July 18, 2024
The Local Transport Minister visited Nottingham today (Thursday) to see how the city has built a top-quality bus network through public ownership.
Simon Lightwood met with Nottingham City Council and Nottingham City Transport (NCT) and the Mayor for the East Midlands, Claire Ward, to learn more about how Nottingham has developed its popular, award-winning and green-rated network thanks to local investment.
Earlier this month, and confirmed yesterday in the King’s Speech, the newly-appointed Transport Secretary Louise Haigh announced plans for a bus revolution, handing power back to local councils through franchising and public ownership.
NCT has been publicly owned since 1897, with Nottingham unwilling to lose control of the company to deregulation. In 1986, NCT was transferred to a new legal entity, with Nottingham City Council retaining ownership.
Having begun with horse-drawn trams and moved on to electric trams and trolleybuses before motor buses, NCT now has one of the youngest and greenest fleets of any bus company in the country.
Through continued investment in modern, fully-accessible buses, increasing frequencies on core routes throughout Nottingham alongside partnership working with the city council to improve infrastructure and target investment to address delays and enhance the passenger experience, NCT has been able attract more people on to its buses, bucking a national trend of bus passenger decline.
All NCT buses are tracked by satellite, feeding live departure information to hundreds of bus stops across the network. Keeping up with technological advances, Wi-Fi is fitted to every bus, with USB charging points and hearing loops are also provided.
Earlier this year, Nottingham City Transport rolled out 24 new cutting-edge electric buses, with a further 24 entering service in 2025 and 14 in 2026 – helping to cut local pollution and Nottingham’s emissions as it aims to become carbon-neutral by 2028.
NCT’s long history of innovation in this area illustrates what can be achieved with a publicly-owned bus network.
During his first official ministerial visit to Nottingham Minister for Local Transport, Simon Lightwood said:
“Buses are critical to connect our communities, and Nottingham is a shining example of how we can fix the broken bus system.
“Yesterday’s King’s Speech is proof of just how important improving buses is to this Government. For too long, people have suffered because of unreliable services but the bus revolution starts now.
“The Better Buses Bill will create and save vital bus routes across the country, as we give every community the power to take back control of their buses and deliver better and more affordable services.”
Councillor Neghat Khan, Council Leader and Executive Member for Strategic Regeneration, Transport and Communications, said: “I am proud to welcome the Transport Minister to Nottingham to show off our publicly-owned bus network, which is recognised as one of the best in the country.
“Its excellence and efficiency is testament to what we can achieve when we put people ahead of profit. It is no coincidence that Nottingham was named the top UK city for bus passenger satisfaction this year. We’ve built a high quality, integrated, green public transport network around our buses, with trams and cycle routes connecting people across the city and beyond.
“It’s fantastic to see our new Government giving councils the ability to take control of their bus networks to deliver better services for their residents. I believe we also have further opportunities to build on Nottingham’s excellent public transport system by working with the new regional Mayor and our neighbouring councils.”
Claire Ward, Mayor of the East Midlands, said: “It’s a real coup to have Simon Lightwood come to our region and see the exceptional work being done by Nottingham City Transport and Nottingham City Council. Connecting our communities is a top priority for me, and regular, reliable, and affordable public transport is essential to achieving this goal. From next year, the East Midlands Combined County Authority will be taking control of the region’s public transport network, and my ambition is that every part of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire enjoys the same high-quality service that Nottingham residents currently benefit from.”
David Astill, Managing Director of Nottingham City Transport commented “it was a pleasure to host a visit from the Local Transport Minister. I was able to explain how Nottingham’s municipal bus company has delivered reliable and quality services by working in partnership with the city council and other local bus operators. Nottingham is able to boast the amongst the highest bus use per head of any city in the country outside London. Based on our discussions today around the need for further bus priority and government support to invest in more zero emission buses, we can look to continue to provide bus services that offer a real alternative to many journeys by car.”
