Nottingham's new tram design unveiled

The new trams will be built in Barcelona for Nottingham Express Transit

The design of the 22 new trams being built for the expanded Nottingham Express Transit network has been unveiled.

The trams are being built by Alstom in Barcelona as part of a £570m project to extend Nottingham's tram network to Chilwell and Clifton.

The Tramlink Nottingham consortium won a 22-year concession to build the lines and operate the network last December.

The expanded network will double the capacity of the current tram system.

The trams will come into service in 2014

It will travel over the city's railway station, which is also undergoing a £67m redevelopment, to serve the south and south-west of the city.

The trams are already used in Paris, Madrid, Dublin, Istanbul and Melbourne.

Maintenance of the vehicles will take place in Nottingham, a city council spokesman said.

The first of the new trams will be introduced in 2014.

The network expansion is being funded by the city council, the government, tram fare revenue and a private finance initiative (PFI).

Nottingham city councillor Jane Urquhart said: "The council obviously wants the best for Nottingham and the vehicles are based on Alstom's hugely successful Citadis range which is already used on leading tram networks in many parts of the world."