Nottingham tram users looking to travel into the city for late-night Christmas shopping and festive parties, will be able to benefit from more frequent trams later into the evenings, thanks to a newly launched festive timetable from Nottingham Express Transit (NET).
Aiming to support Nottingham’s nighttime economy while helping people get to and from their evening plans safely and reliably, the increased timetable will run initially on Saturday 30 November and Saturday 7 December, before increasing to operating daily from Monday 9 December until Christmas Eve.
The upcoming changes also hope to help 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.”
Following an annual customer survey conducted by behavioural science experts Mindfield Research, which sought out 1,200 respondents 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.
Sarah continued: “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.”
The increased festive timetable will run on Saturday 30 November, Saturday 7 December and from Monday to Saturday every week from Monday 9 December up until Christmas Eve, with the Sunday service running as standard. There will be no service on Christmas Day, with a Sunday service available on Boxing Day. Normal service will resume from 27 December until 31 December and a Sunday service will operate on 1 January.
To find out more about Nottingham Express Transit, visit https://www.thetram.net/