Agenda and minutes

To note that Councillor Angela Kandola has replaced Councillor Matt Shannon as a member of the Committee.

The Committee noted that Councillor Angela Kandola has replaced Councillor Matt Shannon as a member of the Committee.

Councillor Helen Kalsi (Unwell)

Councillor Hayley Spain (Work commitments)

Justin Donne (Work commitments)

None.

Minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2023, for confirmation

Subject to the confirmation of attendance of Jim Thomas at the last meeting, the Committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2023 as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Head of Operations, Nottingham Trams

Trevor Stocker, Head of Operations at Nottingham Trams, introduced a report on the operational performance and progression of the Nottingham Tram Network which highlighted the following:

(a)  the reliability and punctuality of the tram service during June and July is largely positive, with scores of 91.3% and 91.4% respectively;

(b)  press releases and media appearances addressed several disruptions to the service, including the tram collision with an overhead line equipment (OLE) pole in Bulwell, network communication issues, and the serious police incident of 13 June;

(c)  on 12 June, a points issue caused Tram 232 to derail and collide with an OLE pole on its approach to the Bulwell tram stop. This caused three trams to be stranded north of the incident between Bulwell and Hucknall. It was difficult for heavy lifting and specialist equipment to access the site. Services were rerouted. An ongoing investigation is taking place into this incident and the repairs to that tram will take many months;

(d)  whilst the derailed tram incident was being dealt with, the police instructed trams to stop operating beyond Royal Centre due to a serious incident in which three people were murdered and two others were severely injured. The service between Phoenix Park and Wilkinson Street continued to operate, whilst five trams were stranded between The Forest and Royal Centre. These trams were taken out of service due to the police investigation and underwent intensive cleaning after police forensics officers had examined them;

(e)  on 16 June, an individual was stabbed to death onboard a tram at Highbury Vale by another passenger. The subsequent crime scene and investigations by the police resulted in tram services being disrupted on the Hucknall Line. Once the scene was cleared, services resumed. As a result of this incident, NTL mobilised additional security teams on trams in the peak evening times until the end of service. CCTV records have been provided to aid Nottinghamshire Police in their investigations;

(f)  there was a total loss of radio communications and the Automated Vehicle Location System (AVLS) which led to the complete suspension of service. This was due to a fault with the network switch. The incident is under review and further work will be undertaken to improve resilience to any potential future incidents;

(g)  there were three incidents on 14 July which significantly affected the service. These were a vehicle driving onto the tracks at Lenton Lane Bridge, a medical emergency at the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) Hospital and a failed tram at Compton Acres. The City Council’s Highways Team have re-signed the Lenton Lane Bridge to avoid such an incident in future;

(h)  NET operated a dedicated timetable to assist with the Nottingham Pride Parade;

(i)  track works in the Forest area of the city have been completed over the summer. New timetables and replacement bus services helped to minimise travel disruption;

(j)  further repair works have taken place on the drainage systems between Central College and Cator Lane, with contaminated soakaways being removed and replaced at the edge of the track;

(k)  parking enforcement patrols were extended in July to cover the Toton Lane and Wilkinson Street park and ride sites. These patrols have reduced anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the Toton Lane area. In Bulwell, NET continues to work with community groups and the police to tackle ASB issues. In Highbury Vale, community work has been undertaken with Heathfield Primary Schools to build a positive relationship with pupils on how they should behave when using the trams; Overall, there has been a downward trend in terms of ASB and criminal damage to ticket and validation machines, however there was a slight increase in August during the summer holidays;

(l)  the Road and Local Transport Minister Richard Holden MP visited the city and the Keolis depot on 31 July 2023. The visit was an opportunity to discuss and lobby the Government for funding for tram systems;

(m)NET is currently working with inclusion specialists to create new inclusive guidance for people with autism, special needs, and children starting secondary school;

During the discussion and in response to questions from the Committee, the following points were raised:

(n)  during the June – July period, four vehicles were clamped for the misuse of parking spaces;

(o)  the control room/tetra radio system is used in other tram networks around the world. Monthly calls take place with the control room team to ensure that it is working effectively. NET is actively looking at how to improve the control room and radio operations from other tram networks. The problems NET has encountered have not been experienced by other networks, so they are looking at how the network can prevent such a communications and locations failure from happening again; 

(p)  with regards to the ticket purchasing scheme in schools, eighteen schools were written to, although other schools can get involved at any time. Academic season tickets are becoming less prominent now term has started, but there has been a 400% increase in tickets sold due to the scheme, with most of the customers being pupils at the Nottingham Emmanuel School, the Becket School, Djangoly City Academy and George Spencer Academy;

(q)  the flooding near the Central College tram stop in Chilwell is not linked to the contaminated soakaways further down the line;

(r)  the CCTV at the tram stops is a live feed and can be seen by CCTV operators in the control room. The CCTV on the trams is not live and has to be reviewed afterwards; 

(s)  trams reduce speed in instances of immediate flooding;

(t)  the reliability and punctuality satisfaction figures cannot reflect the exclusion of significant events which disrupt the service;

(u)  the maintenance plans of these incidents have a long-term effect and therefore it takes time for the service to stabilise, for example, damaged trams can be out of use for weeks whilst repairs take place, hence there are less trams in use on the network;

(v)  10% of services operated during the serious police incident on 13 June. The trams affected were not available for a week after the attack due to the police forensics;

(w)  driver shortages do affect the overall service;

(x)  trams have been withdrawn to heat related faults due to hot summer weather, so maintenance plans will be updated to address these faults;

(y)  bus and train replacements were used between Bulwell and Hucknall when Tram 232 was derailed on 12 June;

(z)  during the Lenton Lane Bridge incident, the weight of the electric vehicle stuck on the line made it difficult to retrieve. Sixteen new ‘no-entry’ signs have been displayed in and around the bridge;

(aa)the pedestrian lights at the Theatre Royal stop are highway compliant and consider the use of e-scooters;

(bb)it is impossible for NET to police the use of park and ride facilities to specifically stop car racing. Patrols around these facilities aim to deter potential racers. Speed bumps are included on the site.

Resolved to note the report.

For further discussion

The contents of the work plan were noted by the Committee.

12 December 2023

12 March 2024

Resolved to meet on the following Tuesdays at 2pm in Loxley House:

12 December 2023

12 March 2024