Tramlink, previously Croydon Tramlink and currently branded as London Trams, is a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

system serving

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

and surrounding areas in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, England. It is the first operational tram system serving the London region since 1952. Tramlink is presently managed by London Trams, a public body part of

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

(TfL), and has been operated by

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, the other being the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated medium-capacity rail system, light metro system primarily serving the redeveloped London Docklands, Docklands area of London and providing a direct connection between London's two major financi ...

. Tramlink is the fourth-busiest light rail network in the UK behind the

Manchester Metrolink Manchester Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has List of Manchester Metrolink tram stops, 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the Transport in the United Kingdom#Trams and light ra ...

and

Tyne and Wear Metro The Tyne and Wear Metro is an overground and underground light rail rapid transit system serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, and the City of Sunderland (together forming Tyne and Wear). The owners Nexus have ...

. Studies for the delivery of a modern-day tram system in Croydon began in the 1960s and detailed planning was performed in the 1980s. Approval of the scheme was received in 1990 and, following a competitive tender process, construction and initial operation of the tramway was undertaken by ''Tramtrack Croydon'' (TC) via a 99-year

Private Finance Initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 1992 ...

(PFI) contract. The official opening of Tramlink took place on 10 May 2000; by the end of the year three routes were operational. The network consists of 39 stops along of track, on a mixture of street track shared with other traffic, dedicated track in public roads, and off-street track consisting of new rights-of-way, former railway lines, and one right-of-way where the Tramlink track runs parallel to a

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a track (r ...

-electrified

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

line. The network's lines coincide in central Croydon, with eastern termini at Beckenham Junction, Elmers End and

New Addington New Addington is an area of South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon and is adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Surrey. History Until the 1930s, the area now known as New ...

, and a western terminus at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

, where there is an interchange for

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

. Since its original opening, the tram network has been expanded and additional

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...

has been purchased. During 2008, TfL took over Tramlink operations, ending the PFI and making the company a subsidiary of TfL. Additional rolling stock was introduced during the early 2010s. Furthermore, numerous extensions to the network have been discussed, the most recent of which is the Sutton Link, an extension to connect

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

to Colliers Wood. Sutton Link was paused in 2020 until funding can be secured. In the 2020s, TfL began work to order new trams for the system.

History

Inception

In the first half of the 20th century, Croydon had many tramlines. However, these were all closed, the first was the Addiscombe –

East Croydon station East Croydon is a railway station, tram stop and associated bus station in Croydon, Greater London, England. It is located in Travelcard Zone 5. At from , it is the 20th busiest station in Britain, was the 10th busiest in 2020–21 (due to th ...

route through George Street to Cherry Orchard Road in 1927 and the last to close was the Purley - Embankment and Croydon (Coombe Road) -

Thornton Heath Thornton Heath is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Coun ...

routes closed in April 1951. However, in the Spring of 1950, the Highways Committee were presented by the Mayor with the concept of running trams between East Croydon station and the new estate being constructed at

. This was based on the fact that the Feltham cars used in Croydon were going to Leeds to serve their new estates on reserved tracks. During 1962, a private study with assistance from BR engineers, showed how easy it was to convert the West Croydon - Wimbledon train service to tram operation and successfully prevent conflict between trams and trains. These two concepts became joined in joint LRTL/TLRS concept of New Addington to Wimbledon every 15 minutes via East and West Croydon and Mitcham plus New Addington to Tattenham Corner every 15 minutes via East and West Croydon, Sutton and Epsom Downs. A branch into Forestdale to give an overlap service from Sutton was also included. During the 1970s, several BR directors and up-and-coming managers were aware of the advantages. Chris Green, upon becoming managing director, Network South East, published his plans in 1987 expanding the concept to take in the Tattenham Corner and Caterham branches and provide a service from Croydon to Lewisham via Addiscombe and Hayes. Following on from the opening of the DLR a small group working under Tony Ridley, then managing director, London Transport, investigated the potential for further light rail in London. The report 'Light Rail for London', written by engineer David Catling and Transport Planner Jon Willis, looked at a number of possible schemes including conversion of the East London Line. However a light rail network focussed on Croydon, with the conversion of existing heavy rail routes, was the most promising. The London Borough of Croydon wanted to improve access to the town centre without further road building and also improve access to the LCC built New Addington estate. Furthermore, road traffic in Croydon expanded considerably during the 1980s and planners were keen to apply public transit to fulfil the recorded growth in demand in the area. The project was developed by a small team in LT, headed by Scott McIntosh and in Croydon by Jill Lucas. The scheme was accepted in principle in February 1990 by Croydon Council who worked with what was then

London Regional Transport London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operation ...

