Nottingham City Transport

[tramboy]

Ah fair enough my mistake, I’d thought the whole route got support.

Very selfishly and probably controversially, I’d rather core routes had kept their proper evening services rather than trying to make basket case services work (sorry!)

Is it a basket case though? As has been suggested earlier, it gives NCT opportunity to look at both 18 and 49 together to work out what the solution might be, especially with 600-odd houses going behind Boots.

If people aren't using evening services on what would have been "the core", then the business needs to look at what else it can do.

 

[MCR247]

Is it a basket case though? As has been suggested earlier, it gives NCT opportunity to look at both 18 and 49 together to work out what the solution might be, especially with 600-odd houses going behind Boots.

If people aren't using evening services on what would have been "the core", then the business needs to look at what else it can do.

Based on what the off-peak ridership looked like when CT4N ran it, yes I’d say so. The Navy 3 used to get more passengers and that’s been consigned to history! I did say it was a selfish opinion rather than me saying what the company should or shouldn’t do, to be fair.

 

[WideRanger]

I used to live 100m from the route of the 18/32 until 1993. But, at that time, it was non-stop through the closest area to me, because of the monopoly that NCT had at my closest stop with the 13. Days before deregulation...

At that time, I remember the 18/32 was always pretty well used (with a 53 seat coach/bus), as was the 13 using a double decker. But in recent years, any time I have been in Beeston and seen the 18, it has been pretty much empty.

Of course, a few things have happened. More people have cars. There is less demand to travel into Nottingham at peak times. The tram has come to dominate Beeston to Nottingham journeys. Skylink is providing a much better service than the 13 ever did. The train service from Beeston Station is also significantly better than when I lived there.

Because of all of that, there are few people who don't have a realistic alternative to using the 18. Hence, not many people on the bus.

I have been thinking about the thread, and I suspect the answer for people who want/need a route to QMC would be a change on to the tram in Beeston Centre. For everyone else, and extended 49 taking over the 18 route to Beeston (and perhaps beyond) seems very sensible, and would give access to Boots and the development areas around it back to Beeston. The last time I was there, it was really noticeable about how the area between Boots and the Trent is being developed in a way that would have been unimaginable when I lived there. For everyone wanting to head in to Nottingham centre, this would provide a direct link.

The key would be through tickets between bus and tram - so that people from the Rylands can change on to the tram in Beeston. Then it might end up in a net gain for the Rylands.

 

[NCT]

Yes, the train provides an almost turn-up-and-go service between Rylands and Nottingham now, and I suspect that's the main reason for the 18's struggle.

Going mostly by memory here

In 2002 the 13 served Castle Boulevard, Broadgate / Middle Street and ran to Imperial Road every 20 minutes using East Lancs bodied step entrance Scanias, with peak extensions to Inham Nook as the 13C. Queen's Road was served by the 33(also with A and C variants) which seemed to do an entire tour of the Queen's. The 12 was a non-coloured route (with an unhealthy number of suffixed variants I seem to recall) to Riverside / Lenton Lane.

Then NCT consolidated the two routes, running the 13 as Castle Boulevard - Queen's Road, using Solos (from the 33?). The peak of the Maroon colour was when the 13 ran along University Boulevard, and the 14 through the campus, providing a combined 4bph. I thought this lasted for a good number of years and then two things happened

- Skylink service gradually improved and became the dominant service for Queen's Road and Castle Boulevard;
- University's road reorganisation meant you could no longer operate through the campus eastbound without a significant journey time penalty relative to bombing it along University Boulevard

These things meant the Maroon line lost all its USPs. (I don't know/remember the precise sequence of events or any direction of causality)

If NCT wants to integrate the new 18 into its colour scheme, I don't think it'd be sensible to revive the Maroon line. The Skylink does too good a job. Folding it into Orange would probably make the most sense. I'd like NCT to have another go at the 32, but that's probably wishful thinking. Could it at least do an hourly Stapleford - Bilborough extension to connect into the 35 though?

