Mayor Claire Ward says Notts-Derby tram talk distracts from North Nottinghamshire needs

There is no confirmation that a tram link between Derby and Nottingham will happen, says East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) on Wednesday, October 15, she said that the media seems to be “obsessed” with the idea – despite it being just one of many options that the £2 billion of transport money afforded to the region could be spent on.

“Lots of the media seem to be obsessed by the idea of a tram in Nottingham and Derby,” she said. “And whatever I say, one moment it’s ‘the tram is on’, the next it’s ‘there’s no tram’.

“Actually, we are in a position where we have got £2 billion of transport settlements and we need to look around, across the whole region and decide: Where do we spend that money to get people moving around the region the best?”

The EMCCA commissioned a feasibility study in March on a potential extension of Nottingham’s tram network in March, costing £300,000.

But it is not focused solely on potential links to Derby – in fact, it is more concerned with potential links to Gedling, Clifton and Chilwell.

The mayor said she still does not know when it will be finished.

What is more certain is that the long-suggested public consultation on how the £2 billion of transport funding afforded to EMCCA by central government should be spent will go live in the next few weeks.

The consultation, which will run for 12 weeks, will allow the two million residents of the East Midlands to have their say on how they think transport could be improved in the region.

This could be related to anything, including road networks, traffic pinch points, bus routes, train routes, tram extensions, or even active travel provisions such as footpaths and cycle lanes.

The exact format of the consultation is yet to be announced – but it is expected that the results will be in by Christmas.

The mayor told the LDRS that she thinks many people will have far more pressing transportation concerns than a tram link between the two already well-connected cities.

“There are already great connections between Derby and Nottingham. But if we’re going to develop other parts of the corridor – that we’re calling the Trent Arc – like the airport, or Ratcliffe-on-Soar, then we might need different transport solutions.

“One of the things we’ll need to consider is, is one of those options a tram or tram extension, or is it some other mass transport scheme?”

The mayor was also asked where she’d put the link if there was a connection between Nottingham and Derby.

She said: “I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to say we’re going to put it here or there because this has got to be about the whole region.

“And quite frankly, if you live in north Nottinghamshire, you are getting a little bit fed up in hearing that there’s going to be, you know, tram extensions from Nottingham to Derby, when you can’t even get out of your local town or village to access jobs or college or have to get two buses to get to the hospital.

“I suspect (in the consultation) there’ll be far more noise from people about wanting a reliable bus that goes after 6 o’clock in the evening or operates on a Sunday so they can get to work or to the places they need to be.”