(LRT) to propose Tramlink to Parliament. The Croydon Tramlink Act 1994 resulted, which gave LRT the power to build and run Tramlink.

Construction

Both the delivery and operation of the tramway was accomplished via a competitive tender process. During November 1995, it was announced that four consortia were shortlisted to build, operate and maintain Tramlink: * Altram: John Laing, Ansaldo,

Serco Serco Group plc is a British multinational corporation, multinational military, defence, Healthcare, health, Space industry, space, private prison, justice, Human migration, migration, customer service, customer services, and transport company ...

* Croydon Connect: Tarmac,

AEG The initials AEG are used for or may refer to: Common meanings * AEG (German company) ; AEG) was a German producer of electrical equipment. It was established in 1883 by Emil Rathenau as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte El ...

Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a France-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. Transdev was formed on 3 April 2011 via the merg ...

* CT Light Rail Group: GEC Alsthom,

Mowlem Mowlem was one of the largest construction and civil engineering companies in the United Kingdom. The company was established as ''John Mowlem and Co.'' by John Mowlem and initially worked on behalf of various local authorities across London ...

Welsh Water Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

* Tramtrack Croydon: CentreWest,

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

, Sir Robert McAlpine, Amey,

Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. ...

In May 1996, Tramtrack Croydon (TC) was awarded a 99-year

(PFI) contract to design, build, operate and maintain Tramlink. The equity partners in TC were Amey (50%),

(20%), 3i (20%) and Sir Robert McAlpine with

contracted to build and maintain the trams and

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland. TC retained the revenue generated by Tramlink and LRT had to pay compensation to TC for any changes to the fares and ticketing policy introduced later. The concession agreement with TC was signed in November 1996, allowing construction to begin. Construction work started in January 1997, with an expected opening in November 1999. The first tram was delivered in October 1998 to the new depot at Therapia Lane and testing on the sections of the Wimbledon line began shortly afterwards. Part of its track is the original route of the

Surrey Iron Railway The Surrey Iron Railway (SIR) was a horse-drawn narrow-gauge plateway that linked Wandsworth and Croydon via Mitcham, all then in Surrey but now suburbs of south London, in England. It was established by Act of Parliament in 1801, and opened p ...

that opened in 1803.

Opening

The official opening of Tramlink took place on 10 May 2000 when route 3 from Croydon to

opened to the public. Route 2 from Croydon to Beckenham Junction followed on 23 May 2000, and route 1 from Elmers End to

opened a week later on 30 May 2000. It was the first modern tram project in London, with

low-floor tram A low-floor tram is a tram that has no steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspace. ...

s and low platforms allowing accessibility for all.

Buyout by Transport for London

In March 2008, TfL announced that it had reached agreement to buy TC for £98million. The purchase was finalised on 28 June 2008. The background to this purchase relates to the requirement that TfL (who took over from London Regional Transport in 2000) compensates TC for the consequences of any changes to the fares and ticketing policy introduced since 1996. In 2007, that payment was £4million, with an annual increase in rate. Despite this change, FirstGroup continues to operate the service. During October 2008, TfL introduced a new livery, using the blue, white and green of the routes on TfL maps, to distinguish the trams from buses operating in the area. The colour of the cars was changed to green, and the brand name was changed from Croydon Tramlink to simply Tramlink. The rebranding work was completed in early 2009.

Additional stop and trams

Centrale tram stop, in Tamworth Road on the one-way central loop, opened on 10 December 2005, increasing journey times slightly. As turnround times were already quite tight, this raised the issue of buying an extra tram to maintain punctuality. Partly for this reason, but also to take into account the planned restructuring of services, (subsequently introduced in July 2006), TfL issued tenders for a new tram. However, nothing resulted from this. In January 2011, TfL opened a tender for the supply of ten new or second-hand trams from the end of summer 2011, for use between Therapia Lane and Elmers End. On 18 August 2011, TfL announced that

Stadler Rail Stadler Rail AG is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an original emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams, but moving also into Rapid transit, mass rapid transit, High-speed rail, high speed, Inter-city rail, interci ...

had won a £16.3million contract to supply six Variobahn trams similar to those used by Bybanen in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, Norway. They entered service in 2012. In August 2013, TfL ordered an additional four Variobahn trams for delivery in 2015, for use on the Wimbledon to Croydon link, an order later increased to six. This brought the total Variobahn fleet up to ten in 2015, and 12 in 2016 when the final two trams were delivered.