 

[edwin_m]

If NCT wants to integrate the new 18 into its colour scheme, I don't think it'd be sensible to revive the Maroon line. The Skylink does too good a job. Folding it into Orange would probably make the most sense.

I agree the 18 should be orange if it remains on the existing route. I originally brought maroon into the discussion as an alternative colour for the 48 and 49, so that navy was just the Wilford Lane buses. If they did extend the 49 through Rylands, that would then bring maroon back to Beeston.

 

[MCR247]

I think NCT already hinted at some ‘exciting’ plans for the 49 in the autumn when they announced the service changes in June, so there may already be changes in the pipeline yet to come

 

[Pe251lz]

It will be interesting to see if NCT can make a go of the 18, 40+ years ago when driving part time for Bartons it was one of the quieter routes with the stretch to Ilkeston or Bulwell as the 32 rarely carrying many passengers . With the decline of Plessey and Boots plus the arrival of the Tram I wasnt surprised they withdrew it. Having spoken to several CT4N drivers when using the route it seemed unprofitable still, Fingers

It will be interesting to see if NCT can make a go of the 18, 40+ years ago when driving part time for Bartons it was one of the quieter routes with the stretch to Ilkeston or Bulwell as the 32 rarely carrying many passengers . With the decline of Plessey and Boots plus the arrival of the Tram I wasnt surprised they withdrew it. Having spoken to several CT4N drivers when using the route it seemed unprofitable still, Fingers crossed

I think NCT already hinted at some ‘exciting’ plans for the 49 in the autumn when they announced the service changes in June, so there may already be changes in the pipeline yet to come

Some brilliant points have been made and interesting ideas shared.

Personally, my original thoughts and ideas were to renumber the Orange line into 31 (18A) Wollaton, 32 (18) Stapleford, 33 (36) Inham Nook, then 34 Uni and 35 Bulwell. Or, perhaps a revival of Maroon 31/32 (18/18A).

Then you’ve got the Navy 49…

To be honest, I would have thought that rerouting away from the QMC would be a disaster and wouldn’t go down well. However, today’s outbound trip saw 14 passengers board in Nottingham, and the next stop wasn’t until Lace Street, Dunkirk, to pick a couple more up. Can renumbering the 18 into a 49 actually sit well within a Navy group? South Notts Navy 1 via Trent Bridge and a 49 to Rylands and Stapleford….

Addressing another comment: the 18 indeed had an evening service and, yes, I agree that later trips should be added back.

Sundays got really odd! Trent cut the 32 Sunday service, which started running from around 3:00 pm. Around 1990, they brought in the 518. This was identical to the 51 route (later the 21) from Ilkeston to the Sherwin Arms. From there, it took the 18 route via Rylands. Sundays later got numbered 20, with the link to Ilkeston remaining. Another oddity is how trentbarton withdrew from the route in 2018 but continued to operate the Sunday service for a few years, and only on Sundays could you travel beyond Melbourne Road.

Either the ticket machines were down today, or NCT was giving free, unadvertised rides. On both trips, I was waved on. So, even though I travelled up from London, I never actually financially supported the service!

 

[MCR247]

I wonder if anything can be read into the seemingly random selection of stops that had next stop announcements already recorded? I hadn’t expected “The Parrs” or “Humber Road South” for example..

 

[Pe251lz]

Is it an AI system? Seems very quick how they kickstarted so quickly. Was the writing in the wall. And the 49 hint!
Disappointed no destination blind programmed except for the 18 number today.
Stops along the route haven’t had the timetables updated. Still displays CT4N services in Chilwell.

 

[MCR247]

Is it an AI system? Seems very quick how they kickstarted so quickly. Was the writing in the wall. And the 49 hint!
Disappointed no destination blind programmed except for the 18 number today.
Stops along the route haven’t had the timetables updated. Still displays CT4N services in Chilwell.

