Nottingham Express Transit

This article is about trams from 2004 onwards. For trams 1875–1897, see Nottingham and District Tramways Company Limited. For trams 1897–1936, see Nottingham Corporation Tramways.

Nottingham Express Transit
Overview
Type	Tram
Locale	Nottingham
Stations	23
Daily ridership	25,000 (2009/10)
Operation
Opened	9 March 2004
Operator(s)	Tramlink Nottingham
Character	Y-shape network; city-centre street running
Depot(s)	Wilkinson Street
Rolling stock	Bombardier Incentro AT6/5
Technical
Line length	14 km (8.7 mi)
No. of tracks	double & single-track
Track gauge	Standard gauge
Electrification	750 V DC OHLE
Operating speed	80 km/h (50 mph)
Route map Legend Hucknall Butler's Hill Moor Bridge Bulwell Forest Bulwell Phoenix Park Cinderhill Highbury Vale David Lane Basford Wilkinson Street Wilkinson Street depot Shipstone Street Radford Road Beaconsfield Street Hyson Green Market Noel Street The Forest High School Nottingham Trent University Royal Centre Old Market Square Lace Market Westfield Broadmarsh(proposed) Station Street(for Nottingham )

Nottingham Express Transit (NET) is a light-rail tramway in the Nottingham area in England. The first line opened to the public on 9 March 2004, having cost £200 million (£229 million as of 2012) to construct. The scheme took sixteen years from conception to implementation. It is operated by Tramlink Nottingham, a consortium made up of Meridiam Infrastructure, OFI InfraVia, Alstom Transport, Keolis, VINCI Investments and Wellglade Group. Previously it was operated by Arrow Light Rail from 9 March 2004 until the 16 December 2011.

Network

Line 1

The route of the current line starts at Nottingham railway station to the south of the city centre and extends north, passing the Lace Market, Nottingham Trent University, Forest Recreation Ground and terminating at Hucknall. There are currently 23 stops, with provision for an extra stop between Basford and Wilkinson Street close to the development of the site of the old British Gas works, and a proposal for an extra stop at the redeveloped Broadmarsh shopping centre adjacent to the projected new bus station.

This line is 14 km long, of which 4 km is on-street. A little north of the city centre is a section about 1 km long where northbound and southbound trams follow different streets and the lines cross at each end of this section to run on the 'wrong side'. From Wilkinson Street north (for about 8 km), the tramline runs alongside an existing railway, the Robin Hood Line. At Highbury Vale, about halfway along the line, a branch turns west to end 1 km later at Phoenix Park, while the main line runs north to Hucknall. There are park-and-ride facilities at several stations.

All the construction works on Line 1 were carried out by Carillion. The system is arguably the only 'new' tram system built in the UK to have been an instant success. Whilst others around the UK are now starting to carry the number of passengers that was hoped for, Nottingham's system has exceeded the most optimistic predictions, carrying 9.7 million people in 2005. This bolsters the case for the construction of new lines. As of 2006 it is also the only light railway in the British Isles to operate 100% low floor trams.

As of 4 April 2005, trams run every five minutes during peak times, and every six minutes during the weekday daytime, alternating Northbound to Hucknall/Phoenix Park, dropping to every 10 minutes Monday–Saturday evening, and every 15 minutes Sunday evening.

The tram has rail connections with East Midlands Trains, CrossCountry and Northern Rail at Station Street (for Nottingham railway station), as well Bulwell and Hucknall for the Robin Hood Line.

Bus connections are available throughout the system, with the main interchanges being at Hucknall, for TrentBarton Connect to get around the vast Hucknall Estates, and also the 141 for a fast connection to Mansfield; Moor Bridge for Trent Barton Rainbow 3 and NCT 70/71/L11 services for Arnold; Bulwell Forest for NCT 17 service to City Hospital; Bulwell for NCT 17/35/68/69/70/71/79/80/81/L6/L11 services; Cinderhill for Trent Barton Rainbow 1 to Eastwood(via a short walk to Nuthall Road) and NCT 35/70/71/72/79/L11 services; Wilkinson Street for Medilink (City Hospital to QMC) services; Royal Centre for TrentBarton and NCT services; Old Market Square for Trentbarton and NCT services; Lace Market for NCT 5/6/7/8/9/10/11/34/77/78/79/Citylink 1; Station Street for Premiere, TrentBarton and NCT services; Phoenix Park for the Phoenix Flyer to Nuthall, Kimberley, IKEA and Ilkeston.

