21 brand new, fully accessible low floor buses will enter the NCT fleet from March 2007 as part of further £3m investment in the Nottingham bus fleet.
These new buses will be introduced on routes:
- Lilac Go2 route 21 to Carlton Valley
- Lilac line routes 23, 23A and 24 to Bakersfield
- Orange Go2 route 36 to Derby Road , QMC, Beeston and Chilwell
- Link 1 to Queens Drive & Boots (operated by NCT under contract to the City Council)
Go2 Network – 21 and 36
Following 5 years of excellent patronage growth, Go2 routes 21 and 36 will both see the existing buses replaced with larger capacity vehicles to provide much needed extra seats on these busy routes. Service 21 will be increased to full saloon size buses, with the 36 receiving a batch of double deck vehicles.
The route and timetable for service 21 will remain unchanged, though due to road and environmental restrictions in the Beeston area, there will be an alteration to the 36 route between Beeston and Chilwell to accommodate the larger buses which will be introduced on Sunday 25 March 2007.
From Beeston Bus Station, service 36 will operate along Beeston High Road and Cator Lane past Castle College (Broxtowe), resuming the existing route from Bramcote Avenue through to the Chilwell loop. The 36 will continue to operate every 10 minutes or better on Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 20 minutes in the evening and on Sundays, with a later 23.15 journey introduced on Mondays to Saturdays. Following passenger requests, early Sunday morning buses (06.30 and 07.30 from the City) will continue beyond Beeston Bus Station to Chilwell.
A new service, Maroon line 14, will operate the existing 36 route between Chilwell and Beeston along Bramcote Avenue, Park Street/Glebe Street and Devonshire Avenue areas, operating every 30 minutes during the Monday to Saturday daytime and providing a through link to the City and Broad Marsh via University and Castle Boulevards.
Commenting on the further investment in new vehicles, Nicola Tidy NCT Marketing and Communications Director said, “These new buses continue to demonstrate NCT's commitment in providing a modern, accessible bus network for the people of Nottingham . The introduction of larger capacity buses on both the 21 and 36 routes is in response to market research and will be very welcomed by our passengers who have at times experienced full buses passing them and provides further room for growth on these two busy routes.”
The new buses will be delivered to meet NCT's high specification with: low floor wheelchair accessible entrances; CCTV fitted throughout; 2+1 seating; extra leg room for passenger comfort; passenger notice boards and information screens showing CCTV, adverts and next stop information; real time equipment fitted to offer actual bus departure times and “next bus” information.
Nottingham Network
Passengers on services 23, 24 to Bakersfield will also benefit from the latest new buses with the arrival of the first 5 environmentally friendly Euro 4 EGR engine double deck buses in the City.
Scania's preferred system, EGR attacks emissions at source, allowing buses to continue running on standard diesel fuel. Some of the exhaust gases are recycled back into the engine which gives lower nitrogen oxide emissions. Scania EGR combines lower emissions with excellent operating economy and the system reduces emissions in all conditions and is ideal for city buses travelling at low speed with frequent stops in urban areas.
In addition, low floor buses will also be introduced on to routes 53 (Arnold – QMC – Clifton ) and 68, 69 (City – Bulwell Estates) by summer 2007, which will move NCT even closer to operating a full low floor bus fleet.
New timetable information for services 14 and 36 will be available from the NCT Travel Centre and online at www.nctx.co.uk from week commencing 12 March 2007.
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