No definitely not an AI system. I think the guys name is David Lloyd - a radio presenter. Purely speculation but I think having announcements for those stops ready means they were already at least looking at serving them before they took on the 18 at short notice. Something something navy 49 I reckon. But I wouldn’t be getting hopes up of a combined 49/18, the roads around Ryelands can barely fit the E10s as it is!

The 18s I’ve seen have had destinations programmed. In fact NCT posted a pic of the first day of operation on their socials and the destination display was programmed. So perhaps you got unlucky?

 

[TR673]

The peak of the Maroon colour was when the 13 ran along University Boulevard, and the 14 through the campus, providing a combined 4bph.

It was the other way around; 13 through the campus and 14 down Uni Boulevard. Maroon 13 terminated in Beeston (Dennis Avenue, iirc) and the 14 continued to Chilwell Inham Nook on a half hourly basis. I'm not sure when the 13 went but the 14 soldiered on until March 2014, including some changes near the very end that saw it run along a section of Derby Road.

Disappointed no destination blind programmed except for the 18 number today

That must've been a problem with the destination blind as the Yutong E10s just do that sometimes at the front, with the side and rear blinds showing fine. 252 in particular wasn't showing the outbound blind when I saw it on the 17th, but did correctly show the city-bound blind.

Stops along the route haven’t had the timetables updated. Still displays CT4N services in Chilwell.

It's only been a few days!! I imagine by September there will probably be some NCT timetables produced, and the electronic next stop displays in the area have continually been displaying messages that NCT have taken on the 18 hourly, with the full service returning from the 1st.



Hopefully the 18 sees potential under NCT and whatever changes come to the 49 brings something new to Beeston. Unlike places such as Bulwell or Arnold, which are served by a multitude of routes which let you travel in an orbital manner to neighbouring areas, Beeston suffers with an issue where you can pretty much only catch bus/tram/train either directly towards or away from the city, not around it. Granted, the river immediately to the south prevents access towards Clifton, but the 18 and 18A are essentially the only routes directly linking Beeston with any of its neighbouring towns.

Another point of note is how glacially slow the orange 36 is, because there's so much padding in the timetable that it ends up waiting time at Beeston Interchange, Hathern Green, QMC... a 36 between Beeston Interchange and the edge of the city centre (Canning Circus) has the same running time as an 18A did despite the latter diverting via the Rylands; for context a TrentBarton indigo covers the same stretch in five minutes less. NCT have let this happen over a period of years, so with a bit of luck the introduction of the 18 to their network (and any potential navy 49 developments) will refocus them on serving Beeston with buses that travel at something quicker than a snail's pace.

I like to think the 18 has the potential to be quite successful if NCT play their cards right. Perhaps a few evening/Sunday services could be supported by operating an 18 journey in lieu of one on the 36? A massive new student block is opening in Beeston this September... students tend to go by tram but could the 18 tap into this market? 18 variant through the university grounds?! Realistically speaking, probably not, but there might be a way to sustainably piggyback the 18 off the existing orange line services. After all if you can get students travelling at one end of the route to pay for a small number of ENCTS pass holders travelling at the other end of the route, why not?

(Although in the above paragraph I've kept calling it the 18, I'm making the assumption that it would be integrated into orange line and renumbered into that range)

 

[NNN_062]

I used to live 100m from the route of the 18/32 until 1993. But, at that time, it was non-stop through the closest area to me, because of the monopoly that NCT had at my closest stop with the 13. Days before deregulation...

At that time, I remember the 18/32 was always pretty well used (with a 53 seat coach/bus), as was the 13 using a double decker. But in recent years, any time I have been in Beeston and seen the 18, it has been pretty much empty.

Of course, a few things have happened. More people have cars. There is less demand to travel into Nottingham at peak times. The tram has come to dominate Beeston to Nottingham journeys. Skylink is providing a much better service than the 13 ever did. The train service from Beeston Station is also significantly better than when I lived there.

