Third day of tram chaos in the city
FRUSTRATED commuters have spoken out after tram services in Nottingham were disrupted for the third consecutive day.
A tram broke down between Clifton South and Ruddington Lane on the Phoenix Park/clifton South line at around 12.55pm yesterday – after other issues were reported on different lines of the network on Wednesday and Thursday.
Yesterday’s incident was unrelated to the overhead line issues which have dogged the tram network, but retail worker Chloe Kimberley, 22, described it as a “nightmare”.
She added: “People have jobs to go to and children need to go to school – it is a mess.
“People rely on public transport. “They should sort it out. It has been three days in a row – it is ridiculous.”
Certain buses were accepting tickets and passes until Friday’s incident was resolved and the broken-down tram was back on the move. The incident was sorted out just before 4pm.
But passengers said they were fed up. Tina Sissors, 61, who was waiting for the tram going to Clifton, added: “I just want to get home – this is a mess.
“It is annoying because I wanted to get home early.
“It is just awful.” Marcus Shelton was on his lunch break at the Lace Market tram stop waiting for the tram.
He works in Ruddington and he had to take the bus due to the disruption.
The 25-year-old said it was the first time he intended to travel to Ruddington on the tram and added: “It is a bit annoying but it is what it is at the end of the day.
“I just popped down in town for my lunch break and now I’m in a rush to go back to work.”
Chef Maisie Hubbar, from Newark, wanted to get the tram to Phoenix Park.
The 18-year-old was waiting at the Old Market Square tram stop and said: “It is an inconvenience for many people.
“I am really annoyed.
“It is annoying and I hope they do everything they can to fix it.”
Vickie Thomas, 74, who took the tram to Hucknall from the Old Market Square, and said: “It is annoying. “Luckily it is not affecting me. “It really is annoying but maybe it just cannot be helped.”
The tram service between Bulwell and The Forest was also affected yesterday morning.
A spokesman for network operator NET said: “We would like to apologise to customers for further disruption on the network this afternoon, which is the result of a failed tram near Summerwood Lane.
“Although this is not connected to the damage to overhead lines which interrupted services in the Bulwell area earlier in the week, we appreciate that some customers will be further inconvenienced.
“Technicians are currently on site and we hope to resume services shortly. In the meantime services are temporarily suspended between Ruddington Lane and Clifton South and NCT Navy buses are accepting tram tickets. Further updates can be found on the NET website and our social media channels.”