Another Award Netted

Nottingham’s tram system has scooped another top national award.

Nottingham Express Transit (NET) was named Best Operational Transport Project at the Public Private Finance Awards yesterday.

Judges praised the partners involved in the project – Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottingham Development Enterprise and the Arrow Consortium – for developing a good example of how to structure tram deals, as well as for getting such a complex new transport system under construction.

They were also impressed with the planning that went into co-ordinating the network with the city’s other transport systems, with NET integrating with three railway stations, five Park and Ride sites and bus services feeding into a number of tram stops. The strong partnership between public and private sectors also helped to swing it for NET, which beat off competition from the Docklands Light Railway Airport Extension in its category.

NET Project Leader Pat Armstrong said: “We’re delighted that the success of NET Line One has been recognised by the Public Private Finance Awards. Respected and influential people from government and industry formed the panel of judges so it is particularly pleasing that they praised our approach to structuring tram deals, developing an integrated system and working closely with our partners. We hoped the continued success of Line One is recognised by the Department for Transport and will further influence a positive decision for NET Phase Two.”

NET won the Municipal Journal Public Private Partnership Achievement of the Year last year as well as Best Transport Project at the Public Private Finance Awards 2002.

NET Line One was opened by Transport Minister Alistair Darling in March 2004 and carried 8.4m and 9.7m passengers respectively in its first two years of operation. A recent passenger survey revealed 98% satisfaction with the service and 80% support for the planned new lines south and west of the city.