would have meant they could cut back on the 69s). Now, such a service *is* there, they just call it the X78 instead...

[djebelgoraa]

Not sure why the 600-699 were not allocated any services in the SYPTE lists, maybe they used for school routes in Sheffield? I never new why some cross boundary routes were in the 200-299 and others were in the 400-499. The latter group tended to be only SY to WY / NY for example 443 Barnsley-Leeds and 405 Doncaster-York. The SYPTE list seemed to work on the whole and WYPTE had something similar at the same time.

When Meadowhall opened in September 1990, the 601 Rotherham-Meadowhall was probably the first ever service in South Yorkshire to be numbered in the 600s. I remember opening day at Meadowhall well with standing loads on the bendibuses all day long. Before that the Bendis were used on the 500 City Clipper whilst 2011-3 were employed on the X91 Sheffield-Thurnscoe. Wish I had taken a few photos back then of the bendibuses negotiating the Thurnscoe estates.

Back On topic, it is probably the 19 to Worksop and the 69 to Sheffield that have remained with the same route number for the longest time in Rotherham, The 69 since the 1950s ? and the 19 since the 1930s ?

[westgate]

The 19 is the longest remaining route in Rotherham with the same number from what I have seen followed by the 69 has you correctly say djbelgoraa although the 69 started in the 1940's I think as the Sheffield - Rotherham tramline which started in 1906 I think?

I think from what my Grandad says there was a ?19 that ran from Carbrook by the old Tinsley Tram sheds to Scarsdale Road for the Steelworks.

[clarkuss]

206 from dinnington to sheffield still runs now as it did at least 15 years ago i believe.

[maltabus]

At Deregulation wouldn't the Rawmarsh Circle have been the 106 and 107 ?