Clive's UndergrounD Line Guides

"Shock! There we were at Croydon."

- A Flight
Charles Dickens

Croydon Tramlink

A Modern Light Railway

[Last modified: 2023-04-07]

History

Dates

Features

Services

Topology

Layout

Depots

Connections

Rolling stock

History

Croydon Tramlink is a new light railway in the south of London, involving a mixture of dedicated alignment and on-street running.

The Croydon area has good rail service to and from inner London, but the non-radial arrangements are poor - there is not even rail service between the two main stations in Croydon. Furthermore, demographic changes and poor planning mean that there is no rail service at all to some populous areas such as New Addington.

To build the route two National Rail lines - from Wimbledon to West Croydon and from Addiscombe to Elmers End - were closed in 1997 and taken over; the NR route from Woodside to Selsdon was also used. One track of the (then) National Rail line from Birkbeck to Beckenham Junction was also taken over, with main line services reduced to a single track. Elsewhere the system runs along streets, particularly in central Croydon, or on new alignments beside main roads or through parks.

The Wimbledon to West Croydon line was opened by the Wimbledon & Croydon Railway in 1855, and has remained in service ever since, being absorbed into the LBSCR, and thus into the SR and BR. Part of the route was previously used by the Surrey Iron Railway - a horse-drawn goods route that was one of the first public railways in the world and the first to be sanctioned by Parliament. Its Act was passed on 1801-05-21, the line opened on 1803-07-26, and it closed on 1846-08-31.

The Addiscombe to Elmers End line started life as a pair of branches from the "mid-Kent" line (an ironic name, because most of it is in Surrey) to Hayes, one to Addiscombe and another to Selsdon. The Mid-Kent Railway was absorbed into the SER in 1864, the same year that the Addiscombe branch was opened. The Selsdon branch started life as the Woodside & South Croydon Railway, an SER and LBSCR joint venture.

The Birkbeck to Beckenham line is still part of the network of lines around south London. This section was opened by the West End of London & Crystal Palace Railway as a branch from Crystal Palace to Bromley. It ended up as part of the LCDR, and hence eventually BR; Eurostars used to run beside a short section of this line at Beckenham Junction on their way to the Channel Tunnel.

Dates

[WEoL&CPR] is the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway (see above).

