Nottingham Express Transit services are to run more frequently later into the evening in the lead-up to Christmas as part of a new festive timetable being introduced on the network. Aiming to support Nottingham’s nighttime economy this timetable will benefit those travelling into the city centre for late-night Christmas shopping and festive parties.
The timetable will first run on Saturday 30th November and Saturday 7th December before it increases to operating daily all the way until Christmas Eve (except Sundays).
Its hoped that these timetable changes will also alleviate traffic during the busy holiday season, while offering an affordable and reliable mode of transport to help keep locals connected.
Sarah Turner, Service Delivery and Safety Director at NET, said: “Over the years, we’ve seen traditional peak Christmas shopping and social times extend, with more demand to get in and around the city far sooner in December than ever before. This is good news for Nottingham’s retail and nighttime economy, and we’re pleased to evolve our service to meet this change in customer behaviour, helping people to travel quickly and safely during this busy time.
Our extended timetable over the Christmas period will not only better meet the needs of tram users in the daytime, but it will also support the increase of footfall into the city in the evening, as our service runs more frequently into the night. We’re committed to consistently keeping an open dialogue with our users, and our recent Mindfield Research survey is an example of how this effective communication can enact real change for public transport users in Nottingham.
“The survey also found that 90% of customers would recommend Nottingham’s tram service to family and friends, which is fantastic news and is a testament to the ongoing hard work of all our staff from operations, drivers, our CX agents and support staff. We’re always looking to improve our service, and this year’s extended Christmas timetable is just another example of this.”
An annual customer survey was recently undertaken by Minefield Research which asked 1,200 people from across a range of Nottinghamshire postcodes, it was revealed that an increased tram service into the evening would be welcomed by people in Nottingham and would encourage them to use the trams more.