Nottingham Express Transit
Nottingham Express Transit is a tram system in Nottingham, England.
The concept of a modern tramway to reduce road congestion and promote urban renewal was formally identified during the late 1980s while detailed planning was undertaken during the early 1990s. The project, then referred to as the Greater Nottingham Light Rapid Transport, received Royal Assent on 21 July 1994 and central government financing was provided in subsequent years. In March 2000, a 30-year Private Finance Initiative concession was awarded to the Arrow Light Rail Ltd consortium, which became responsible for the design, funding, building, operation and maintenance of the line. On 9 March 2004, the system opened to the public; it was originally long and served 23 tram stops, having been constructed at a cost of £200million, a sum equivalent to at price.
The tramway's early ridership exceeded expectations, with 8.4 million journeys in 2004-5 and 9.7 million in 2005–6, against targets of 8 million and 9 million respectively; its performance led to the scheme's second phase, under which the tramway would more than double in size, promptly receiving approval on 25 October 2006. Financial backing for the second phase was not fully secured until 2011, while the original concession to operate the tramway was terminated on 16 December 2011. A new consortium, known as Tramlink Nottingham Limited, was finalised in December 2011. Construction of the second phase commenced in 2012, work was protracted and the extension was finally opened on 25 August 2015, roughly two years earlier than had been originally planned.
Line 1 runs between Toton Lane and Hucknall, features a total of 33 or 34 tram stops, depending on direction, and has a journey time throughout of 62minutes. Line 2 runs between Clifton South and Phoenix Park, features 27 or 28 tram stops, depending on direction, and has a journey time throughout of 47minutes.
Presently, the tramway is operated and maintained by Nottingham Trams Ltd on behalf of the Tramlink Nottingham consortium. It has a total length of As of 2024, the rolling stock consists of 15 Bombardier Incentro AT6/5 and 22 Alstom Citadis 302. Various changes and extensions to the tramway have been mooted, from additional stops along the two existing lines to multiple whole new lines being constructed.
History
Planning and construction of phase one
Nottingham and the surrounding urban area is the UK's seventh largest and third fastest-growing urban area. Traditionally, Nottingham's economy was to a large extent based on manufacturing and coal mining, and in the second half of the 20th century the area was affected by the decline in these industries. High population density, a road system constrained by crossings of the River Trent, and a concentration of retail and entertainment outlets in the city centre led to road congestion and high bus usage. In the late 1980s, Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council identified the possibility of using a modern tramway as a means of stimulating urban renewal, as well as tackling road congestion.Plans began from around 1989, by Nottingham Development Enterprise, under Malcolm Reece. Studies in Grenoble in France had shown that up to 20% of commuters switched from their car. Possible routes were developed by Bob McKittrick of Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick. The first route was to Hucknall, but would go through the Victoria Centre tunnel and along the Forest Recreation Ground. Other routes would follow the railway to Carlton and the railway to Beeston and Toton; the consulting engineers' advice was to follow along railway routes, where possible. In a 1989 report problems were identified with running through the Victoria Centre basement car park, requiring a brand-new tunnel. By 1991, the route under the Victoria Centre was dropped, to follow the present route. It would be twenty-five years before the other routes would be built.
The scheme was known as the Greater Nottingham Light Rapid Transport – GNLRT. The Greater Nottingham Light Rapid Transport Act 1994 received Royal Assent on 21 July 1994. At that point, the scheme required £68m of government funding.
During December 1998, Minister of State for Transport John Reid confirmed the availability of £167million funding for a new tram system, to be known as Nottingham Express Transit, to run between Nottingham and Hucknall.
In March 2000, the joint promoters, Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council, awarded a 30-year Private Finance Initiative concession to the Arrow Light Rail Ltd consortium, with responsibility for the design, funding, building, operation and maintenance of the line. The consortium was made up of Adtranz, who were responsible for the trams, Carillion, who were responsible for the infrastructure, Transdev and Nottingham City Transport.
As originally built, the system was long and served 23 tram stops. The construction cost a total of £200million, a sum equivalent to at prices.
Opening of phase one
Nottingham Express Transit began operation in March 2004, with a line operating north from a terminal at Station Street, just to the north of Nottingham railway station, through the city centre, branching to serve twin termini at Hucknall and Phoenix Park. Once the line was complete, operation was sub-contracted by Arrow Light Rail to the Nottingham Tram Consortium, an equal partnership between Transdev and Nottingham City Transport.The new line proved successful, leading to an increase of public transport use for the Nottingham urban area of 8% in the five years to 2008, together with a less than 1% growth in road traffic, compared to the national average of around 4%. The line itself exceeded expectations, with 8.4million journeys in 2004–2005 and 9.7million in 2005–2006, against targets of 8million and 9million respectively. By 2007–8, ridership had reached 10.2million journeys. This performance bolstered the case for the construction of new lines.
On 27 July 2009, the GMB trade union held a strike in protest at a proposed pay cut of 0.6% offered by Nottingham Tram Consortium. A maximum of five trams out of a normal service of 13 ran from 06:00 until 18:00 on the Hucknall route, with replacement buses running a shuttle from Phoenix Park.
Planning and construction of phase two
In January 2003, even before the first phase had opened, the two councils had decided to start consultation on a second phase to serve the urban areas south and west, with routes to Clifton via Wilford, and to Chilwell via Beeston.Approval for phase two was given on 25 October 2006 with the British Government agreeing to provide up to £437million in Private Finance Initiative credits. The local councils will also provide up to £141million in PFI credits. The two local councils voted on 22 February 2007 and 3 March 2007 respectively to table an application for a Transport and Works Act Order. The City and County Councils’ application for the order were available to view 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, the 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. The county council confirmed that it would not obstruct the project. Funding was approved by the government on 31 July 2009. Selecting and appointing the contractor was expected to take two years. Building work was expected to begin in 2011, in two phases, with trams running from 2014. The scheme survived the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review ordered by the government, and on 24 March 2011 the government confirmed that funding had been approved.
As part of this process, the concession to operate the existing system was terminated. A new concession put out to tender to design and build phase two, to operate and maintain the existing system in the meantime, and to operate and maintain the extended system once completed. Although Arrow Light Rail bid, they lost out to a new consortium known as Tramlink Nottingham Limited, made up of Meridiam, OFI InfraVia, Alstom Transport, Keolis, Vinci Investments, and the Wellglade Group. As with the previous consortium, operation was further sub-contracted to a consortium of Keolis and Wellglade, with maintenance sub-contracted to Alstom Transport. As a result of Wellglade's ownership of Trent Barton, who operate bus services in the Nottingham area, the new concession was referred to, and approved by, the Office of Fair Trading. The finalised contract was signed on 15 December 2011.
The severing of the link between NET and Nottingham City Transport, which affected joint ticketing arrangements, may have contributed to a fall in passenger numbers on phase one. This started in 2008 with the recession of that year, reducing the total number of journeys to a minimum 7.4million by 2013. By 2014–15, passenger numbers had rebounded to 8.1million.
Construction of phase two started in 2012. There were construction delays and by the end of 2014 it was at least six months behind schedule. There were complaints from residents affected by works and traders whose businesses have been damaged by the late running construction. Track laying was completed on 11 December 2014.
Opening of phase two
The two new bridges that form a major part of phase two were both officially named in 2014, in advance of their actual use by trams. The bridge across the Clifton Boulevard near the Queen's Medical Centre was named the Ningbo Friendship Bridge to acknowledge the links between the city of Ningbo, in China, and the University of Nottingham. The naming took place on 11 June 2014, and was undertaken by the vice-mayor of Ningbo. The bridge constructed over Nottingham railway station was officially opened on 17 October 2014 and named the Karlsruhe Friendship Bridge to acknowledge the technical support provided by Nottingham's twin city Karlsruhe. The opening event also unveiled a new tram named in honour of the late Jim Taylor who developed the initial vision for the tram system.The first powered test run on a short section of the line took place in the early hours of Friday 22 August 2014, running from Station Street via The Meadows to Wilford, before returning to Station Street. With the completion of track laying and electrification work in early 2015, testing began in earnest.
The first section of phase two to open to the public was the new tram station above Nottingham railway station, which replaced the Station Street stop as the southern terminus of the line on 27 July 2015. The remainder of phase two finally opened at 06:00 on 25 August 2015, with the route from Toton Lane Park and Ride into Nottingham running the first public service.
During the planning and construction phases, the initial system was often referred to as line 1, with the line 2 name used for the new line to Clifton and line 3 for the new line to Toton. With the publication of the timetables covering through running between the initial system and phase two, this terminology was changed, with line 1 referring to the through service from Hucknall to Toton, and line 2 to the service from Phoenix Park to Clifton.