NCT services withdrawn

Nottingham City Transport (NCT) is to withdraw its services 37 (City – Castle Boulevard – QMC – Beeston) and 14 (City to Queen’s Medical Centre Forecourt) from 30 March 2014 after both have run at a loss for around a year. The 37’s had been linked to Broadmarsh and the City Loop for better connections to other buses and the train station but, with the Hospital Trust deeming QMC’s Forecourt structurally unsound for heavy vehicles, it has been unable to stop there since May last year. As this stop is the service’s only differentiator to NCT’s other frequent buses to QMC, the 37’s patronage has declined. Similarly, the 14’s route has also seen changes, with part of the corridor now being serviced by three bus operators compared to NCT being the sole public transport provider just two years ago.

NCT’s Commercial Manager, David Astill, said, ‘The revenue we take on both of these services covers just two thirds of their running costs, and has done for some time now. These losses are obviously not sustainable in the long term, and despite trying several different initiatives aimed at making the routes more profitable, increasing cost pressures have led to the difficult decision to withdraw the two services. Withdrawing a service is always the very last resort for NCT and our priority during this time is to minimise the inevitable impact on our customers. Thankfully, with the 37 and the 14 most areas are catered for by other NCT services or other bus companies. We’ll do everything we can to ensure passengers can still travel in and around the city cheaply and conveniently and so we’ll be offering complimentary Kangaroo season tickets for NCT easyrider season ticket holders, covering their easyrider’s outstanding time period. That way, customers can continue to enjoy network bus travel without an immediate increase in bus fares.’