More tram routes - looking ahead

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Last updated: 11th August 2004.
Home -- Benefits of CW tram -- Environment
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Line One is opened in March 2004. If the Beeston-Chilwell and CW routes are authorised by the Transport Secretary without hitches, they would open at the start of 2009.

Traffic on Line One is on target to reach 8 million journeys at the end of its first year, and nearly 11 million by 2007. Many people in other parts of Nottingham will be interested in a tram route for their own neighbourhood.

With regard to the CW tram, by 2015 there would be the prospect of its extension to Ruddington, or to the Nottingham East Midlands Airport (NEMA).

The tram bridge over Canal Street, looking west. In the future, the Broad Marsh tram stop and transport interchange will be located to the right.

Ruddington

A tramline to Ruddington would make further use of the redundant Great Central railway trackbed, and delete the requirement for a park-and-ride for the town. Ruddington is a small dormitory town for Nottingham. The main considerations for a Ruddington tram route seem to be whether it could effectively relieve the A60 and A52 ring road, and for tram timings to be competitive with buses. There are wildlife issues at Wilwell that would require resolution and negotiations with the wildlife bodies.

Nottingham East Midlands Airport

NEMA is of regional significance and a high quality public transport link is essential for the future. Air passenger traffic could treble to over 7 million by 2015. Direct heavy rail access could be provided from the line from Trent junction to Castle Donnington, (currently freight-only), then on to a new spur and tunnel. Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and Birmingham airports already have direct rail links. But track capacity between Trent junction and Nottingham station curently precludes an intensive rail-air shuttle link, and a similar restriction applies to ideas of extra intensive rail traffic from Derby or Leicester.

A tram to the NEMA could be viable by 2015. An extension of CW was mooted in the A453 multi-modal study, alongside a dualled A453. The trams would have speed, frequency and convenience. They could provide a direct run from Hucknall and numerous other places in the Nottingham area. Birmingham, Edinburgh, London City, Manchester and Newcastle airports are all likely to have tram or metro links in the next few years.

Think of the use and convenience of an eventual direct link from the CW route to the premier regional airport. Think of the prestige and rise in property values in Clifton, Wilford and Compton Acres!