Minister sees how Nottingham's public transport systems are bucking national trends

Representatives from the Department for Transport joined the minister to tour locations for an insight into Nottingham’s transport system, including the tram, wider public transport network and other transport initiatives, and to hear about the city’s plans for the future, including the redevelopment of the Broadmarsh area which has already seen a range of transport improvements.

The visit also gave an opportunity to discuss and lobby for Government funding to support tram systems like Nottingham Express Transit, after a post-Covid fall in passenger numbers, along the same lines as additional funding that’s been provided for buses.

Nottingham’s integrated public transport system has seen consistent growth over two decades, bucking national trends.

NET is a fundamental part of the network, accessible to 30 per cent of the Greater Nottingham population. The tram also serves 20 of the 30 largest employers in Greater Nottingham, which are all within 800 metres of a tram stop.

Meanwhile, the Nottingham Council-owned Nottingham City Transport bus network is comprehensive, with more than 95 per cent of residents within 400 metres of a bus or tram stop.

The council received £11.7 million from the Government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan and this is being used to fund several initiatives including additional bus lanes and traffic priority – on top of the 25 kilometres of bus lanes already in place in Greater Nottingham –, support to maintain services on the network following the pandemic and discounts for under-22s, from September, and support for care leavers.

The Government provided considerable support to the bus sector during the pandemic, and this has continued subsequently, with the £2 single fare cap and support for services expected to continue until at least 2025.

However, this has not been extended to tram systems and the council has asked the Government to consider similar additional funding for NET and other UK tram systems.

Mr Holden said: “Nottingham is one of the many cities which has benefitted from the Transforming Cities Fund, seeing more than £169 million of Government investment shared with Derby.

“It was great to visit the city to see their transformational and innovative transport network and hear their plans for ongoing development – championing sustainability for the city."

Coun Angela Kandoa, council portfolio holder for highways, transport and planning, said: “Nottingham is a renowned leader in excellent public transport. I took the opportunity to raise our concerns that tram systems which are providing vital links in cities like Nottingham have not been given the same Government support as buses. We will continue to lobby Government to secure the funding support tram systems deserve.”

Chris Wright, NET managing director said: “We were pleased and honoured to welcome the minister on to Nottingham’s tram. His visit has provided NET with the opportunity to highlight the success of the tram network for the city of Nottingham and the wider region, through the economic and social benefit it provides to our thriving community. And, just as importantly, we were also able to discuss with him some of the key challenges our city faces to maintain the network’s success.”