Transport in Sheffield

National and international travel

Sheffield is linked into the national motorway network via the M1 and M18 motorways. The M1 skirts the north-east of the city, linking Sheffield with London to the south and Leeds to the north; the M18 branches from the M1 close to Sheffield, linking the city with Doncaster, Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport and the Humber ports. The Sheffield Parkway connects the city centre with the motorways.

The topography of Sheffield makes it unsuitable for a large rail system. The Midland Main Line is the major railway through Sheffield, running in approximately a south-west to north-easterly direction. Other routes passing through the city include the Cross Country Route, the Penistone Line, the Dearne Valley Line, the Hope Valley Line, and the Hallam Line. The major station serving the city, Sheffield Station, is on the south-eastern edge of the city centre. There is another rail station at Meadowhall and four smaller suburban stations at Chapeltown, Darnall, Dore and Woodhouse. Passenger rail services through Sheffield are provided by Midland Mainline, Virgin Trains, Central Trains, TransPennine Express, and Northern Rail.

The closest international airport to Sheffield is Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield, which is located 18 miles from the city centre. The Airport opened on April 28, 2005 and is served mainly by budget airlines. Sheffield also has a city airport, Sheffield City Airport, which opened in 1997 but no longer has scheduled flights. Manchester international Airport, Leeds Bradford international Airport and Nottingham East Midlands Airport all lie within a one hour’s drive of the city.

Local travel

The A57 and A61 roads are the major trunk roads through Sheffield. These run east-west and north-south, respectively, crossing in the city centre. Other major roads generally radiate spoke-like from the city centre. An inner ring road, mostly constructed in the 1970s and currently (2006) being extended to form a complete ring, allows traffic to avoid the city centre, and an outer “ring road” runs around the eastern edge of the city.

Public transportation is provided by light rail and buses. The light rail system, known as the “Sheffield Supertram", was constructed in the early 1990s, with the first section opening in 1994. it consists of three spokes that run from the city centre out to Hillsborough, Halfway, and Meadowhall. A sizeable bus infrastructure operates from a main hub at Pond Street bus station. Other bus stations lie at Meadowhall and Hillsborough. A flurry of new operators were created after deregulation in the 1990s. The majority of these gradually amalgamated, leaving First South Yorkshire (formerly First Mainline) owned by First Group as by far the largest bus operator. Yorkshire Terrier, Stagecoach East Midlands, TM Travel and Arriva Yorkshire also run bus routes in the city. in recent years a series of price rises and service cuts has seen bus ridership drop and has prompted angry commuters to start a campaign called We Want Our Buses Back.

For cycling, although hilly, Sheffield is compact and has few major trunk roads running through it. it is on the Trans-Pennine Trail, a National Cycle Network route running from Southport in the north-west to Hornsea in the East Riding, and has a developing Strategic Cycle Network within the city. Sheffield is close to the Peak District National Park, an area of outstanding natural beauty popular with both on- and off-road cyclists.