Is the Nottingham tram the most expensive railway in the country?

[Bald Rick]

I actually travelled on the tram having hurt my legs on the previous day.

Sorry to hear that, I hope you are fixed now.

 

[MisterSheeps]

when NET first launched it had very cheap fares, sold on board by conductors, including all day with bus integration ... seemed a great idea, also reduces fare evasion

 

[Kite159]

when NET first launched it had very cheap fares, sold on board by conductors, including all day with bus integration ... seemed a great idea, also reduces fare evasion

Similar to Sheffield/Blackpool trams. Also the second member of staff can decrease anti social behaviour.

 

[Mikey C]

On the Nottingham tram, 2 stops down the line than £2.70 gone. The short-hop fare isn't available because the 2 stops cross the zonal boundary.

On my journey record I took 2 tram journeys on a day, Nottingham Station to Meadows Embankment then Meadows Embankment Old Market Square, a day cap of £4.70 was charged. The total distance travelled was 3.3 km, which worked out to be £1.42 / km and topped the price over distance in my record over 9 months.

Is this tramway the most expensive one in the country, or even the most expensive railway when taking all light and heavy rails into accounts as well, measured by fare over distance, in the country?

No, because it's a system with flat fares, therefore while some individual journeys like yours will be (per km) very expensive, others will get excellent value.

A couple of weeks ago I travelled from Toton Lane all the way into the centre, for £2.70.

 

[HSTEd]

I think these may have been withdrawn now, they aren’t advertised on the website in any case

Well they were still sold in late August when I last used them!

 

[MCR247]

Well they were still sold in late August when I last used them!

See:

It disappeared sometime between 27 August and 9 September which were the last two times we used NET.

 

[tis61]

NET still has short hop fares in designated zones but they have increased to £1.50 per journey. You can, therefore travel from Trent University to NG2 (6 stops) in the City Zone for £1.50, which is excellent value but when travelling into a different zone, e.g. Nottingham Station to Meadows Embankment, which is just 2 stops, full single fare is payable. These short hop tickets are only available from the Ticket Machine. NET recently withdrew the Event Ticket stating that they were being misused.

 

[johntea]

i caught Sheffield Supertram from Ponds Forge / Fitzalan Square to Sheffield Station today (0.4 miles) a single cost £2…

I guess you could say being lazy is expensive - the funny thing is I then caught a bus from Wakefield to Castleford forgetting about the new single fare cap meaning my next £2 sorted me out for 8 miles!

But as mentioned above the day before I bought a tram day rider for £4.60 (although a 10p penalty for electing not to use their ‘app’ and buy on board it seems!), that covered me for a return trip from Sheffield to Rotherham so swings and roundabouts I guess!

 

[Jozhua]

No, it isn't the most expensive in the country, but the way they do the 'short hop' zones is very annoying. It should just be valid for three/four stops in either direction.

I would like to see an eventual move to a 'zonal' system, as Manchester did on the growing Metrolink network. I think any further outward extensions of the trams would require that.

That said, fare integration with the bus network for Robin Hood/Contactless users is absolutely fantastic. Makes travelling around the city a breeze!

 

[mainframe444]

when NET first launched it had very cheap fares, sold on board by conductors, including all day with bus integration ... seemed a great idea, also reduces fare evasion

When the operating contract was retendered as a result of the extensions to Clifton/Toton Lane, (it was in the original contract that it would be retendered if the extensions happened) two bids were required from each bidder, one with conductors, one with tram stop ticket machines.

The council decided to go for the ticket machine option.

 

[Olympian]

NET still has short hop fares in designated zones but they have increased to £1.50 per journey. You can, therefore travel from Trent University to NG2 (6 stops) in the City Zone for £1.50, which is excellent value but when travelling into a different zone, e.g. Nottingham Station to Meadows Embankment, which is just 2 stops, full single fare is payable. These short hop tickets are only available from the Ticket Machine. NET recently withdrew the Event Ticket stating that they were being misused.

