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Nottingham Express Transit

Nottingham's tramway: two lines and 50 stops on about 20 miles of route. Hucknall to Toton Lane and Phoenix Park to Clifton South share the tracks from Highbury Vale, in Nottingham's northern suburbs, through the city centre to Nottingham Station, where they part for Beeston and Chilwell, and for Wilford and Clifton. Line One opened in 2004, from beside the railway station through Hyson Green to Hucknall, running beside the Robin Hood Line north of Wilkinson Street, with a branch to Phoenix Park; the lines south of the station, to Toton Lane and Clifton South, opened in 2015.

2004Opened
19.9 miles (32 km)Route, both lines
50Stops
15.6 millionJourneys a year, DfT (2025–26)

Facts

Opened
9 March 2004
Lines
Hucknall – Toton Lane; Phoenix Park – Clifton South
Type
light rail: street tramway through Nottingham and out to Beeston, Chilwell and Clifton, and reserved track beside the Robin Hood Line to Hucknall; 750 V DC overhead
Depots
Wilkinson Street
Operating company
Nottingham Trams Ltd, part of Keolis UK, which runs and maintains the trams for the Tramlink Nottingham consortium (Alstom, VINCI Investments, Keolis, Wellglade, Meridiam and OFI Infravia when it was formed), holder since 15 December 2011 of a 23-year concession from Nottingham City Council; before that, Line One was built and run by the Arrow consortium from 2004

unverified Some of these figures haven’t yet been checked against an official source or a published history. What’s in doubt ↓

Bombardier Incentro AT6/5 (Nottingham Express Transit) · Bombardier Transportation, Derby · indicative: some dimensions are estimated, from photographs and published figures.
5 sections, about 108 ft (33 m)
Alstom Citadis 302 (Nottingham Express Transit) · Alstom, Barcelona (Spain) · indicative: some dimensions are estimated, from photographs and published figures.
5 sections, about 105 ft (32 m)

Route 50 stops

Hucknall – Toton Lane 33
Hucknall – Toton Lane: schematic, not to scale Hucknall — change for National RailHucknall Butler's HillButler's Hill Moor BridgeMoor Bridge Bulwell ForestBulwell Forest Bulwell — change for National RailBulwell Highbury ValeHighbury Vale David LaneDavid Lane BasfordBasford Wilkinson StreetWilkinson Street Radford RoadRadford Road Hyson Green MarketHyson Green Market The ForestThe Forest High SchoolHigh School Nottingham Trent UniversityNottingham Trent University Royal CentreRoyal Centre Old Market SquareOld Market Square Lace MarketLace Market Nottingham Station — change for National RailNottingham Station Meadows Way WestMeadows Way West NG2NG2 Gregory StreetGregory Street Queens Medical CentreQueens Medical Centre University of NottinghamUniversity of Nottingham University BoulevardUniversity Boulevard Middle StreetMiddle Street Beeston CentreBeeston Centre Chilwell RoadChilwell Road High Road – Central CollegeHigh Road – Central College Cator LaneCator Lane Bramcote LaneBramcote Lane Eskdale DriveEskdale Drive Inham RoadInham Road Toton LaneToton Lane
Phoenix Park – Clifton South 27
Phoenix Park – Clifton South: schematic, not to scale Phoenix ParkPhoenix Park CinderhillCinderhill Highbury ValeHighbury Vale David LaneDavid Lane BasfordBasford Wilkinson StreetWilkinson Street Radford RoadRadford Road Hyson Green MarketHyson Green Market The ForestThe Forest High SchoolHigh School Nottingham Trent UniversityNottingham Trent University Royal CentreRoyal Centre Old Market SquareOld Market Square Lace MarketLace Market Nottingham Station — change for National RailNottingham Station Queens WalkQueens Walk Meadows EmbankmentMeadows Embankment Wilford VillageWilford Village Wilford LaneWilford Lane Compton AcresCompton Acres Ruddington LaneRuddington Lane Southchurch DriveSouthchurch Drive RivergreenRivergreen Clifton CentreClifton Centre Holy TrinityHoly Trinity Summerwood LaneSummerwood Lane Clifton SouthClifton South
Both lines through Hyson Green, towards Hucknall and Phoenix Park 5
Both lines through Hyson Green, towards Hucknall and Phoenix Park: schematic, not to scale The ForestThe Forest Noel StreetNoel Street Beaconsfield StreetBeaconsfield Street Shipstone StreetShipstone Street Wilkinson StreetWilkinson Street

Schematic, not to scale. Ringed stops are interchanges. One strip for each line, written from its northern end as the trams run towards the city, and a short third strip for the one-way stretch through Hyson Green the other way. Both lines share every stop from Highbury Vale to Nottingham Station. Between Wilkinson Street and The Forest the two directions take different streets: trams towards the city call at Radford Road and Hyson Green Market, and trams towards Hucknall and Phoenix Park at Noel Street, Beaconsfield Street and Shipstone Street (the grey strip). Highbury Vale is two stops joined by a footpath, one on each line's track. Ringed stops are those the operator's map marks for National Rail trains. Stop order from the operator's route map and timetables (see Sources).

