Stagecoach Supertram services to Middlewood were temporarily suspended for around four hours on Friday 4th March after a bus broke down on Leppings Lane blocking the outbound line heading to Middewood.
The bus broke down at around 1300 – a Wright Streetlife bus operated by First, fleet number 63008 – and was stuck blocking the tram line for about four hours. During the blockage 111 was trapped the wrong side of the bus and had to remain there until the bus was cleared. Services on the Yellow route were diverted to Malin Bridge throughout the disruption.
With the bus ahead, 111 waits on Leppings Lane for it to be moved before it can continues towards the city.
120 comes off Holme Lane on the approach to Hillsborough with a diverted Yellow route service which started back at Malin Bridge instead of Middlewood. (Both Photographs by Stuart Cooke, 4th March 2022)
Why on earth did it take four hours to clear a broken-down bus? Presumably there was no police involvement – the usual cause of delays when there has been an accident, rather than a simple malfunction. Our Victorian ancestors would have been deeply ashamed of us.
They had to wait for a private haulage firm to be available to tow it away. Sadly the days of all bus companies having their own fleet of breakdown/tow trucks seem to be long gone!
If this had not caused so much disruption it would almost be comical. Perhaps there is a joke in there somewhere: ‘How many First Bus managers does it take to negotiate the hire of a breakdown truck….?’