Nottingham Express Transit continues to show signs of a financial recovery according to the latest end of year figures recently released. There are both increased customer journeys whilst reduced losses have also been recorded indicating ongoing improvements and stability across the network.
Tramlink Nottingham Limited – concession of the tram network – published the figures as part of the annual accounts for the year up to 31st March 2024. Following last year’s successful financial restructuring project in partnership with the Department for Transport and Nottingham City Council, the figures shows that the network continues to trade in line with projected expectations, operating from a robust position which looks set to continue into 2025.
Passenger journeys are continuing to increase year on year, with the most recent figures reporting an increase to 15.5 million, compared to 14.4 million in the prior financial year. Profits also showed signs of improvement, with the company making a gross profit of £8.24 million, compared to £7.65 million in the previous year, before taking into account COVID relief grants from central government and exceptional fixed asset impairment charges.
Total losses for last year, before tax and including interest charges, were £26.3 million compared to £57.1 million for the previous year, which is in line with financial expectations. Last year’s figure was impacted by an impairment charge of £26.7 million, to reduce the carrying value of fixed assets in line with revised expected net present value future cashflows over the remainder of the concession in the post-COVID business environment.
Tim Hesketh, CEO of Tramlink Nottingham, said: “We were confident that last year’s financial restructuring project would give our network the security we needed to concentrate on making investments towards improvements to our service, and our most recent financial figures are an indicator of its success. After a challenging few years, it’s promising to see that we’re now in a much stronger position, and we’d like to thank the City Council and Department of Transport for all their support.
“We would also like to thank our customers for their continued support over the last year, during which we delivered a 7.4% increase in passenger kilometres travelled, as well as increased tram reliability. We look forward to building on this in 2025.
“We’re always looking at ways we can improve the service we offer our customers and this year saw us double-down on those efforts. We invested in new technology, made key updates to our ticket systems and strengthened our ties with the local police force, which all in turn ensures we can provide our customers with the very best service.”
“Though the country remains in a challenging economic climate, we have remained committed to ensuring value for money for the many tram users who use the network each day. As such, this year, we’ve worked hard to ensure that any cost increases incurred due to rising inflation and energy costs are kept to a minimum. That’s commitment that will remain into 2025 too.”
Tramlink Nottingham have the concession to run Nottingham Express Transit until 2034.