Tickets are sold on board by conductors, assisted by conductors at The Forest tramstop during peak times. An all-day tram ticket costs £3.20. A Kangaroo (all trams, buses and trains within the Kangaroo Zone) day ticket costs £3.40. In Hucknall, a Trent Barton Connect day ticket costs £3.60 (adult) £2.00 on tram, £2.10 on bus (child). An adult tram single ticket costs £1.60 but £2.50 before 09.30 Monday–Friday, in a push for the few that buy them in the morning peak to buy all-day tickets instead (passengers are advised to purchase a PayPoint 10-trip ticket to reduced this cost to £1.40). In January 2012 the new concessionaires, Tramlink Nottingham, announced an intention to replace the on-board conductors with a combination of station-based "ambassadors", platform-based ticket machines and electronic ticketing.

Previously Nottingham City Transport Day Rider tickets were accepted. This ended on the 16th of December 2011 when Tramlink Nottingham took over the running of the network. NCT EasyRider Citycards are valid until 31st January 2012 due to an agreement between Nottingham City Transport and Tramlink Nottingham.

Concessionary fares are available only to Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County pass holders. Nottingham City pass holders travel for free, apart from between 0730-0930 Monday–Friday when full fare is charged. Nottinghamshire County pass holders travel free apart from before 0930 Monday–Friday when full fare is charged, and between 1600–1800 Monday–Friday when half fare is charged (70p evening, only single tickets available). All pass holders from other areas are charged at full fare as the free travel scheme applies only to buses outside of their local areas.

Child single tickets are £1.00; child all-day tickets are £1.70.

Prospective future lines

Nottingham Express Transit

Legend Robin Hood Line→Mansfield/Worksop Hucknall Butlers Hill Moor Bridge Bulwell Forest Bulwell Phoenix Park Cinderhill Highbury Vale Babbington Junction David Lane Basford Wilkinson Street Wilkinson Street Depot Shipstone Street Radford Road Beaconsfield Street Hyson Green Market Noel Street The Forest High School Nottingham Trent University Royal Centre Old Market Square Lace Market BroadmarshProposed Station StreetCurrent terminus Nottingham railway station Nottingham Station Phase 2 Meadows North "ng2" Midland Main Line Gregory Street Queen's Medical Centre A52 University of Nottingham University Boulevard Middle Street Beeston Town Centre Chilwell Road Castle College Cator Lane Bramcote Lane Eskdale Drive Inham Road Toton Lane Park & Ride Meadows Centre Queens Walk Wilford Toll Bridge Wilford Village B679 Wilford Lane Wilford Lane Compton Acres Ruddington Lane B680 Ruddington Lane A52 Southchurch Drive North Rivergreen Clifton Centre Holy Trinity Summerwood Lane Clifton Park & Ride

NET Phase Two is the collective term for the project to build extensions to Line One of Nottingham Express Transit (NET) NET Phase 2

The extension consists of two new lines from the city centre terminus at Station Street. A bridge will be constructed across the top of Nottingham Station. NET Phase 2: stations

Line 2

The Clifton route will go to the south of the City. It will serve the densely populated residential areas, including the Meadows, Wilford / Ruddington Lane area and the Clifton Estate, terminating at a new park and ride site serving the A453. It will cross the River Trent on the Wilford Toll Bridge which will be widened to allow pedestrians and cyclists to continue to use it, and then use part of the Great Central Railway formation though Wilford.

The route is 7.6 km, of which 63% is segregated. The journey time from the Old Market Square to the terminus will be 23.5 minutes.

Current outline designs show 13 tram stops, attracting approximately 3.9 million passenger journeys a year.

Line 3

The Chilwell and Beeston route will go to the south west of the city. It will serve the northern edge of the Meadows residential area, the ng2 development site, Queen's Medical Centre, the University of Nottingham, Beeston town centre and Chilwell, terminating at a new park and ride site at the junction of the A52 road and Toton Lane, about one mile from junction 25 of the M1 motorway.