StopInterchanges
HucknallNational Rail
Butler's Hill
Moor Bridge
Bulwell Forest
BulwellNational Rail
Highbury Vale
David Lane
Basford
Wilkinson Street
Radford Road
Hyson Green Market
The Forest
High School
Nottingham Trent University
Royal Centre
Old Market Square
Lace Market
Nottingham StationNational Rail
Meadows Way West
NG2
Gregory Street
Queens Medical Centre
University of Nottingham
University Boulevard
Middle Street
Beeston Centre
Chilwell Road
High Road – Central College
Cator Lane
Bramcote Lane
Eskdale Drive
Inham Road
Toton Lane
Phoenix Park
Cinderhill
Queens Walk
Meadows Embankment
Wilford Village
Wilford Lane
Compton Acres
Ruddington Lane
Southchurch Drive
Rivergreen
Clifton Centre
Holy Trinity
Summerwood Lane
Clifton South
Noel Street
Beaconsfield Street
Shipstone Street

Stops from the operator’s published routes, entered by hand (see Sources).

Rolling stock

History 12

  1. The Greater Nottingham Light Rapid Transit Act authorises the building and running of the first line, from Nottingham to Hucknall.
  2. Alistair Darling performs Nottingham Express Transit's opening ceremony, on a 'Tram Celebration Day' the day before public services begin.
  3. Public services begin on Line One, 14 km with 23 stops, from Station Street beside Nottingham station through Hyson Green and Basford to Hucknall, with a branch to Phoenix Park by the M1: Nottingham's first trams since 1936. From Wilkinson Street north it runs on its own track beside the Robin Hood Line, single track beyond Bulwell, with links to trains at Bulwell and Hucknall.
  4. Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council approve extensions to Clifton (in May) and Chilwell (in June).
  5. The Nottingham Express Transit System Order 2009 is made, in force from 9 June: it authorises the two councils to build and run lines from the city centre to Clifton by way of Wilford, and to Chilwell by way of the Queen's Medical Centre and Beeston.
  6. The government gives the extensions, known as NET Phase Two, its final approval, and on 29 March the city council names the Tramlink Nottingham consortium its preferred bidder, over the Arrow consortium that runs Line One.
  7. Tramlink Nottingham signs a 23-year concession to build the 17.5 km of new lines, with 22 Alstom Citadis trams, and to take over running Line One and its 15 trams.
  8. Building of the lines to Clifton and Chilwell begins.
  9. In testing, a tram reaches Toton Lane at night, two weeks after the first reached Clifton South: trams have now run over the whole of the new lines.
  10. Nottingham Station stop opens on the viaduct over the railway station, the first part of Phase Two to open, and replaces the terminus at Station Street.
  11. The lines to Clifton South and Toton Lane open, eight months late, and the network takes its present shape: trams from Toton Lane run through to Hucknall and trams from Clifton South to Phoenix Park, each every 7 to 10 minutes.
  12. A southbound tram derails over points at Bulwell that had not reset; a passenger and the driver have minor injuries, and the line reopens on 23 June after repairs. The RAIB's report (March 2024) makes three recommendations to Nottingham Trams Ltd.

Sources 16

How we source figures →  ·  Spotted a mistake? Tell us → (opens in a new tab)

Show the 16 sources from British Trams Online, Nottingham Express Transit, Department for Transport and 5 more
unverified
  • Opened: 9 March 2004, after an opening ceremony on 8 March (British Trams Online, April 2004 and January 2005); British Trams Online's 2017 retrospective misprints the year as 2014
  • Nottingham Station's opening: 27 July 2015 (British Trams Online, 2021); its 2023 feature on Station Street says 25 August 2015
  • The operator: Nottingham Trams Ltd, 'part of Keolis UK Limited' (RAIB, March 2024); the consortium's members are as named when the contract was signed in December 2011 (Alstom), and the operator's own page now names Meridiam, Alstom and Keolis; today's shareholdings aren't checked
  • Line One's first operator: 'Arrow' (Building, March 2011, which calls it Arrow Connect, the name of its bid for Phase Two; Tramlink's chairman speaks of 'Arrow's successful legacy')
  • Phase Two's opening was 'just over eight months later than planned', after an original date of 14 December 2014 (British Trams Online, August 2015)
  • The line colours: sampled from Kyle's map as rendered; the operator's web map uses #52B158 and #604E9B

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