Trams in Norwich? Brilliant idea

Posted by Jane Chittenden on Feb 7, 2019 in Built environment, Cities, East of England

If they work for Padua, they’ll work for our fine city.

I’m joining the debate about trams for Norwich – and I’m all for modern tram systems. Cities around the world are battling to solve the problems of urban traffic jams and filthy air conditions – it’s not unique to Norwich. So it makes sense to look at what cities like ours are doing about it. And Padua in Northern Italy is a great example: an ancient university city with a medieval centre, lots of heritage to protect and lots of traffic congestion to manage. It’s about the same size as Norwich, with a population of around 212,500, and – like Norwich – it was an early adopter of electric trams. Padua’s trams disappeared in 1954, rather later than ours.

But the city took a bold step in 2007, installing a state-of-the-art tram system that I think would work really well in Norwich. When I was in Padua last autumn I used it all the time, so I know at first hand just what the passenger experience is like: fast, efficient, environmentally friendly. It operates on a single route, north to south, connecting the city suburbs with the railway station and the historic centre – but without damaging the ancient urban streets.

At the time I thought that something similar for Norwich, on a route from the railway station through Castle Meadow to UEA and the N&N hospital, would be top of my wish-list if I controlled the city council’s transport budget. So I was delighted to read that it’s high on the city council’s wish-list too, encouraged by the Norwich Society. Of course it has to be part of a bigger strategic vision – a mix of trams, buses of various sizes, maybe light rail connecting the park-and-ride hubs. And that’s exactly what forward-thinking city councils are doing elsewhere: bold steps, innovation, investing in infrastructure for a sustainable future. Go for it, Norwich!

Further reading here
(I have to declare an interest: I was involved in writing and editing this Urban Transportation brochure for Arcadis, working with The Point.)