Current network

Stops

There are 39 stops, with 38 opened in the initial phase, and Centrale tram stop added on 10 December 2005. Most stops are long. The tram stops have low platforms, above rail level, virtually level with the doors. This level access from platform to tram allows

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

s, prams, pushchairs and the elderly to board easily with no steps. In street sections, the stop is integrated with the pavement. All platforms are all wider than . Tramlink uses some former main-line stations on the Wimbledon–West Croydon and Elmers End–Coombe Lane stretches of line. The railway platforms have been demolished and rebuilt to Tramlink specifications, except at Elmers End and Wimbledon where the track level was raised to meet the higher main-line platforms to enable

cross-platform interchange A cross-platform interchange is a type of Interchange station, interchange between different lines at a metro (or other railway) station. The term originates with the London Underground; such layouts exist in other networks but are not commonly ...

. Stops are unstaffed and had automated ticket machines that are no longer in use due to TfL making trams cashless. In general, access between the platforms involves crossing the tracks by pedestrian level crossing. Stops also feature CCTV, a Passenger Help Point, a Passenger Information Display (PID), litter bins, a noticeboard and lamp-posts, and most also have seats and a shelter. The PIDs display the destinations and expected arrival times of the next two trams. They can also display any message the controllers want to display, such as information on delays or even safety instructions for vandals to stop putting rubbish or other objects onto the track.

Routes

Tramlink has been shown on the principal

tube map The Tube map (sometimes called the London Underground map) is a schematic transport map of the lines, stations and services of the London Underground, known colloquially as "the Tube", hence the map's name. The first schematic Tube map was des ...

since 1 June 2016, having previously appeared only on the "London Connections" map. When Tramlink first opened it had three routes: Line 1 (yellow) from

to Elmers End, Line 2 (red) from Croydon to Beckenham Junction, and Line 3 (green) from Croydon to

.''Tramlink: Your top 10 questions answered…'' Poster, 1995. On 23 July 2006, the network was restructured, with Route 1 from Elmers End to Croydon, Route 2 from Beckenham Junction to Croydon and Route 3 from New Addington to Wimbledon. On 25 June 2012, Route 4 from Therapia Lane to Elmers End was introduced. On 4 April 2016, Route 4 was extended from Therapia Lane to Wimbledon. On 25 February 2018, the network and timetables were restructured again for more even and reliable services. As part of this change, trams would no longer display route numbers on their dot matrix destination screens. This resulted in three routes: * New Addington to West Croydon, returning to New Addington every 7–8 minutes (every 10 minutes on Sunday shopping hours and every 15 minutes at late evenings). * Wimbledon to Beckenham Junction every 10 minutes (every 15 minutes on Sundays and late evening) * Wimbledon to Elmers End every 10 minutes (every 15 minutes on Sundays and terminates at Croydon in late evening every 15 minutes) Additionally, the first two trams from New Addington will run to Wimbledon. Overall, this would result in a decrease in 2tph leaving Elmers End, resulting in a 25% decrease in capacity here, and 14% in the Addiscombe area. However, this would also regulate waiting times in this area and on the Wimbledon branch to every five minutes, from every two–seven minutes.

Former lines reused

Tramlink makes use of a number of

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

lines, running parallel to franchised services, or in some cases, runs on previously abandoned railway corridors. Between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction, Tramlink uses the Crystal Palace line, running on a single track alongside the track carrying Southern rail services. The

track had been singled some years earlier. From Elmers End to Woodside, Tramlink follows the former Addiscombe Line. At Woodside, the old station buildings stand disused, and the original platforms have been replaced by accessible low platforms. Tramlink then follows the former Woodside and South Croydon Railway (W&SCR) to reach the current Addiscombe tram stop, adjacent to the site of the demolished Bingham Road railway station. It continues along the former railway route to near Sandilands, where Tramlink curves sharply towards Sandilands tram stop. Another route from Sandilands tram stop curves sharply on to the W&SCR before passing through Park Hill (or Sandilands) tunnels and to the site of Coombe Road station after which it curves away across Lloyd Park. Between

Wimbledon station Wimbledon is an interchange station in the centre of Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon for London Underground, Tramlink, London Trams and National Rail services, and is the only station in London that provides an interchange between the London Underg ...

