“15 Years Apart” returns for another series as the end of the year once again approaches. The premise of this series is simple – we feature a photo of a tram in 2009 and one of it in 2024 as we see what has changed with the tram in the intervening years. This year all of the trams have changed in some way, in most cases it’s a new livery or advert so it won’t be as much of a “can you really see the difference?” as it has been in the past! We start off with a trip to Nottingham.
On 5th June 2009 we are at The Forest on the Nottingham Express Transit system as we see Incentro 204 approaching the stop on its way to Hucknall. The system was just over five years old by this time and those trams which weren’t in advertising liveries were still carrying the original fleet livery as seen here on 204. Fleet livery may have been carried but it still had adverts on the side and it looks as if the Theatre Royal Nottingham is advertising on the tram with promotion for the musical of The Witches of Eastwick starring Marti Pellow as part of its UK tour.
We now move forward to 16th September 2024 and 204 is again at The Forest albeit heading in the opposite direction with a service to Clifton South – part of the phase two extensions which joined the network in 2015. Fleet livery has gone and its now carrying an advert for e-on (one of three trams which currently has similar ads), this is the third different advert its carried since we saw it in the original photo – the previous two being for Nottingham Express Transit itself and MHR Global. (Both Photographs by Gareth Prior)