Personally I think it would be better if short trip fares were also available for any short journey, say for up to 3 or 4 stops, rather than just anywhere in designated areas (which could more accurately be called local zone fares than short hop), since you can currently make relatively long journeys but only pay a short hop fare but conversely make very short journeys as per OP and get stung for the full adult single fare which went up to £2.80 from 3rd October.

I think it puts people off from using the tram for some short journeys which many more might choose to do if say it’s raining but they’d otherwise just walk it.

Hanover is a good example abroad where they have short trip tickets for up to 3 stops by tram or 5 by bus.

 

[The exile]

I think it puts people off from using the tram for some short journeys which many more might choose to do if say it’s raining but they’d otherwise just walk it.

Looking at the broader picture - if the alternative is to walk, then what’s the problem?

 

[Olympian]

Looking at the broader picture - if the alternative is to walk, then what’s the problem?

I used the tram for a 3-stop journey last week but was glad it wasn’t my own money I was using as I don’t believe the short journey was worth £2.80 and, had I been paying for it myself, I would probably have walked instead had it not been raining at the time.

I would have thought that in current times where every bit of revenue counts they’d prefer to have lots more £1.50 short trip/hop fares coming in than people choosing to walk instead for a couple of stops.

Bums on seats (and standing) should always be a priority and some revenue is better than nothing at all.

 

[TC60054]

i caught Sheffield Supertram from Ponds Forge / Fitzalan Square to Sheffield Station today (0.4 miles) a single cost £2…

I guess you could say being lazy is expensive - the funny thing is I then caught a bus from Wakefield to Castleford forgetting about the new single fare cap meaning my next £2 sorted me out for 8 miles!

But as mentioned above the day before I bought a tram day rider for £4.60 (although a 10p penalty for electing not to use their ‘app’ and buy on board it seems!), that covered me for a return trip from Sheffield to Rotherham so swings and roundabouts I guess!

Sheffield is very much set up for longer journeys - a single from Halfway to Parkgate, the longest journey you'd be able to make (albeit on two separate services) is £2.80 - the same as a single from Halfway to the city centre...or even Halfway to Gleadless!

 

[WesternLancer]

I think these may have been withdrawn now, they aren’t advertised on the website in any case

No, not withdrawn, as I see others mention too, but not on website, on the platform machines tho. Gone up to £1.50 however a couple of weeks ago.

PS - if you think the NET website is uninformative, try their paper timetables - possibly the worst printed timetable I have ever encountered!

 

[A Challenge]

Sheffield is very much set up for longer journeys - a single from Halfway to Parkgate, the longest journey you'd be able to make (albeit on two separate services) is £2.80 - the same as a single from Halfway to the city centre...or even Halfway to Gleadless!

At least the Sheffield system does short returns properly, though they seem a bit stingy in some circumstances, from the Station you can get to Infirmary Road, quite a way, but only Hyde Park changing at Fitzalan Square I think. I did once get one issued from Park Grange by mistake boarding at the station, so I can tell you the short journey ticket from there is to the University, so it's a reasonably good system, with grouping to stop it getting too complicated but without causing too many cliff edges.

 

[Jozhua]

Similar to Manchester, NET will have to inevitably swap to zoned tickets at some point.

RH can be modified to support tap on/off.

Be great if the buses were able to follow the same system as well! Short hop fares make even less sense on NCT.

Conversely, there are fairly long journeys that can be made by tram very cheaply, especially if they choose to make any extensions, such as from Toton Lane to Long Eaton.

 

[cuccir]

Isn't part of the issue here that short journeys are relatively expensive to offer compared to longer ones? The cost of staff, maintenance of the vehicle, and maintenance of the track (the vehicle has to get to and from the stops for a service to be offered) are not proportional to the length of journey. Fuel is the only real cost that is. On tram or light rail networks where stops may be less than 1 mile from each other, you probably don't want to encourage short hops.