and Wandle Park, Tramlink follows the former

West Croydon to Wimbledon Line West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

, which was first opened in 1855 and closed on 31 May 1997 to allow for conversion into Tramlink. Within this section, from near Phipps Bridge to near Reeves Corner, Tramlink follows the

, giving Tramlink a claim to one of the world's oldest railway alignments. Beyond Wandle Park, a Victorian footbridge beside Waddon New Road was dismantled to make way for the flyover over the West Croydon to

railway line. The footbridge has been re-erected at Corfe Castle station on the

Swanage Railway The Swanage Railway is a railway branch line from near Wareham, Dorset to Swanage, Dorset, England, opened in 1885 and now operated as a heritage railway. The independent company which built it was amalgamated with the larger London and Sout ...

(although some evidence suggests that this was a similar footbridge removed from the site of Merton Park railway station).

Feeder buses

Bus routes T31, T32 and T33 used to connect with Tramlink at the New Addington, Fieldway and Addington Village stops. T31 and T32 no longer run, and T33 has been renumbered as 433.

Onboard announcements

The onboard announcements are by

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

reader (and tram enthusiast) Nicholas Owen. The announcement pattern is as follows: e.g. "This tram is for Wimbledon; the next stop will be Merton Park".

Rolling stock

Current fleet

Tramlink currently uses 35 trams. In summary:

Bombardier CR4000

The original fleet comprised 24 articulated

low floor Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname) Low is an English language, English and Languages of Scotland, Scottish surname. It is also a common surname found among Overseas Chinese language, Chinese communities around the world. ...

Bombardier Flexity Swift CR4000 trams built in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

numbered beginning at 2530, continuing from the highest-numbered tram 2529 on London's former tram network, which closed in 1952. The original livery was red and white. One (2550) was painted in FirstGroup white, blue and pink livery. During 2006, the CR4000 fleet was refreshed, with the bus-style destination roller blinds being replaced with a digital dot-matrix display. Between 2008 and 2009 the fleet was repainted externally in the new green livery and the interiors were refurbished with new flooring, seat covers retrimmed in a new

moquette Moquette is a type of woven pile (fabric), pile fabric in which cut or uncut threads form a short dense cut or loop pile. The pile's upright fibres form a flexible, durable, non-rigid surface with a distinctive velvet-like feel. Traditional moqu ...

and stanchions repainted from yellow to green. One (2551) has been permanently withdrawn having been significantly damaged in the 2016 Croydon tram derailment on 9 November 2016. In 2007, tram 2535 was named after Stephen Parascandolo, a well known tram enthusiast.

Croydon Variobahn

In January 2011, Tramtrack Croydon invited tenders for the supply of then new or second-hand trams, and on 18 August 2011, TfL announced that

had won a £16.3million contract to supply six Variobahn trams similar to those used by Bybanen in

, Norway. They entered service during 2012. In August 2013, TfL ordered an additional four Variobahn trams for delivery in 2015, an order that was later increased to six. This brought the total Variobahn fleet up to ten in 2015, and 12 in 2016 when the final two trams were delivered.

Ancillary vehicles

Engineers' vehicles used in Tramlink construction were hired for that purpose. In November 2006, Tramlink purchased five second-hand engineering vehicles from

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

. These were two engineers' trams (numbered 058 and 059 in Tramlink service), and three 4-wheel wagons (numbered 060, 061, and 062). Service tram 058 and trailer 061 were both sold to the National Tramway Museum in 2010.

Future fleet

In the 2020s, TfL began work to replace the CR4000 tram fleet, which are approaching their end of its life and becoming increasingly unreliable. In June 2023, one-fifth of the CR4000 fleet was temporarily withdrawn due to issues with their wheels. In January 2024, Tramtrack Croydon invited tenders for a base order of 24 new trams with an option for 16 more and a 30-year technical support contract, costed at £385million. In September 2024, TfL announced that four manufacturers (

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (Grupo CAF, ) is a Spanish publicly listed company which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment and buses through its Solaris Bus & Coach subsidiary. It is based in Beasain, Basque Autonomous Comm ...

Hitachi Rail Hitachi, Ltd. Railway Systems Business Unit, Trade name, trading as Hitachi Rail, is the rolling stock and railway signalling manufacturing division of Hitachi outside Japan. History Hitachi's rail division before global expansion After the ...

and Stadler Rail Valencia) had been invited to place bids. The new fleet is intended to replace the CR4000 trams, which are reaching the end of their design life.

