Nottingham Transport System

Some years ago Nottingham started developing what seemed like a good transport system.  There was to be a new tram system providing links from outside the city direct to the centre.  You would be able to leave your car at one of the car parks on the outskirts of the city and travel quickly and easily to the heart of it.

That was the idea at least.

We now have Phase 1 in operation and it has been so for a while now therefore I think any initial issues should have been ironed out.  Phase 2 is repeatedly on/off depending upon political wills and the method of funding.

Let's start with the issues with what we have.

First and foremost the trams are frequently overcrowded.  The capacity was seemingly underestimated, either that or the system was sized to the budget and not the actual requirement.  Given the frequency of the trams I think there is no scope to run extra trams and the infrastructure was built around the size of the existing trams so adding an extra car to the trams, even if possible, would not work without major rebuilding.  This means that there is no spare capacity for growth in population or popularity.

Secondly, the payment system is antiquated.  London has the Oyster Card which allows very quick payment of fares, tap and go as they would say.  The tram system has a smart card but it is very slow in operation.  It is also limited in that you purchase a one month card say and if for some reason you don't make many trips you lose out.  The Oyster Card is simply a payment card which doesn't have these constraints but still offers discounted rates for using it.  Or you can just use cash but be warned, bank notes above £10 are not accepted on the trams so a family of four, whose ticket price would exceed the limit cannot use a £20 note to pay!

Then we have the issue of access to the city centre.  If there are protests or marches in the city for whatever reason then the trams stop some way before their destination (ultimately the main rail station) without even getting as far as the Old Market Square in the heart where most people seem to go.  Is there a discounted ticket on these days? No.  Do they consider keeping the march away from the tram? No.

Finally, and one which I have experienced only once fortunately, the provision for breakdown.  I was using the tram to attend an exhibition in the city centre.  All went well with my journey in but when it came to return there was a loud bang from the tram shortly before one of the tram stops.  We continued and stopped in the tram stop to be told by the driver there was a small technical problem and we would continue shortly.  Quite why he said this I don't know because he and the conductor had already inspected the problem (pantograph broken) and as the tram has only one then we were going nowhere - of course we we were on the tram and hadn't seen this.
After some considerable time the driver told us the tram was going no further and we might as well get off and continue our journey by other means.  For a considerable time we we were told nothing and when we used the platform intercom to contact the central control they could tell us nothing either.
Eventually we were told that a replacement bus service was being laid on but from a previous stop.  Trams were running on the other line to get passengers there but by then the bus service was already swamped as all trams coming out of the city were emptying passengers on to the platform.  Compare the capacity and frequency of the bus compared with the tram and you realise this will only get worse.  I was forced to do the same as many others, go back to the city centre and take a taxi out to my car.

There were two possible solutions I could see yet when I suggested then to the company after the event I was told they were not possible. 
The trams were equipped with towing links designed to enable one to tow another - the engineer who was sent out set this up on our tram and the one pulled in behind but never actually linked them or moved the broken down tram.  Had they done this the broken down tram could have been towed the short distance to the depot (remember no trams running on this part of the line at all now).
Alternatively as there are two lines at this point it should have been possible to implement single line working on the remaining section (which does go down to single line later anyway) and provide a reduced service but still a service.  Had this requirement been thought about when the line was designed it should be possible to make allowances for such a contingency.

The outcome was a tram service that only covered a fraction of the service for many hours.  Amusingly the 'Next Tram' indicators confidently counted down to the next tram even though none were moving!

And now for Phase 2 - well there isn't much to say apart from the fact that I am not sure we will ever get it and if we do it may have limited use.

Remember the car parks for Park and Ride?  Well for one of the lines it is quite  a way towards Nottingham down a heavily congested single carriageway A road.  The opportunity was there to run the line a little bit further out to join up with East Midlands Parkway rail station which means better rail links and access to the huge and underutilised car park there.  That also has a shorter stretch of A road to get to it so this could be made dual carriageway at a lesser cost.  Apparently though this is not to be done as there are few intermediate stations to be served along this route.

There you go then, a semi tick in an environmental box without solving too many problems.