History

The first railway station in Nottingham opened in 1839. It was opened by the Midland Counties Railway and was built on Carrington Street.^[2] It was served by trains to Derby. By 1848, the station was too small and a new through station was built in Nottingham by the Midland Railway (which was formed when the Midland Counties Railway merged with two other companies). New destinations, such as Lincoln, received a direct service to Nottingham.

In 1900, the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway opened Nottingham Victoria station, as part of the new line to London which they were building. The station was served by Great Central services to Marylebone station in London. The Great Northern Railway also used the station.

In 1904, the Midland Railway closed their station in Nottingham and opened a new one, Nottingham Midland station, which is still open today.^[3]

By 1967, Nottingham Victoria station had become run down; both the station, and passenger numbers on the routes through it, suffered from low demand. The station and the Great Central Main Line were closed. Nottingham Arkwright Street station, also on the Great Central main line, closed in 1969.

The Robin Hood Line from Nottingham to Worksop was closed to passengers following the Beeching cuts in the 1960s; it reopened to passengers in stages between 1993 and 1998.

Current services

Today, the station is served by three train operating companies:

• East Midlands Railway provide inter-city services to London St Pancras, via East Midlands Parkway, Loughborough and Leicester; trains on this route operate twice every hour. There are also regular services between Norwich and Liverpool; between Newark Castle, Derby and Crewe; between Leicester and Lincoln; to Skegness; and to Matlock.^[4]
• CrossCountry provide hourly services to Birmingham New Street and Cardiff.^[5]
• Northern provide hourly services to Leeds, via Sheffield.^[6]

Future developments

There were plans to bring High Speed 2 rail services to Nottingham and the East Midlands, by constructing a parkway station, East Midlands Hub, at nearby Toton.^[7]

Plans for the leg of the line between Birmingham and Leeds have since been scrapped.^[8]

History

The Nottingham and District Tramways Company Limited began operating horse-drawn trams in Nottingham in 1878. A steam tram service began in 1880. In 1898, the Nottingham Corporation Tramways took over the existing tramways. Electric trams were introduced from 1901, and the last horse tram ran in 1902. The tram network in Nottingham was replaced between 1926 and 1936 by a combination of the Nottingham trolleybus system^[9] and a fleet of motor buses.^[10]

Nottingham Express Transit

Nottingham Express Transit (NET) is a light-rail system. The first line opened on 9 March 2004, having cost £167 million to construct. The scheme took 16 years from conception to implementation.^[11]

There are currently two lines:

• Line 1 between Hucknall and Toton Lane. The northern section runs parallel to the Robin Hood Line.
• Line 2 between Phoenix Park to Clifton.

Tickets can be purchased at tram stops.^[1]

Workplace parking levy

In April 2012, Nottingham became the first city in the UK to introduce a workplace parking levy.^[13] The levy charges businesses for each parking space made available to employees at businesses with more than ten such parking spaces. The council have used the revenue of around £10 million a year to develop the city's tram system.^[14] The levy for the period 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021 is £424 per space.^[15] As of 2019, there was a 9% reduction in automobile traffic and 15% increase in public transport use since the introduction of the levy.^[16]

Scooter hire

Nottingham was one of several trial locations arranged by the Department for Transport to facilitate local journeys by electric scooters. Started in October 2020 together with Derby City Council, in December 2023 the trial was extended until 2026. Riders must be 18 years of age minimum, hold a full provisional driving licence, must ride on roads and bus lanes only, not pedestrian footways, and pay by mobile-phone app.^[19]

In late December 2023, the partner-business, US-based Superpedestrian, planned to cease trading by 31 December, and the scooters were withdrawn from their city centre locations.^[20] Nottingham City Council are to seek a new provider to continue the scheme.

Broadmarsh bus station

Broadmarsh bus station is situated in the city centre, adjacent to the former Broadmarsh Shopping Centre, underneath its multi-storey car park. It is bordered by Canal Street (A6008 road) and is close to Nottingham railway and tram stations.

Services that call here are operated predominantly by Trent Barton, with routes to Beeston, Radcliffe-on-Trent, Cotgrave, Kegworth, Coalville and East Midlands Airport.^[25]

Victoria bus station

Victoria bus station is situated within the Victoria Centre, at the northern edge of the city centre.

Trent Barton manages the bus station's travel shop and operates routes to Queen's Medical Centre, University Park, Derby, Hucknall, Mansfield and Chesterfield.

Stagecoach provides routes to Sherwood Forest, Mansfield and Chesterfield. Nottingham City Transport's routes call at nearby stops on Milton Street.^[25]