Coach services began running from Nottingham’s new Broad Marsh Bus Station today (June 14).

National Express have moved their services from the temporary stops on Station Street which were in place while the new facility was developed, and into the bright, modern facility on Canal Street. The first coach to use the new bus station was the 180 to Glasgow in the early hours of this morning, with more arriving and departing throughout the day.

The National Express 180 service to Glasgow was the first to use the new bus station

National Express will be operating around 400 services a week from the new location, with popular routes including London Victoria, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and frequent airport services to London Heathrow and London Luton.

Passengers benefit from a range of modern facilities, including seating areas, a ticket and information office, electronic display information, customer toilets and 24/7 security services. Lynda Miles from Bradmore near Nottingham was waiting with her sister-in-law Sheila Miles who was heading home to Cornwall, and was impressed with the new bus station.

She said: “My sister-in-law has come from Cornwall and two weeks ago she was dropped off on Station Street, and today she is going back to Cornwall on the first day of this lovely bus station, it’s fabulous. I’m amazed, even the taxi driver who brought us said what a beautiful place it is. This is luxury – it is really good.”

Visiting the bus station on its first morning of operation, City Council Leader Cllr David Mellen said: “This has been a long time coming and we’re really delighted to get to this day. The car park has been operational for some months now and is very busy this morning and also people are here waiting for tickets to catch their bus. The Broad Marsh Bus Station is open again!”

The bus station is on the ground floor below the new Broad Marsh car park, with its 1,200 spaces including charging points for electric cars and disabled parking, easy contactless payments at the barriers and a smart traffic light system to help find a space. The whole building is powered by 720 solar panels on the roof. The building will also house the new Central Library, with work due to get underway to fit it out next month. Trent Barton are working towards running services from the bus station later this year.

Ed Rickard, service delivery director at National Express UK, said: “We very much welcome the improved connectivity that the new Broadmarsh Bus Station will bring to Nottingham, providing state-of-the-art facilities for our passengers’ convenience and comfort. As demand for affordable and reliable travel grows we’re building back our network and it’s great to be able to serve our customers in Nottingham with frequent intercity services at great value fares.”