Fares and ticketing

TfL Bus & Tram Passes are valid on Tramlink, as are Travelcards that include any of zones 3, 4, 5 and 6. Pay-as-you-go

Oyster card The Oyster card is a Payment#Types_and_methods_of_payment, payment method for public transport in London and some surrounding areas. A standard Oyster card is a blue ISO/IEC 7810, credit-card-sized Stored-value card, stored-value contactless ...

fares are the same as on

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

, although special fares may apply when using Tramlink feeder buses. When using Oyster cards, passengers must touch in on the platform before boarding the tram. Special arrangements apply at

, where the Tramlink stop is within the

and

station. Tramlink passengers must therefore touch in at the station entry barriers then again at the Tramlink platform to inform the system that no mainline/LUL rail journey has been made.

Contactless payment Contactless payment systems are credit cards and debit cards, key fobs, smart cards, or other devices, including smartphones and other mobile devices, that use radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC) for making sec ...

cards can also be used to pay for fares in the same manner as Oyster cards. Ticket machines were withdrawn on 16 July 2018.

Corporate affairs

Ownership and structure

The service was created as a result of the Croydon Tramlink Act 1994 that received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

on 21 July 1994, a

Private Bill Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. A private bill is a proposal for a law affecting only a single person, group, or are ...

jointly promoted by

(the predecessor of

(TfL)) and Croydon London Borough Council. Following a competitive tender, a consortium company Tramtrack Croydon Limited (incorporated in 1995) was awarded a 99-year concession to build and run the system. On 17 March 2008, it was announced that TfL would take over Tramlink in exchange for £98million. Since 28 June 2008, the company has been a subsidiary of TfL. Tramlink is currently operated by Tram Operations Ltd (TOL), a subsidiary of

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Business trends

The key available trends in recent years for Tramlink are (years ending 31 March): Activities in the financial year 2020/21 were severely reduced by the impact of the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Passenger numbers

Detailed passenger journeys since Tramlink commenced operations in May 2000 were:

Proposals for extensions

Numerous extensions to the network have been discussed or proposed over the years, involving varying degrees of support and investigative effort. During 2002, as part of The Mayor's Transport Strategy for London, a number of proposed extensions were identified, including to Sutton from Wimbledon or Mitcham; to Crystal Palace; to Colliers Wood/Tooting; and along the A23. The Strategy said that "extensions to the network could, in principle, be developed at relatively modest cost where there is potential demand..." and sought initial views on the viability of a number of extensions by summer 2002. In 2006, in a TfL consultation on an extension to Crystal Palace, three options were presented: on-street, off-street and a mixture of the two. After the consultation, the off-street option was favoured, to include Crystal Palace Station and Crystal Palace Parade. TfL stated in 2008 that due to lack of funding the plans for this extension would not be taken forward. They were revived shortly after Boris Johnson's re-election as Mayor in May 2012, but six months later they were cancelled again. During November 2014, a 15-year plan, Trams 2030, called for upgrades to increase capacity on the network in line with an expected increase in ridership to 60million passengers by 2031 (although the passenger numbers at the time (2013/14: 31.2 million) have not been exceeded since (as at 2019)). The upgrades were to improve reliability, support regeneration in the Croydon metropolitan centre, and future-proof the network for Crossrail 2, a potential Bakerloo line extension, and extensions to the tram network itself to a wide variety of destinations. The plans involve dual-tracking across the network and introducing diverting loops on either side of Croydon, allowing for a higher frequency of trams on all four branches without increasing congestion in central Croydon. The £737million investment was to be funded by the Croydon Growth Zone, TfL Business Plan, housing levies, and the respective boroughs, and by the affected developers. All the various developments, if implemented, could theoretically require an increase in the fleet from 30 to up to 80 trams (depending on whether longer trams or coupled trams are used). As such, an increase in depot and stabling capacity would also be required; enlargement of the current Therapia Lane site, as well as sites near the Elmers End and Harrington Road tram stops, were shortlisted.

