Page 21 - Hopwell Presentation (Issue) 08-02-2021

Transport connections
HS2 and trams
The Toton HS2 site and the issues around the potential tram extension are things we know quite a bit about. If HS2 goes ahead, the Nottingham NET system will extend to the HS2 station. Extending it further – towards either Derby or EM Airport is more challenging.
The Green Belt creates an unviable gap in the network. The tram could be configured to travel long distances, with users hopping on and off to undertake a series of much shorter journeys of their own along the way. That is when the tram operates most efficiently – when it is the string to a series of pearls along its length. Hopwell could be a critical pearl in this story – with or without HS2.
If HS2 goes ahead, then having a tram link into both Nottingham and Derby may well make sense – but they don’t necessarily need to be connected. It may be very costly to connect them with relatively little benefit when the HS2 station will act as a key interchange in any event. We would investigate this – are there benefits to a common system and rolling stock, and economies of scale in staffing and depots, but not necessarily needing to connect the systems across the canyon at the HS2 station location?
It should also be noted that the NET system is not profitable, and so any business case for extension will have an uphill struggle from the outset. Hopwell will need to position itself carefully to support tram extension, but not be reliant upon it. The movement strategy must have a wholly sustainable fallback position.
HS2 station concept, Toton
NET tram