About the Transforming Cities Fund

Derby and Nottingham have received £161m for transport improvements – the only bid to receive the full amount requested from the Department of Transport.

This forms the second major phase of the Government’s ‘Transforming Cities’ Fund, aimed at improving connections between major employment sites and promoting active travel and public transport.

Confirmed in the Chancellor’s Budget on Wednesday 11th March 2020, the new funding will have a major impact on connectivity between Derby and Nottingham, focusing on four main areas:

City centre connectivity

Improving the area around both Nottingham and Derby Stations.
Bike hire for both cities.
Derby – creating a more welcoming gateway into the city that connects the station with the city centre, public transport, active travel links and routes into the city centre including a dedicated bus lane along the Morledge and Siddalls Road.
Nottingham – creating a more welcoming gateway into the city that connects the station with the new Broadmarsh area, public transport, active travel links and routes into the city centre.

Better connecting Derby, Nottingham and East Midlands Airport

Improving real time information, signal and bus lane priority for public transport across the region.
Consolidation of cashless payments and seamless ticketing in Derby.
Upgrading Robin Hood tickets, making them more flexible, and introducing contactless payment.
Expanding the rapid electric charge point network.
Upgrading cycle links between the two cities.

Derby growth corridors

Smart Park & Ride Hubs – Development of three new ‘smart’ park and ride facilities with improved cycling and public transport links, upgraded RTI and waiting and electric charging facilities.
Mass Transit Link – establish Derby’s first dedicated mass transit link across the city by providing a high-quality electric Rapid Transit (eRT) route directly across the city centre, linking some key intra-city destinations and public areas. The eRT route will be a key investment in revitalising the public transport offer in Derby, providing a new and innovative service and experience, which will include extensive traffic-free routing.
Demand Responsive Transport service – supplementary DRT which will link the city centre and rail station to key employment sites including Rolls Royce, Bombardier and Pride Park which will provide an innovative alternative to car travel for commuters.
‘Bus priority corridors’ – upgrading junctions, infrastructure and RTI at key junctions to improve bus reliability on major routes.
Cycle lane improvements along key routes to employment sites, including dedicated cycle lanes along Slack Lane, Raynesway, and Nottingham Road.
Workplace Travel Service – continued funding to enable SMEs to make improvements, which encourage staff to make sustainable travel choices

Nottingham growth corridors

Increasing the number of parking spaces at tram Park & Ride sites.
‘Bus priority corridors’ – upgrading the signals at key junctions to improve bus reliability on major routes.
Cycle lane improvements along key routes to employment sites, potentially including a new bridge over the River Trent to Lady Bay.
Workplace Travel Service – continued funding for our business support package which helps businesses offer sustainable travel options for their staff.

These schemes will build on the first phase of the scheme which saw £8m shared between the two cities to kick-start transport projects including:

A major upgrade to the real-time information system at bus stops across both cities.
An upgrade to the software in the signals (traffic lights) at key junctions, making them ‘bus priority’ – so if a bus is running late the signals will prioritise this over other traffic to help them get back on track.
Improved cycle paths to key employment sites, including recently completed paths on Farnborough Road, Clifton Lane and along the canal in Nottingham.
Preparatory works for a new cycle path along Chequers Road in Derby, and a new off-road cycle link along the former Derby-Sandiacre canal route at Spondon.