Sutton Link

During July 2013, then Mayor Boris Johnson had affirmed that there was a reasonable business case for Tramlink to cover the Wimbledon – Sutton corridor, which might also include a loop via St Helier Hospital and an extension to The Royal Marsden Hospital. In 2014, a proposed £320M scheme for a new line to connect Wimbledon to Sutton via Morden was made and brought to consultation jointly by the London Boroughs of Merton and Sutton. Although £100M from TfL was initially secured in the draft 2016/17 budget, this was subsequently reallocated. In 2018, TfL opened a consultation on proposals for a connection to Sutton, with three route options: from South Wimbledon, from Colliers Wood (both having an option of a bus rapid transit route or a tram line) or from

(only as a tram line). During February 2020, following the consultation, TfL announced their preference for a north–south tramway between Colliers Wood and Sutton town centre, with a projected cost of £425M, on the condition of securing additional funding. Work on the project stopped in July 2020, as Transport for London could not find sufficient funding for it to continue. In February 2020, TfL announced the preferred route of the extension, expressing their support for "Route Option 2 (Colliers Wood – Sutton) operated as a tram service ... assuming we are successful in securing funding to deliver the project"., On 24 July 2020, the project was temporarily put on hold due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. TfL said they were pausing development work on the scheme "as the transport case is poor and there remains a significant funding gap". Andy Byford, London's Transport Commissioner, said that this involves making 'difficult choices' about which projects can be funded. During 2023, Sutton's council leader Ruth Dombey advocated for the project and urged TfL and the mayor's office to provide fair and adequate funding, especially in light of the ULEZ charge. However, London Mayor

Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...

dismissed the project as inadequate and pointed out the £440M funding shortfall. London Mayor Sadiq Khan faced criticism from Sutton MP Paul Scully on 21 April 2023, for the delayed Sutton tram extension project and implementing the

Ultra Low Emission Zone The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is an area in London, England, where an European emission standards, emissions standard based charge is applied to non-compliant road vehicles. Plans were announced by London Mayor Boris Johnson in 2015 for ...

charge without sufficient public transport alternatives, while defending the delay citing a £440M funding gap. In December 2023, TfL stated that further progress will depend on funding agreements with other stakeholders such as local councils, the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

, as well as

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, and that the Sutton Link is currently the only extension being considered. Rival proposals included new bus routes.

Accidents and incidents

* On 7 September 2008, a bus on route 468 travelled through a red

traffic signal Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...

and collided with tram 2534 in George Street, Croydon, causing a fatality. The driver of the bus was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving a year later in December 2009 and was sentenced to four years in prison. * On 13 September 2008, tram 2530 collided with a cyclist at Morden Hall Park footpath crossing between the Morden Road and

Phipps Bridge Phipps Bridge is a housing estate in Mitcham, London, Mitcham in the London Borough of Merton. It was built following a need created by the end of the World War II, Second World War on the site of old slums, and is named after a nearby bridge. Al ...

tram stops. The cyclist sustained serious injuries and later died. The immediate cause of the accident was found to be that the cyclist rode onto the crossing without looking at the approaching tram; among the causal factors were that the cyclist may have been wearing headphones, which prevented him hearing the audible warnings. * On 5 April 2011, a woman tripped over and was dragged under a moving tram. She was taken to hospital in a serious condition. She is believed to have been running to catch the tram outside

when she tripped and fell. * On 17 February 2012, a tram derailed after passing over facing points as it approached the platform at

. * On 7 February 2016, five people were injured when a car collided with tram 2535, which was going round a bend near Wellesley Road. It resulted in the tram being derailed. * On 9 November 2016, tram 2551 derailed on a sharp curved junction east from the Sandilands tram stop, killing seven people and injuring at least 50 more. The

British Transport Police British Transport Police (BTP; ) is a national special police force that polices the railway network of England, Wales and Scotland, which consists of over 10,000 miles of track and 3,000 stations and depots. BTP also polices the London Under ...

arrested the driver on suspicion of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

. Driver error was found to be the cause of the accident, with suspicions that the driver had a

microsleep A microsleep is a sudden temporary episode of sleep or drowsiness which may last for a few seconds where an individual fails to respond to some arbitrary sensory input and becomes unconscious.International Classification of Sleep Disorders, , pa ...

episode approaching the bend. The driver was charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, but was acquitted by a jury following a trial at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

References

External links

* {{Britishmetros Transport in the London Borough of Bromley Transport in the London Borough of Croydon Transport in the London Borough of Merton Transport in the London Borough of Sutton Light rail in the United Kingdom Trams in London Tram transport in England Croydon 2020 Railway lines opened in 2000 Modes of transport in London Electric railways in the United Kingdom Standard gauge railways in London 750 V DC railway electrification