key to symbols

1839-06-05		West Croydon [LBSCR]
1841-07-12		East Croydon [LBSCR]
1855-10-22	[3]	Wimbledon to [Roman Way underpass] opened [Wimbledon & Croydon Railway]
		Morden Road, Mitcham, Beddington Lane
1857-01-01	[0]	[Penge Junction] to Beckenham Junction opened
1858-05-03	0	[Beckenham Cemetery Junction] to [Penge Junction] opened [WEoL&CPR]
1864-04-01	[0]	{Woodside} to Elmers End opened [Mid-Kent Railway]
1868-10-01		Merton Park, Mitcham Junction
1871-		Woodside
1885-08-10	[0]	Coombe Road to Woodside opened [SER]
1906-09-01		Bingham Road
1915-03-14		Bingham Road
1916-12-31		Coombe Road to Woodside closed [SE&CR]
1930-03-02		Birkbeck
1930-07-06		Waddon Marsh
1935-09-30	[1]	Coombe Road to Woodside reopened [SR]
		Bingham Road
1983-05-13		Coombe Road to Woodside closed [NR]
1997-05-31		Wimbledon to [Roman Way underpass] closed
1997-05-31		Woodside to Elmers End closed
2000-05-10		Tramlink opens
	[13]	[Wellesley Road divergence] to New Addington via West Croydon (re)opened
		Centrale, Dingwall Road, Coombe Road
2000-05-23	[8]	Sandilands to Beckenham Junction (re)opened
		Bingham Road
2000-05-30	0	Arena to Elmers End reopened
	13	Wimbledon to [Tamworth Road Junction] (re)opened
	0	[Reeves Corner east divergence] to [Reeves Corner west divergence] opened
2004-07-30		Arena to Beckenham Junction closed (maintenance work)
2004-08-28	4	Arena to Beckenham Junction reopened
2005-03-18		Sandilands to New Addington closed (maintenance work)
2005-04-04	[0]	Sandilands to Lloyd Park reopened
2005-04-11	5	Lloyd Park to New Addington reopened
2005-07-22		Addington Village to New Addington closed (maintenance work)
2005-09-05	? 2	Addington Village to New Addington reopened
2005-12-11		Centrale
2009-07-22		East Croydon to Sandilands closed (maintenance works)
2009-08-01	2	East Croydon to Sandilands reopened
2009-08-02		Reeves Corner to East Croydon (via both alignments) closed (maintenance works)
2009-08-10		East Croydon to Sandilands closed (maintenance works)
2009-08-11	5	Reeves Corner to Dingwall Road (via both alignments) reopened
2009-09-01	2	East Croydon to Sandilands reopened
2009-09-06		Dingwall Road
2009-09-07	0	(Dingwall Road) to East Croydon reopened
2010-08-20		Reeves Corner to East Croydon (via both alignments) closed (track replacement)
2010-08-31	[5]	Reeves Corner to East Croydon (via both alignments) reopened
2013-08-18		Wandle Park to Centrale and Church Street closed (track replacement)
2013-08-29	[1]	Wandle Park to Centrale and Church Street reopened
2013-12-04		Sandilands to New Addington closed (engineering work)
2013-12-09	[3]	Sandilands to Addington Village reopened
2013-12-13	2	Addington Village to New Addington reopened
2014-05-23		Addiscombe to Elmers End and Beckenham Junction closed (bridge replacement)
2014-06-02	7	Addiscombe to Elmers End and Beckenham Junction reopened
2014-08-09		East Croydon to Sandilands closed (track replacement)
2014-08-17	2	East Croydon to Sandilands reopened
2014-10-24		Mitcham Junction to Ampere Way closed (track doubling work)
2014-@@-@@	2	Mitcham Junction to Ampere Way reopened
2015-07-12		Wimbledon to Dundonald Road closed (new platform at Wimbledon)
2015-07-21		Sandilands to New Addington closed (track replacement)
2015-08-01	[6]	Sandilands to New Addington reopened
2015-11-02	0	Wimbledon to Dundonald Road reopened
2016-03-24		Reeves Corner to East Croydon (via both alignments) closed (track replacement)
2016-04-03	[5]	Reeves Corner to East Croydon (via both alignments) reopened
2016-08-05		East Croydon to Sandilands closed
2016-08-16	?1	East Croydon to Sandilands reopened
2016-11-09		East Croydon to Addington Village, Elmers End, and Harrington Road closed (derailment) [1]
2016-11-18	[10]	East Croydon to Addington Village, Elmers End, and Harrington Road reopened
2017-04-07		Reeves Corner to East Croydon (via both alignments) closed
2017-04-18	[5]	Reeves Corner to East Croydon (via both alignments) reopened
2017-08-25		Lloyd Park to New Addington closed (track work)
2017-09-04	[5]	Lloyd Park to New Addington reopened
2023-02-07		Wimbledon to Therapia Lane closed
2023-02-20	[8]	Wimbledon to Therapia Lane reopened
2023-04-06		Reeves Corner to East Croydon closed
2023-04-17	[@]	Reeves Corner to East Croydon reopened
2023-08-04		East Croydon to New Addington, Elmers End, and Beckenham Junction closed
2023-08-21	16	East Croydon to New Addington, Elmers End, and Beckenham Junction reopened

^[1] The derailment happened shortly after 06:10, so the line was closed for most of the 9th.

Distances

Tramlink uses two separate distance systems. One measures distances from a central point within East Croydon station; these distances are shown on - for example - catenary support masts. The other uses a number of separate zero points, indicated by prefixes.

Since neither system is ideal for describing a single system, this page uses a third system. The zero point in the first system is designated as 20.000km from an arbitrary zero location. Locations in the other two systems can be converted to this system by adding an offset as follows:

Features

Of the approximately 28km total length, 17km is on converted or abandoned main-line alignment, 3km is street running, and 8km is on new alignments, mostly beside roads.

Between Reeves Corner west divergence and Wellesley Road divergence the two directions follow different alignments. The eastbound runs via West Croydon while the westbound takes a shorter route via George Street. There is a chord to allow trams to turn from westbound to eastbound at Tamworth Road Junction, but no chord at Wellesley Road divergence.

