South Yorkshire Supertram services have been severely disrupted following a Police incident at a block of flats in the city centre. Police were called to the Gateway building on Broad Street near to Park Square at around 1900 on Monday 10th February and with a large cordon in place tram services have been amended during the ongoing incident.
The exact details of the incident have not been revealed although media reports suggest that it is because of a man in the flats having a large supply of weapons and ammunition. Evacuations started from around 1920 on 10th February when the cordon was also introduced.
Because of the incident service changes had to be introduced onto Supertram, with these remaining in place throughout Tuesday 11th February (at least at the time of writing):
- BLUE – Services running every 30 minutes between Sheffield Station and Halfway only (departing Halfway at 17, 47 past the hour and Sheffield Station at 12, 42 past the hour). No trams from Sheffield Station to Malin Bridge.
- PURPLE – no service
- YELLOW – Services running between Cathedral and Middlewood and from Meadowhall to Woodbourn Road. The frequency of these services differed during the day, at one stage the Cathedral-Middlewood service ran every 20 minutes but this later reduced to every 30 minutes whilst the Meadowhall to Woodbourn Road section was at a time running usual frequencies but this later reduced to half hourly. No trams Cathedral to Woodbourn Road.
- TRAM-TRAIN – Services running hourly between Woodbourn Road and Rotherham Parkgate only (departing Woodbourn Road at 36 past the hour and from Rotherham Parkgate at 59 past the hour). On X, South Yorkshire Supertram confirmed that there are currently one two Tram-Train vehicles available for service and one of these was caught on the wrong side of the blockade.
To help passengers complete their journeys, ticket acceptance has been agreed with Northern Rail and First Bus between the city centre, Meadowhall and Rotherham and First Buses from Herdings into Sheffield. Please note some bus services are also being diverted around the cordon.
South Yorkshire Supertram will next be providing an update on their website at 0900 on Wednesday 12th February.