Nottingham Express Transit (NET) is showing signs of continued recovery, according to new financial figures, with increased customer journeys and reduced losses indicating ongoing improvements and stability across the network.
The figures were published by the operator of the NET concession, Tramlink Nottingham Limited, as part of the annual accounts for the year up to 31 March 2024. They show that following a financial restructuring project in partnership with the Department for Transport and Nottingham City Council, the network continues to trade in line with projected expectations, operating from a robust position which looks set to continue into 2025.
Customer confidence in the network remains strong, with passenger journeys increasing year on year, with most recent figures reporting an increase to 15.5m, compared to 14.4m in the prior financial year.
Profits also showed signs of improvement, with the company making a gross profit of £8.24m, compared to £7.65m in the previous year, before taking into account COVID relief grants from central government and exceptional fixed asset impairment charges.
Similarly, total losses for the year, before tax and including interest charges, were £26.3m compared to £57.1m for the previous year, which is in line with financial expectations. The prior year’s figure was impacted by an impairment charge of £26.7m, to reduce the carrying value of fixed assets in line with revised expected net present value future cashflows over the remainder of the concession in the post-COVID business environment.
Tim Hesketh, CEO of Tramlink, said: “We were confident that last year’s financial restructuring project would give our network the security we needed to concentrate on making investments towards improvements to our service, and our most recent financial figures are an indicator of its success.
“After a challenging few years, it’s promising to see that we’re now in a much stronger position, and we’d like to thank the City Council and Department of Transport for all their support.
“We would also like to thank our customers for their continued support over the last year, during which we delivered a 7.4% increase in passenger kilometres travelled, as well as increased tram reliability. We look forward to building on this in 2025.”
The concession which allows Tramlink to run the NET tram system runs until 2034, and factors in losses in the earlier years due to investments in the system, including expanding the network in 2015 and buying new tram vehicles.
