Win Tickets to the Nottingham Classics Christmas Concert

NCT and Nottingham Classics have 3 pairs of tickets to give away to the Nottingham Classics Christmas Concert, at the Royal Centre Nottingham on Thursday 4th December 2008 at 19:30.

Britain’s favourite tenor, Alfie Boe, stars in the Christmas Concert this season. The former car mechanic from Fleetwood studied at the Royal College of Music before getting his big break when Baz Lurhmann picked him for his Broadway production of La Boheme. His bravura performance won him a Tony Award. Since then he’s performed with all of the UK’s leading opera companies, most recently in English National Opera’s hit production of The Merry Widow. His two chart-topping albums have brought him huge acclaim and he’s toured the length and breadth of the country, performing with the likes of Lesley Garrett and Sir Willard White.

Accompanied by Nottingham Classics’ Resident Orchestra, Alfie will be performing a seasonal mix of great operatic arias and Christmas classics. And there will also be plenty of orchestral favourites, too, including Bugler’s Holiday and Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson, Rimsky Korsakov’s Christmas Polonaise and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite.

For your chance to win a pair of tickets, simply e-mail <marketing@nctx.co.uk with your full name, postal address and a telephone number along with the answer to the following question.

Q: Where is Alfie Boe from? 

The closing date for entries is 12noon on Tuesday 2 December. Good luck!!

NCT Success at UK Bus Awards 2008

Nottingham City Transport (NCT) is celebrating success at the UK Bus Awards 2008, winning the BAA Heathrow Integration Award with Unilink and as runner-up with Easyrider & Citycard in the Department for Transport Award for Winning Customers.

NCT beat off stiff competition from a record number of entries – just below 200 – from around the country, to win these awards at the annual UK Bus Awards Ceremony on 18th November at Battersea’s Evolution in London.

Transport Minister, the Rt. Hon Paul Clark MP was guest speaker at the event and commented: “The Government is committed to improving services and increasing the number of people travelling by bus.  It is encouraging to see the great work going on to help ease congestion and prove that good public transport is a viable, green alternative to the car.  I would like to congratulate all the winners along with everyone who is working hard to promote public transport in the UK.”

Award Winning Unilink is a 5-way integrated partnership between NCT, Nottingham Tram, Nottingham City Council, Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham and is the brand name for high quality bus routes between the City Centre and the major University campuses.

Unilink was launched in September 2004 as a partnership route with Nottingham Trent University and the City Council, when service 4 between the University’s City and Clifton campuses was doubled in frequency to every 15 minutes, extended into the evening and the popular “bendy buses” were introduced onto the route – a unique feature because Unilink 4 is the only bus route in Nottingham to be run with “bendy buses”.

In addition, staff and students can enjoy discounted travel for getting on to campus, as well as evening and weekend travel for leisure by activating their University ID card as an NCT bus and NET tram pass which works out at less than £1 per day.

Unilink has high levels of passenger satisfaction, has attracted car users on to the bus and has seen patronage growth of 139% in 4 years.

Stephen Jackson, Nottingham Trent University’s Chief Financial and Operations Officer, said: “The Unilink has become a valuable service for our students and staff demonstrated by the fact that it celebrated the landmark millionth customer within three years of operation.  The Unilink also supports our mission of encouraging sustainable transport and reducing carbon emissions. We look forward to its continued success achieved through our excellent partnership with NCT and Nottingham City Council.”

Easyrider and CityCard are NCT and Nottingham City Council smart cards which help remove fears and obstacles people have about bus fares and paying for travel. With a wide range of smart card products available, catering for daily travellers to people who use the bus once a fortnight, marketing and promotion for Easyrider and CityCard has won new customers with “smart” patronage up from 12.2 million to 26 million in five years.

Full details about the wide range of smart cards available are online at www.nctx.co.uk or by calling the Travel Centre on 0115 950 60 70.

Nottingham’s public transport has enjoyed success and recognition at the UK Bus Awards every year since 2002, demonstrating the high quality of public transport offered in the City, which has helped increase bus and tram patronage each year.

UK Bus Awards chairman John Owen said that the standard of entries had been “amazingly high”.  He added, “Our winners today are delivering innovation and marketing, supported by top quality customer service. The result is strong passenger growth and a shift from car to bus in towns and cities all over the country.”

NCT Marketing and Communications Director, Nicola Tidy, stated, “NCT are delighted with the results. We are committed to providing a good bus service to our customers, with value for money travel options on Easyrider and Citycard. This national recognition shows that NCT and its partners are taking the right decisions in improving public transport in Nottingham and getting more people out of their cars and onto the bus.”

For more information on the UK Bus Awards visit <http://www.ukbusawards.org.uk/

Free Children’s Travel to BBC Radio Nottingham’s Big Night Out

BBC Radio Nottingham will be holding their 3rd Big Night Out on Wednesday 3rd December 2008.

