It’s the age-old question that transfixes the people in Nottingham and its surroundings. Where will the tram go next?
Perhaps it’s the still relatively novel nature of even having a tram that makes the suggestion of it coming to where we live so exciting.
We’re not so fascinated by bus route extensions or trains – but everywhere’s got them, and they go everywhere.
Our tram, on the other hand – with its smooth, snaking, slaloming movement through the centre of the city, on its own purpose-built track – runs on a network which is one of only seven or eight in the country.
That being said, an extension has been written and spoken about so much in the news that you’d be forgiven for wondering whether the idea that our city’s tram network will be extended is actually just an urban legend.
Don’t worry – it’s not.
Nottingham’s tramline will be extended at some point – and they’ll always be thinking about taking it further.
The last extension, between the city and both its Toton Lane and Clifton terminals, opened in 2015 after three years of building work.
Since then, unfortunately, no further extensions have even come close to a confirmation, never mind to fruition.
But Nottingham City Council has recently spoken openly about wanting to get the tram connected to a number of city locations, including its proposed Commercial and Innovation Districts, and to new homes in the Broad Marsh area, as part of its new 2050 vision.
East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward has suggested that connecting it to Rushcliffe’s new Trent Sports District is one of the ‘needed’ transport solutions being looked at for that area.
And they’re by no means the only options.
A feasibility study commissioned by the Mayor last March – costing £300,000 and, if rumour is to be believed, looking at 11 possible destinations – is still ongoing. Once that’s completed, we may have some idea where it could go next.
Three of the 11 suggestions have been made explicitly public by the Mayor’s East Midlands Combined Authority: the new Fairham estate past Clifton, the Chetwynd Barracks estate in Toton, and Gedling.
Like most other places in Nottinghamshire, Gedling has been suggested as an option before. Or, at least, local leaders there have said they’d welcome it (who wouldn’t?).
In 2018, Gedling Borough council leader John Clarke (Lab) told the Nottingham Post he wanted the tram to come up to the (then-new) Gedling Country Park and new housing developments nearby, with 10 new stops, through Netherfield and Carlton.
But Nottingham City Transport extended its blue 45 bus route past and through the recently-built Teal Close and Chase Farm developments in September 2023, so it could be argued the borough doesn’t need a tram so much anymore.
The centre of Gedling, however, around Shearing Hill and Carlton Le Willows Academy, the area’s main secondary school, is less connected, even with bus services that run through there.
Dad Deryck Shepherd, whose children are both in their teens, says a tram near where he lives, close to the school, would be great for the area.
“It’d be massive,” said the 52-year-old utilities consultant. “Definitely, not so much for me even, but for the kids.
“My youngest is 13 and he’s just started going into town to meet his mates. If they’re coming back here there coming on their own it’d be extra security, knowing that they’re not familiar with the area.
“Even for me – the buses are okay – (but) if I go into town I tend to get a taxi. The bus goes a really long route from here.”
Near the school on Wood Lane runs an old train track which is now out of use.
It leads from Netherfield station – which is still in use and links to Nottingham to the west and has lines north to Carlton and south to Radcliffe in the other direction – and the line runs, coincidentally, up to the aforementioned Gedling Country Park.
It has previously been suggested that the line could be repurposed for the tram, past the old Gedling & Carlton station, which is currently in the process of being transformed into a youth club and community centre.
Local resident and campaigner Francis Rodrigues, who chairs the Gedling Youth Club Management Committee, said the area would benefit from a tram – and that the extension of the network up to Gedling Country Park would complement plans for a recreational walking route through and encompassing the borough’s historic sites called ‘The Heritage Way’.
He said: “I think its an ace idea. A lot of the infrastructure for (both the Heritage Way and the tram) is already is in place such as footpaths and old track beds. I understand there is room to accommodate the tram plus the walking route as it was once a two-track railway line.
“I’m all for it, 100%, if there’s any reality about it. With all the new housebuilding, including building on Mapperley Golf Club land, Colliery Way (the long-awaited bypass opened in 2022) has given us breathing space, but of course all the infill behind the new road is going to get built on.
“I would use it myself when I go into town or to Queen’s Med for a doctor’s visit. It’s a dream to ride on. We’ve got nothing this side of Gedling to compare with that. I think reopening the train line would be great. And it’d be good for the area. We need more levelling up and that is a tram this side of the city. We’ve got Colliery Way but we haven’t got a dual carriageway.”
Despite some championing the suggestion, others aren’t so certain – such as Barry Searle, who has lived in the area since 1970.
He was less certain that Gedling would be a worthy location.
“It all depends where it goes to really,” said the 88-year-old. “I don’t think there’s enough people in Gedling to warrant it. But if it went through to Arnold somehow it probably would be (worthwhile).
“I would’ve thought they would’ve extended it to the airport to be quite honest. It seems to make more sense to do it there. But by the time it came I probably wouldn’t be here anyway!”
While those at the top debate possibilities, the public still wait with baited breath.
Unfortunately, the answer to the question of when the results of the feasibility study will be ready still remains a frustrating unknown.
And, at the moment, any clues to where the tram will end up going can only be gleaned from the scarce hints we get from leaders.
