The 17 mile Croydon Tramlink network aims to reduce journey times between Wimbledon, Croydon, Beckenham and New Addington to attract people currently using cars. The network was built using a combination of former rail routes and new track as well as on-street running in Central Croydon.
Tramtrack Croydon Ltd a consortium of Bombardier Eurorail, CentreWest (a local bus company), Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, Amey construction and Royal Bank of Scotland was awarded the £200 million contract to design, build, operate and maintain the Tramlink for a 99 year period. The consortium will accept all financial risks of construction and operation. The Government has contributed £125 million of the costs, not as much as originally expected.
Construction work was be carried out jointly by McAlpine and Amey Construction and it is expected that it will open in November 1999. The 25 trams were built by Bombardier Prorail in a contract worth £35 million.
The Tramlink covers 28km and uses 750V DC overhead power. The Addington branch is likely to generate the most traffic with work and leisure trips into Croydon. The revenues are likely to over the operating cost and produce a good profit for the consortium.
The network is actually quite complex to describe, below is a quick description of the sections each route will follow, but Croydon Borough Council have written a more comprehensive route guide.
Platform 10 of Wimbledon station is closed off from the rest of the station, this is where Tramlink will operate from. The route will use the Wimbledon-West Croydon railway line, closed in May 1997), with the addition of a flyover above the railway line to Sutton, to avoid conflict between light and heavy rail. It then joins Cairo New Road up to the Church Street junction in Central Croydon. One new stop is at Wandle Way, convenient for the Purley Way retail parks usually poorly served by public transport. After going half way round the Central Croydon loop (depending on direction), it continues to Woodside.
This is a one way tram loop shared by all three routes. It serves West Croydon stations and the central shopping area. Construction here has meant several years of disruption to life in Croydon, with may streets closed or under contra flow, though most of the work has been moving utilities rather than tracklaying.
In the town centre trams will follow a clockwise circular route. A new transport interchange is being created at East Croydon railway station, where the road is to be closed to traffic. Trams will travel west down George Street, cross the Wellesley Road Roundabout, with a stop at the south of North End (the main shopping street). The next stop at Reeves Corner will be reached by negotiating the steep Crown Hill. At the junction here trams to Wimbledon will go straight on, other will turn right towards West Croydon station down Tamworth Road. Trams from Wimbledon turn right here, towards West Croydon. In Tamworth Road the trams will use the bus lane and cross North End into Station Road. A stop will be provided next to west Croydon bus station. From Station Road the route turns right into Wellesley Road, running in the centre reservation. Signal control will allow trams to cross the southbound carriageway to the stop at Walpole Street. The route turns left into George Street to reach East Croydon station.
All trams use the Eastern section from the loop, calling at East Croydon station, then continuing to Sandilands. From East Croydon signal control will enable trams to cross the roundabout at the NLA tower. The first stretch of Addiscombe Road will be devoted to trams and buses. After a stop at Lebanon Road, trams will cross another roundabout at Lebanon Road, also under signal control. From this point road traffic will re-join and Tramlink will run on the southern side of Addiscombe Road. A stop at Woodbury Close is provided.
Route 1 continues, descending into the disused Selsdon toWoodside railway requiring some property demolition. The New Addington route will turn right under the Addiscombe Road bridge. The Beckham Junction and Elmers End Route continues to follow the disused railway, crossing the Bingham Road and Lower Addiscombe Road at signalled level crossings. The route then joins the existing Addisombe - Elmers End railway, which was closed in May 1997. Stops are provided at the former Woodside station and a new stop at Croydon Sports Arena.
Woodside-Elmers End
This is the remainder of the disused Elmers End to Addiscombe rail route. Trams will serve this every 10 minutes.
Route 2 - Croydon-Beckenham Junction
This route begins on the Central Croydon loop, continuing to Sandlilands and onward to Woodside as route 1.
Woodside-Beckenham Junction
From the junction at Croydon Sports Arena the Beckenham route will run east of the arena and around the country park to a stop at Harrington Road. The route will then join the existing Crystal Palace to Beckenham Junction railway. Tramlink will take over the southern part of the trackbed, with Railtrack occupying the northern half. Stops are proposed at Avenue Road and Beckenham Road, as well as the existing stations of Birkbeck and Beckham Junction.
Service will be every 10 minutes
Route 3 - Croydon-New Addington
From the town centre loop and the junction at Sandilands, described above, the route will follow the disused railway. After the Coombe Park stop the route will turn sharply left to cross Lloyd Park Avenue and run alongside Coombe Park and Lloyd Park, where a stop will be provided. Oaks Road will be crossed will a level crossing. Tramlink will continue on the north side of Coombe Lane, with a stop at Sunken Road. Sunken Road would be followed until crossing Gravel Hill road, crossing the grounds of Heathfield House. Stops are then located at Addington Village, Fieldway, King Henry's Drive and the terminus in the centre of New Addington.
This branch has the highest potential for passenger growth as the council estate at New Addington has never had adequate public transport to Croydon. The service will therefore run every 6 to 7 minutes.