At around 0830 on Thursday 22nd October two Stagecoach Supertram trams were involved in a low speed collision at Shalesmoor tramstop causing severe disruption for both the Blue and Yellow routes for the rest of the day. Photos on the internet seem to show that 120 ran into the back of 118 but at this stage the exact circumstances cannot be confirmed.
The two trams were both travelling towards the city with 118 the front of the two vehicles and it is believed this was stationery in the stop at the time of the incident. 120 – which retains its Sheffield Corporation cream based livery – would appear to have then struck the rear of 118 at slow speed. The most visible damage was to 120 with the front bumper hanging off with a damaged windscreen also suffered. Reports have suggested that the collision also meant the tram could not be moved which led to further disruption. It is understood that a local road closure is needed to allow specialist equipment to be taken to the scene to lift the tram for attention and then movement back to the depot.
As soon as the incident took place Blue and Yellow route trams to Middlewood and Malin Bridge were suspended and at the time of writing remain so. Initially Netherthorpe Road was used as the turnback for services from Halfway and Meadowhall but later on in the day this was extended to Shalesmoor. Frequencies were also affected with Yellow route trams from Meadowhall running every 12-20 minutes and from Halfway on the Blue route every 15-20 minutes. Replacement bus services ran every 10 minutes from both Middlewood and Malin Bridge as far as Hillsborough Interchange with Supertram tickets also being accepted on service buses.
Three people were taken to hospital as a precaution following an incident although none are believed to have suffered serious injuries.
Thankfully this is a very rare incident on a UK tramway and it did take place at low speed which helped to ensure the outcome was not too severe. It is expected that as well as an internal investigation from Stagecoach Supertram the RAIB will also get involved to discover just what went wrong during the morning rush hour of Thursday 22nd October.