The £570m project, construction of which commenced in 2012, has extended services to Clifton and Chilwell, almost doubling the size of the network and adding 28 new stations.
The 7.5km Line 2 runs from Nottingham city centre through The Meadows residential area, crossing the River Trent to reach Wilford Village before joining the former Great Central Railway alignment towards Ruddington Lane and then entering Clifton, terminating at a 1000-space park-and-ride station. The 9.8km Line 3 diverges from Line 2 to Queen's Medical Centre, the University of Nottingham campus, Beeston town centre and the centre of Chilwell before terminating at another new park-and-ride station.
The lines are served by a fleet of 22 Alstom Citadis low-floor LRVs, which accommodate 57 seated and 143 standing passengers, and were built at Alstom's Santa Perpetua plant near Barcelona. The total value of the LRV contract is £294m, including a £101m maintenance package for the new vehicles and the existing fleet of 15 Bombardier LRVs.
Alstom is a member of the Tramlink Nottingham Consortium, which was awarded a 23-year design, build, finance, operate, and maintain concession in December 2011. This encompassed construction of lines 2 and 3, and operation of the entire network, including Line 1. Other members of the consortium include civil works contractor Taylor Woodrow and financial partners Meridiam Infrastructure and OFI InfraVia Fund. Keolis and local bus operator Wellglade are responsible for operating the expanded network.
Delays to the project were initially blamed on the unexpected numbers of pipes and cables that had to be moved, and on work to replace existing track structures. Contractor Vinci says the problems contributed to a £165m loss for its civil engineering division.
The expanded network is expected to carry 23 million passengers per year.
