markcurran.co.uk: NET: Nottingham Express Transit (and other Nottingham observations....)

Whilst we are stuck in this stasis of covid-related travel restrictions, there's the opportunity to explore the UK. First up for me was Nottingham. Mission: ride the entire tram system (called Nottingham Express Transit, NET) and see what else from well regarded local bus operators Nottingham City Transport and TrentBarton would catch my eye. Also of passing note is that 14 years ago I was seriously preparing to move from Birmingham to Nottingham....

On arrival it was good to see that the trams are signposted from the platforms at Nottingham. It's some years since I visited Nottingham so I was grateful for directions!

There is what appears to be a new(ish) concourse on the side of the existing Nottingham station, which not ony serves the Trams but also a forecourt/drop off area and multi-storey car park. The escalator leads up to NET.

All ticketing is off-tram and it seemed all stations have these ticket machines, as well as separate smart card readers. I often find it takes more time than I have to work out smart card systems so don't always bother.

One ticket that caught my attention was the evening event ticket. It seems that in conjunction with an event ticket a cheaper evening return ticket can be purchased. I understand that the event ticket must be produced if requested (by a ticket inspector) - interesting that in a previous life we looked at a scheme that offered discounted travel with an event ticket, and concluded we didn't want customer shaving to show a high value event ticket in public unnecessarily.

I wasn't aware of this but it turns out that this was the first day of a 12-day block through the centre of Nottingham for track replacement. The NET website (cunningly, thetram.net) explains that this track is now 17 years old. Hmm, less than half life for main line trains and if it was in Ukraine it would clearly last another 50 if not a hundred years!

Very clear signage through the station towards replacement buses. There's a lot to be said for a big arrow.

The signage stops outside the station (this would be a good place for temporary markings on the pavement) however the buses being used have a rear destination display, so if you're paying attention you can find them.

The replacement bus ran round the city centre: there is no shelter facilities or staff at either end. However what surprised me more was that the drivers were checking tickets. I suppose this means that the tram and Nottingham City Transport bus smart cards are interoperable and that the customer is not financially penalised for this interchange.

The replacement bus route did have to navigate significant road works. I'm sure there used to be a shopping centre there!

On vehicle displays suggested this contract has been allocated route number 991. However this screen on a bus wasn't showing anything else.

However a different bus did have the next stop information.

The NET fleet initially consisted of 15 of these Bombardier InCentro trams. Due to the closure of the central area, the fleet is split and the InCentro trams were only operating on the north side.

The InCentro vehicles hide their age well with a modern green based interior.

With system expansion in 2013 the InCentros were joined by 22 Alstom Citadis trams.

The exteriors and interiors of the Citadis are in the same colourscheme as the InCentros: to the untrained eye there's very little between them. Was what particularly noticeable was that the level boarding t every stop on every tram seemed to be genuinely level with a minimal gap. It feels like the accessibility of the system has been designed and built to a high standard.

One of the more depressing aspects of travel at the moment are covers on seats highlighting those that cannot be used, in order to maintain social distancing. At least the NET attempt seems to be quite long lasting

NET have also adopted the temporary door blocking the end (single-leaf) doors on each tram to maintain separate access for drivers. This is a similar set up to Docklands Light Railway.

On the older InCentro trams the end doors open with all other doors; on the Citadis (illustrated) they open only with crew instruction. There is a sash across to prevent customer access. I find that single leaf doors on urban transit perform better in artist's mock ups than in reality so would have been keen to see how the NET day time, with a wide range of access issues, used these.

Also note that the fleet is named after local personalities/celebrities, which is not just a nice touch but quite neatly done.

NET void restrictions also seek to restrict use of these coveted single person "Rowley" seats. In the main, this instruction to not use was ignored.

NET have attempted to explain to customers where a person can sit/stand to ensure social distancing. A wonder "be seen to be doing something" effort by someone who's never actually been on a tram and watched customers. Do they really think the average customer would understand and follow this? Seen to be doing something, no matter how pointless.....mantra of many at the moment.....

Here's the same for the InCentro. Even the title is of note, does the average customer know or care about tram type? At best they will be "older" and "newer"!

At each terminus the key 'touch points' - grab rails and door buttons - were wiped, I assume with some kind of disinfectant.

NET provides all the on-tram and at-stop information you'd expect, should as displays and announcements for the next stop and tram arrival times. A ten minute headway was being operated on each branch.

