Nottingham Express Transit

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 (equivalent to £ at 2024 prices) to construct. The scheme took 16 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.

Line 1
The route starts at Nottingham railway station south of the city centre and runs north, passing the Lace Market, Nottingham Trent University, Forest Recreation Ground to Hucknall. There are 23 stops, with provision for a stop between Basford and Wilkinson Street close to the site of the British Gas works, and there is a proposal for a 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 trame runs alongside 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.

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

From 4 April 2005, trams run every five minutes during peak times, and every six minutes during the weekday daytime, alternating northbound between Hucknall and Phoenix Park, dropping to every 10 minutes Monday–Saturday evening, 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), and at 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 the vast Hucknall Estates, and the 141 for a fast connection to Mansfield; Moor Bridge for Trent Barton Rainbow 3 and NCT 70/71/L11 for Arnold; Bulwell Forest for NCT 17 to City Hospital; Bulwell for NCT 17/35/68/69/70/71/79/80/81/L6/L11; Cinderhill for Trent Barton Rainbow 1 to Eastwood (via a short walk to Nuthall Road) and NCT 35/70/71/72/79/L11; Wilkinson Street for Medilink (City Hospital to QMC); Royal Centre for TrentBarton and NCT; Old Market Square for TrentBarton and NCT; Lace Market for NCT 5/6/7/8/9/10/11/34/77/78/79/Citylink 1; Station Street for Premiere, TrentBarton and NCT; 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 to buy all-day tickets instead (passengers are advised to purchase a PayPoint 10-trip ticket to reduce the 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.

Nottingham City Transport Day Rider tickets were accepted until 16 December 2011 when Tramlink Nottingham took over the running of the network. NCT EasyRider Citycards are valid until 31 January 2012.

Concessionary fares are available only to Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County pass holders. Nottingham City pass holders travel free, apart from Monday-Friday 0730-0930 (no concession); Nottinghamshire County pass holders travel free, apart from Monday–Friday before 0930 (no concession) and 1600–1800 (half fare - 70p evening, only single tickets available). Pass holders from other areas receive no concessions as the free travel scheme outside their local areas applies to buses only.

Child single tickets are £1.00, all-day tickets £1.70.

Prospective future lines
NET Phase Two is the project to build extensions NET Phase 2, two lines from the 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 south of the city to the densely populated residential areas, including the Meadows, Wilford/Ruddington Lane area and the Clifton Estate, to 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 long, of which 63% is segregated. The journey time from the Old Market Square 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, serving 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, to 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 long, of which 59% is segregated. The journey time from the Old Market Square 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 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, 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. 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 two years. Building work was expected to begin in 2011, in two phases, with trams running from 2014. The scheme aims to reduce the number of car journeys into Nottingham by four million per annum.

The scheme survived the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review ordered by the Coalition Government.

On 24 March 2011 the government confirmed that funding had been approved, and at the end of the month, the preferred bidder to build the new lines and operate the complete extended network was announced as Tramlink Nottingham. The finalised contract was hoped to be signed by September, but 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
The system has 15 Incentro AT6/5 trams, similar to those used in Nantes, 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 right-hand side (in direction of travel) on the top of tram windows, in the same style as advertisements.

Future fleet
As part of the project to build Phase 2, Alstom, which is part of the new consortium, will provide 22 new Citadis trams to be delivered in July 2013 and in operation in 2014.

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 fatality since the trams were re-launched.
 * In September 2008 a 17-year-old boy was struck in the leg. 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 guilty of no wrongdoing. The boy was admitted to the Queen's Medical Centre where he was found to have 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 five 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.