Because of all of that, there are few people who don't have a realistic alternative to using the 18. Hence, not many people on the bus.

I have been thinking about the thread, and I suspect the answer for people who want/need a route to QMC would be a change on to the tram in Beeston Centre. For everyone else, and extended 49 taking over the 18 route to Beeston (and perhaps beyond) seems very sensible, and would give access to Boots and the development areas around it back to Beeston. The last time I was there, it was really noticeable about how the area between Boots and the Trent is being developed in a way that would have been unimaginable when I lived there. For everyone wanting to head in to Nottingham centre, this would provide a direct link.

The key would be through tickets between bus and tram - so that people from the Rylands can change on to the tram in Beeston. Then it might end up in a net gain for the Rylands.

I asked NCT if they were considering this, they said extending the 49 to Beeston would mean the route cannot serve Boots anymore (which sees the most passengers) because you cant make the right turn out of Boots onto Thane Road to get to Beeston, and buses cannot go straight through Boots either to the Western exit.

 

[Megafuss]

It was the other way around; 13 through the campus and 14 down Uni Boulevard. Maroon 13 terminated in Beeston (Dennis Avenue, iirc) and the 14 continued to Chilwell Inham Nook on a half hourly basis. I'm not sure when the 13 went but the 14 soldiered on until March 2014, including some changes near the very end that saw it run along a section of Derby Road.


That must've been a problem with the destination blind as the Yutong E10s just do that sometimes at the front, with the side and rear blinds showing fine. 252 in particular wasn't showing the outbound blind when I saw it on the 17th, but did correctly show the city-bound blind.


It's only been a few days!! I imagine by September there will probably be some NCT timetables produced, and the electronic next stop displays in the area have continually been displaying messages that NCT have taken on the 18 hourly, with the full service returning from the 1st.



Hopefully the 18 sees potential under NCT and whatever changes come to the 49 brings something new to Beeston. Unlike places such as Bulwell or Arnold, which are served by a multitude of routes which let you travel in an orbital manner to neighbouring areas, Beeston suffers with an issue where you can pretty much only catch bus/tram/train either directly towards or away from the city, not around it. Granted, the river immediately to the south prevents access towards Clifton, but the 18 and 18A are essentially the only routes directly linking Beeston with any of its neighbouring towns.

Another point of note is how glacially slow the orange 36 is, because there's so much padding in the timetable that it ends up waiting time at Beeston Interchange, Hathern Green, QMC... a 36 between Beeston Interchange and the edge of the city centre (Canning Circus) has the same running time as an 18A did despite the latter diverting via the Rylands; for context a TrentBarton indigo covers the same stretch in five minutes less. NCT have let this happen over a period of years, so with a bit of luck the introduction of the 18 to their network (and any potential navy 49 developments) will refocus them on serving Beeston with buses that travel at something quicker than a snail's pace.

I like to think the 18 has the potential to be quite successful if NCT play their cards right. Perhaps a few evening/Sunday services could be supported by operating an 18 journey in lieu of one on the 36? A massive new student block is opening in Beeston this September... students tend to go by tram but could the 18 tap into this market? 18 variant through the university grounds?! Realistically speaking, probably not, but there might be a way to sustainably piggyback the 18 off the existing orange line services. After all if you can get students travelling at one end of the route to pay for a small number of ENCTS pass holders travelling at the other end of the route, why not?

(Although in the above paragraph I've kept calling it the 18, I'm making the assumption that it would be integrated into orange line and renumbered into that range)

They are going to have a problem with the Yutongs down the Rylands on Saturdays if my experience today is the norm. The bus lost 10 minutes down there due to parked cars. Drivers complaining about it today.

 

[ACBest]

They are going to have a problem with the Yutongs down the Rylands on Saturdays if my experience today is the norm. The bus lost 10 minutes down there due to parked cars. Drivers complaining about it today.

Agreed there, I can’t see that lasting too long on Saturdays if that’s how it is. The bus I was travelling on got stuck more than once because of the way things were parked.

