Earlier this month, the 20th annual Mainspring UK Light Rail Conference took place at Nottingham Trent University.

The conference was hosted by Nottingham Express Transit (NET) and was the first time in ten years that it had been held in the city. Over 300 delegates from across the UK’s light rail industry attended the event, which was sponsored by Nottingham Express Transit (NET), to discuss two decades of innovation across the industry, how far the industry has progressed, and what the future holds for light rail in the UK.

The city’s tram network opened in 2004 and has since developed into a modern and efficient network covering over 20 miles. Nottingham is the only UK city where trams serve a major hospital directly, although Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Birmingham is served directly by main line train services from University Station.

The future looks promising for Nottingham’s tram network, and although forecasts look strong for the coming years, passengers can’t be expected to pay for travel where there isn’t a good service. There are challenges in maintaining a fleet of trams where some are 20-years old, as well as problems caused by damage after road traffic collisions, and the length of time to repair damaged trams, where some can take up to two years to return to service.

In May, Nottingham Express Transit launched a campaign highlighting the true cost of a crash involving a tram. Nottingham Express Transit is also advising that services will be disrupted between Wilkinson Street and The Forest from 26th July until 9th August.

“There are seven light rail projects or light rail systems in the UK, but the Nottingham tram network is the only one which is funded under the PFI financial system, which presents unique challenges to us, our shareholders and the project as a whole. However, one of the unfortunate things about PFI projects is that they run a very strict regime, requiring us to run around a thousand trips a day. Each trip in and out of the city is measured as a single trip, and we’re not allowed to change that – it doesn’t matter how many people we have on the tram; we still have to run those trips.

“That meant that during COVID, we still had to run a full service, with or without passengers, and as a result our fare revenue fell through the floor. And even though there was some recovery in 2023, passenger numbers following COVID were slow to recover. This, coupled with rising energy bills, meant we were in a position where our revenues were substantially down, and costs to run the network were at an all-time high.”

Tim Hesketh, Chief Executive Officer, Tramlink