The route is 9.8 km, of which 59% is segregated. The journey time from the Old Market Square to the terminus will be 30 minutes.

Current outline designs show 15 tram stops, attracting approximately 5.1 million passenger journeys a year.

Project progress

Programme Entry approval was given on 25 October 2006 with the Government agreeing to provide up to £437 million in Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits. The local councils will also provide up to £141M in PFI credits. The two local councils (Nottinghamshire County and Nottingham City Councils) voted on 22 February 2007 and 3 March 2007 respectively to table an application for a Transport & Works Act Order.

The various documents which make up the City and County Councils’ application for the order were available to view at a number of venues from 26 April 2007 to 7 June 2007 when it was submitted to the Secretary of State for Transport for consideration. A public inquiry was held in December 2007. The project was given the go-ahead by the government on 30 March 2009.

Following the local elections in 2009, Nottinghamshire County Council indicated that it was no longer willing to contribute financially to the project, so Nottingham City Council decided to cover the shortfall and be the sole promoter of the project. Nottinghamshire County Council confirmed that it would not obstruct the project.

Funding for the work was approved by the government on 31 July 2009. Selecting and appointing the contractor was expected to take 2 years. Building work on these lines was expected to begin in 2011, in two phases, with trams running from 2014. The tram scheme aims to reduce the number of car journeys into Nottingham by four million per annum.

The scheme survived the Comprehensive Spending Review ordered by the Coalition Government announced on 20 October 2010.

On 24 March 2011, the government confirmed that funding had been approved to enable the construction of the two new lines. And at the end of the month, the preferred bidder to build the new lines and operate the complete extended tram network was announced as Tramlink Nottingham. The finalised contract was hoped to be signed by September. In the event, it was signed on 15 December 2011.

Tramlink Nottingham is a consortium consisting of Alstom, Keolis, trent barton owner Wellglade, Vinci, OFI InfraVia & Meridiam Infrastructure.

Route

• See map

Tram fleet

Main article: AT6/5

All NET trams are named, tram 205 carries the name of Lord Byron

The system has 15 Incentro AT6/5 trams, similar to those used in Nantes, which were built by Bombardier Transportation (formerly ADtranz) in Derby. The Flexity Outlook Eurotram was also considered, but was rejected as its large single-leaf doors did not comply with British door-alarm regulations.

The trams run on 750 volts DC and have a top speed of 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph). They are 100% low-floor vehicles articulated in five sections, and are 33 metres long and 2.4 metres wide.

From a very early stage, the trams have been named after famous local people. Vinyl transfers carrying the names are mounted on diagonally opposite corners of the tram exterior. Upon introduction they were also on the front (in direction of travel) right-hand side on the top of tram windows, in the same style as advertisements.

Class	Image	Top speed		Number	Built
		mph	km/h
Incentro AT6/5		50	80	15	2002–2003

As part of the project to build Phase 2 of the system, Alstom, which is part of the new Tramlink Nottingham consortium, will provide 22 new Citadis vehicles to expand the fleet.

Incidents

• On 6 October 2007, a 23-year-old man from Hucknall died after being hit by a tram when he stepped in front of it at Weekday Cross. His death was the first such fatality since the trams were re-launched in the city.
• In September 2008 a 17-year-old boy was struck in the leg. This was after he momentarily stepped out in front of a slowing tram close to the Lace Market stop. After an investigation it was found that the driver was the subject of no wrong doing. The boy was admitted to the Queen's Medical Centre where he had suffered a break, a sprain and a few heavy burns (but no long-lasting damage).
• On 27 July 2009 the GMB held a strike in protest at a proposed paycut of 0.6% offered by Nottingham Tram Consortium. A maximum of 5 trams, out of a normal service of thirteen, ran for twelve hours from 6am until 6pm, on the Hucknall route, with replacement buses running a shuttle from Phoenix Park.
• On 11 November 2011 a 44-year-old man from Barnsley died following an incident close to Wilkinson Street tram depot in the New Basford area.

External links

• Nottingham Express Transit - official web site
• NET Phase Two - official web site for future extensions
• Take a virtual ride on the Nottingham tram
• Infrastructure & Tram Spec Sheet