The Big Night Out was born last year when breakfast show presenter Andy Whittaker wanted to change the image some people have of the city at night. It's about celebrating the range of activities the city has to offer after dark and many of the restaurants and venues come together to offer special deals to entice people to come. Over 40 tourist attractions, restaurants, cinemas, theatres and businesses have signed up with special deals to encourage people to travel into the City Centre on Wednesday night, with an opening ceremony taking place at 18:30 in the Old Market Square.

NCT buses and NET trams will once again support BBC Radio Nottingham’s Big Night Out, by offering free travel to children, when accompanied by an adult passenger, to get to and from the events across Nottingham.

1 free child can travel free with an adult passenger on all NCT bus services (including the 1, 100 outside the City Area) and the tram

Available from 18:00 on Wednesday 3rd December 2008 until the end of normal service, including after the normal 21:45 child fare cut off

An adult passenger can include a passenger:

• buying a single ticket, return ticket or an all day ticket on the bus
• travelling with a valid Easyrider City, Easyrider Anytime, Easyrider Farecard or CityCard Adult
• travelling with any older person or disabled concessionary travel pass
  

Christmas & New Year Bus Services

Over the holiday period, the number of people who travel by bus falls considerably as many customers are on holiday and spend time with friends and family at home.

To keep running costs to a minimum during this time, NCT will be making some adjustments to our bus services and Travel Centre opening hours over Christmas and New Year.

This leaflet gives you details about service levels for our buses as well as opening times for both the Travel Centre and Call Centre and information on Easyrider top-ups over the holiday period.

NCT would like to thank you for travelling with us this year and wish you and your family best wishes and compliments of the season.

Bus Service Information

* Please note:

• On 24th, 29th, 30th and 31st December, Citylink 1 and 2 will operate a normal Monday to Friday timetable, with last buses earlier on Citylink 1 on the 24th and 31st December 2008

• Go2 Night services will operate on the following days: Saturday 27th December / Sunday 28th December night; Friday 2nd January / Saturday 3rd January night and Saturday 3rd January / Sunday 4th January night then back as normal

• Skylink will resume on 27th December 2008 and 2nd January 2009 at 04:35 from Nottingham Friar Lane and East Midlands Airport.

Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve – Last Buses

On Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, our bus services will be finishing earlier between approx. 19:00 and 20:00.

The last buses on all routes are shown below – please note that on some routes the last bus may not operate all the way to the normal terminus – the last full journey and any shorter journeys are shown

Buses not serving the City Centre:

• The last service 53 will depart Clifton Hartness Road at 17:47 and from Arnold Front Street at 18:45.

• The last service L11 will depart Beeston Bus Station at 16:20 and from Arnold Front Street at 16:40

• The last service L12 will depart from University of Nottingham at 17:45 and Hucknall Road/Valley Road at 18:13

Unilink Services

• Unilink 4 will finish at the end of service on Friday 19 December 2008 and resume on Monday 12 January 2009.

• Unilink 31 will finish at the end of service on Friday 12 December 2008 and resume on Monday 12 January 2009

• Unilink 34 will have a special timetable over the Holiday Period which is being financially supported by the University of Nottingham – see separate leaflet for full details.

In summary, the normal timetable will run until the end of service on Friday 12 December 2008 and the following timetable will then operate on 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24 December 2008 and 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 January 2009.

• From City, Elite stop E2: 07:40 and every 20 minutes until 18:20

• From University Park: 08:11 and every 20 minutes until 18:51

The normal 10 minute timetable will then resume on Monday 12 January 2009.

Travel Centre and Call Centre Information

Our Travel Centre and Call Centre hours will also change over the holiday period. If you are planning to renew your Easyrider or CityCard, please ensure you top up your card in time – see below for arrangements on topping up.

Easyrider City and Easyrider <18 Smart Card Top Ups

• Customers are advised to manage their Easyrider card top ups and renewals on the run up to Christmas, to take account of the revised service levels and Travel Centre opening hours.

• All Easyrider City and Easyrider <18 smart cards renewed between 4th December 2008 and 13:30 24th December 2008 for 28 days will automatically be set to expire 31 days after the renewal date (instead of the normal 28), exclusive of any existing days on the card. One top up per card.

• 3 month, 6 month and 12 month renewals will be credited with 3 days in the New Year.

• Easyrider Anytime and Easyrider Anytime <18 cards will work as normal over the holiday period. As non consecutive days cards which do not count down when not used, no further days will be credited to these cards.

• Remember, online and telephone renewals take up to 3 working days and will take longer over this period due to Bank Holidays.

Concessionary Travel Arrangements

All Concessionary card holders are reminded that validity for free travel remains unchanged over the holiday period. Although NCT are running a Saturday timetable on 24th, 29th, 30th and 31st December 2008, Normal Monday to Friday rules still apply.