Hucknall and Bulwell tram passenger numbers growing but still not back to pre-pandemic levels

Nottingham Express Transit made the announcement following the publication of the annual accounts for the year to March 31, 2022, by Tramlink Nottingham, which operates the NET concession.

The company reported a loss for the operator as a result of the impacted passenger volumes, and will be liaising with the Department for Transport and Nottingham Council to put in place further plans to adapt its operations for the post-Covid economy.

Despite not yet reaching pre-Covid levels of traffic volumes in the last financial year, demand has continued to positively increase.

The year to March 2022 saw passenger journeys recover to 9.1 million, compared with 3.4m in prior years, and that recovery has continued throughout 2022 to 13.5m and about 80 per cent of traffic volumes before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, losses reduced to £20.4m compared with £21.9m last year.

Tim Hesketh, Tramlink chief executive, said: “We remain in such difficult times, thanks to the long-standing effects of the pandemic, the current economic climate and the ongoing high energy costs, which are posing some real challenges to our operations.

“It’s clear the world is a much different place now than just three years ago, and we’re committed to doing all we can to keep up with those changes.

“Nottingham remains committed to its green ambitions and our trams have played a key part in helping the city reach those goals.

“No-one can be certain what the next few years will bring, but we’re confident the trams will continue to be an integral part of everyday life here in Nottingham.

“We’d like to thank all our staff, partners and loyal customers for all their support over the past year.”

The concession which allows Tramlink to run the NET tram system, runs until 2034 and factors in losses in the earlier years that represent investments in the system, including expanding the network in 2015 and buying new tram vehicles.

The loss reported during this year’s accounts is in line with the previous year as well as financial expectations.