 

[BULLSAREMAGIC]

They are going to have a problem with the Yutongs down the Rylands on Saturdays if my experience today is the norm. The bus lost 10 minutes down there due to parked cars. Drivers complaining about it today.

It is not a new problem. When i drove for Bartons Beech Avenue could be a nightmare with badly parked cars particularly so if one of the DAFs or Tigers appeared on the route which they were occasionally prone to do. With more cars on the road I can only assume it is even worse these days

 

[kevjs]

I asked NCT if they were considering this, they said extending the 49 to Beeston would mean the route cannot serve Boots anymore (which sees the most passengers) because you cant make the right turn out of Boots onto Thane Road to get to Beeston, and buses cannot go straight through Boots either to the Western exit.

That sounds like the sort of thing that could be solved of the will was there - either by modifying the Thane Road exit, or making whatever changes are needed to allow the buses to run through the campus (amendments were made at the City Hospital site a few years back to allow the new buses to run so no unprecedented) - Something the EMCCA should be able to get a grip off with it's cross LA and public transport remit. The CT4N 33/ NCT11/12 has had a number of changes to the route over recent years, so I doubt the current route of the 18 is that set in stone. Sounds like Parking restrictions would also be needed for a reliable service. There's also Beeston Canalside which needs to be served eventually, with more and more homes completed.

 

[NCT]

Boots being a private organisation probably means any amendments / negotiations would be more difficult than with City Hospital.

You used to be able to walk through Boots as a pedestrian but over the years they had tightened security meaning you couldn't do that anymore. I suspect Boots would be funny about the general public transiting through their site.

Also running double deckers west of Boots would be overkill.

 

[kevjs]

78 to be extended to replace the L2 from 1st September with an interim timetable, with full service from 28th September

Nottingham City Transport

We’re pleased to announce further changes to our network from Tuesday 1st September 2026, to replace services and serve parts of Nottingham previously catered by CT4N. The full 18, 18A, 18B and 18X...

www.facebook.com

From Monday 28th September 2026, the full Turquoise 78 timetable will begin, which will see:

Assarts Farm and Nottingham Business Park served every 30 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes

New links from Assarts Farm and Nottingham Business Park to Phoenix Park, for connections to the tram

A Monday to Saturday daytime shopping link to Bulwell Centre for Assarts Farm

An earlier bus from Nottingham to Nottingham Business Park

 

[tramboy]

78 to be extended to replace the L2 from 1st September with an interim timetable, with full service from 28th September

That sounds like the best opportunity Assarts Farm residents have had in a long time to develop a sustainable bus service, and you would hope that it generates some usage. Linking the various business parks together may also help with some peak traffic in the long run.

 

[MCR247]

Details of the Electroliners from NCT Fleet News on facebook

901 BN76CUC SC5DDREXU26002249 AY306
902 BN76CUG SC5DDREXU26002250 AY307
903 BN76CUH SC5DDREXU26002251 AY308
904 BN76CUJ SC5DDREXU26002252 AY309
905 BN76CUK SC5DDREXU26002253 AY310
906 BN76CUO SC5DDREXU26002254 AY311

I also saw a video of 901 in unbranded lilac and silver on test in NI on Facebook but I can’t seem to find it again. According to comments the first 4 will be 27 branded with two spares.

 

[TR673]

with two spares.

Do we know if that means silver spares or generic branded lilac 'spares' the same as 675 and 676 were?

 

[callum3490]

Do we know if that means silver spares or generic branded lilac 'spares' the same as 675 and 676 were?

675/6 were intended for the now replaced 24 which is why they ended up going to silver spares. Id imagine/hope the two spare electroliners would be silver, at least it means they can cross over for use on other electric double deck routes in future as there are some yutongs ordered as well

 

[Np13]

At least one of the Lilac Electroliners is now at PSG

 

[andyb87]

With the price of football transfers these days I guess that was good business. (Joke).