With only one city centre station for customers heading south, evening peak platform loading was quite high.

And on the north side, this was the city terminus.

Interchange with buses seems quite well designed across the network. Beeston particularly caught my eye where there's cross-platform interchange in both directions.

NET operates on a mixture on segregated track and on-street running. Here in Clifton it operates along the same lanes as cars and buses.

However to the north it is largely on segregated railway and parallel to the 'Robin Hood' line operated by East Midlands Railway.

At the northern terminus at Hucknall there's connecting buses to the local town centre and housing estates. Each of the tram termini seemed to serve buses heading further away from the city.

Hucknall, and the Robin Hood line, will soon be receiving Class 170 Turbostars to replace the Class 156 Sprinters used for many years.

One thing Hucknall [main line] station does not have is a train timetable. However it does have two posters of tiny text from East Midlands Railway about timetable changes, and one telling me alcohol is banned at certain times on the line. There's not many stations in the UK that do not have a timetable on display; alcohol bans have been slowly creeping for several years however.

From the southern NET terminus at Clifton South there's a bus link to a Nottingham University campus at Sutton Bonington, operated by Arriva. The Saturday/Sunday service caught my eye: not only does it have the random headway of every 80 minutes, it actually states 'every 80 minutes' and leaves the customer to work out what 80 minute headways are between 1140 and 1700. Do they want customers?

Most buses within the city of Nottingham are operated by the aptly named Nottingham City Transport. Quite a lot of their buses carry colour coded route branding, and most unusually for such a fleet consist, every branded vehicle I saw was on the correct route! This smart Enviro 400MMC City is arriving at Beeston on a route 36.

Longer distance services are operated by Trent Barton Buses, with a variety of branded routes. I actually found the names and variety of Trent Barton routes to be a little overpowering, especially with random shames like a purple 'O' where the route number goes.

This was the first time I'd seen CT4N. This is the operating arm of Nottingham Community Transport and it appears they operate a mix of commercial services, such as this half hourly 18 service, and tendered services for local councils.

CT4N also operate a series of City Council tendered services prefixed with an L. This electric Optare Solo caught my eye.

I was quite impressed to see that 'real time' genuinely does mean real time in Nottingham, and that where a bus is cancelled, it can actually appear as such on at-stop displays. Most such systems such regurgitate the timetable.

I had to do a little research on CT4N as I'd not come across them before. They have an informative Twitter feed shown on their website. Bear in mind the 'L' routes are generally hourly, this is their Twitter feed from today, 29 April 2021.

Due to a couple of Vehicle issues today the following services will not be operating

09:35 From Strelley to Victoria Centre

10:35 From Victoria Centre to Strelley

11:35 From Strelley to Victoria Centre

Apologies for any Inconvenience caused.

Due to a vehicle issue, the 10:00 23 Gamston-Clifton Circular service will not be operating today. Sincerest apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. RK

Unfortunately due to a vehicle issue the 12:05 L9 from Queen Street and the return journey from Hillington Rise at 13:00 will not be running. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

The following services will not be operating this afternoon due to Vehicle shortage.
L5
14:00 From Victoria Centre
14:30 From Wollaton Park Gates
L10
13:40 From Victoria Centre
L11
14:20 From Beeston
Medilink
14:20 From Queens Drive
14:55 From City Hospital

The following services will not be operating this afternoon due to vehicle shortages
L14 from Bulwell Bus Station at 15:10
L10 from Victoria Centre at 15:40
L12 from University East Drive at 15:45 and the return journey from City Hospital at 16:13

Unfortunately due to a vehicle shortage the following services will not be running. Apologies for any inconvenience caused
16:20 L11 from Beeston
17:35 L12 from University East Drive and the return journey at 18:13 from City Hospital.

Another section of their website suggests CT4N can also provide bus services that are not normally covered by local public transport, therefore if you're a business looking for transport solutions, then why not contact us? You know, I don't think I'd bother. However if I was a bus sales man or unemployed bus mechanic I might give them a call!

And on to the new modes. There's an electric scooter hire scheme in Nottingham, with these twee five bay scooter parks sprayed out across the city's pavements. Apparently there's 200 scooters as part of a one year trial which we're about half way through. The integration of the helmet in to the scooter is quite nifty, but I suspect the whole thing is about as non-covid compliant as you could get.

Conclusions on my day out: