Tram fares are set to rise across Nottingham later this month as all tickets become more expensive for passengers. Single fares will increase by 20p starting on March 28, NET has confirmed - meaning a journey will now cost passengers £2.70.
Day tickets are also set to experience a 30p increase, weekly tickets will go up by £1 and monthly tickets by £5. It comes just after NET announced a big crackdown on fare dodgers on their trams, with £70 fines being issued on the spot for anyone who travels without a valid ticket.
They say the planned change is in line with other public transport providers and a response to cost increases including inflation and energy. Andrew Conroy, chief operating officer at Tramlink, said: "The reason for it is because our costs are going up so massively this year that we have to react accordingly.
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"There are rises in energy costs and so we have to put our costs up. That, along with Covid, has impacted us massively. We are at about 70 percent of our pre-Covid levels." As well as rising energy costs, a rise in people hybrid working - doing their job both at home and in the office - has had an impact on NET. All of this has led to a review in their pricing system and an increase starting later this month.
Mr Conroy continued: "For every person who doesn't pay when they travel, that's £2.50 we've been missing out on - it's around 5 percent who we believe do this, so you can do the maths on how much that costs. A 5 percent increase in revenue would do a lot of good. We've received a lot of support from local politicians, businesses and the public since announcing we are cracking down on people who don't pay for their fare."
He added: “The fare changes are relatively small and we continue to offer competitive fares and a low-cost, low-carbon public transport option for millions of people.
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“We also remain dedicated to working with key organisations and business to ensure we have a range of schemes for those on low incomes and returning to work, NHS and Blue Light workers, as well as schoolchildren and students. We will continue to do all we can to provide an accessible and affordable transport option for Nottingham.”
Here are the changes starting on March 28:
Single ticket : from £2.50 to £2.70 (an increase of 20p)
Day ticket : from £4.40 to £4.70 (an increase of 30p)
Weekly ticket : from £19 to £20 (an increase of £1)
Monthly ticket : from £60 to £65 (an increase of £5)