The line is double track except for single track on the separate alignments between Reeves Corner west divergence and Wellesley Road divergence (the chord line is also single), on the following sections (except where stated, the named stations are not on single track):

and for two short sections of interlaced track: from 12.369 to 12.466 past a new retaining wall west of Mitcham station, and from 19.105 to 19.146 west of Church Street to keep the junction points further away from a busy road junction.

There are plans to double all of the sections between Wimbledon and Reeves Corner.

Slab track rather than conventional ballasted track is used from 18.074 to 21.057 and from 28.262 to 28.340.

The line is electrified using overhead catenary at +750 V, with return through the running rails.

Being a tram system, signals are only used to guard junctions, road crossings, and single line and interlaced sections. Of the 50 pairs of points outside the depot, only 9 are normally facing and therefore motored; these are fitted with indicators to allow the driver to check the automatically-set route. The remainder are sprung and drivers carry levers to operate them in emergencies.

Services

The current pattern of service (introduced 2018-02-25) consists of three basic routes (these no longer carry numbers).

Between New Addington and the Croydon loop:

8tph 06:30-21:00 Monday to Friday, 08:00-19:00 Saturday, and 10:00-19:00 Sunday. Outside these hours the service is 6tph in the morning (except Sunday) and 4tph otherwise.

Between Beckenham Junction and Wimbledon:

6tph 06:00-22:00 Monday to Friday and 08:00-21:00 Saturday (with the last two hours being a gradual transition to the lower rate) 4tph at all other times.

Between Elmers End and Wimbledon or the Croydon loop:

6tph 06:00-21:00 Monday to Friday and 07:30-20:00 Saturday. 4tph at all other times. The western terminus is Wimbledon between 06:00-19:00 Monday to Friday, 07:30-18:30 Saturday, and 10:00-17:30 Sunday, and the Croydon loop at other times.

This replaced a system of four numbered routes:

1. Between Elmers End and the Croydon loop: 4tph
2. Between Beckenham Junction and the Croydon loop: 6tph Monday to Saturday daytime and 4tph at other times
3. Between New Addington and Wimbledon: 12tph Monday to Saturday daytime, 8tph Sunday daytime, and 4tph at other times
4. Between Elmers End and Therapia Lane: 4tph Monday to Saturday daytime

This pattern came into use on 2012-06-24 when Line 4 was opened and the Line 1 daytime service reduced in frequency to correspond. The increased Sunday service on Line 3 started on 2014-12-14 while the increased daytime service on Line 3 started on 2016-04-04. Until 2006-07-23, Wimbledon was served by line 1 (and also line 2 evenings and Sundays), while Line 3 used the Croydon loop.

The minimum running times from East Croydon are:

Covid-19: services were initially 4tph on all routes, increased to 6tph on 2020-04-26.

Topology

                         /-C----\                   /--------B
                         |      |                  /
                         |      |           /-----A---E
                         |      \          /
    W--------------------*---G---*-E----S-*
                                           \
    <= West  East =>                        \------------N

A = Arena
B = Beckenham Junction
C = West Croydon
E = Elmers End
G = George Street
N = New Addington
S = Sandilands
W = Wimbledon

Layout

Details of on-street and verge running are shown in <...>. Each item shows the start of a new section of route, which continues on the same street until a new <...> item is shown. The track location is shown as:

The network spreads across zones 3 to 5, with the 3/4 boundary crossing between Merton Park and Morden Road and the 4/5 boundary crossing in the vicinities of Ampere Way and Arena stations. Internally the system is divided into three zones: 3, "W", and "E", with the boundary between the latter two lying between Wandle Park and Reeves Corner. Stations on the NR network are shown with their normal fare zone, while tram-only stations are shown with their internal zone.

At present the zones are not used - flat fares apply throughout the network (including change of tram when required for a journey). Travelcards valid in any of zones 3 to 6 may be used.

key to notation

Locations are mostly listed down the page in the eastbound direction. Between Reeves Corner west divergence and Wellesley Road divergence the two directions follow separate alignments and are listed down the page in the running direction.

248706		8.710	[v1=2vv3=4vu5=6ud7=8db9='10a'T ='10b'T]			Wimbledon	<Separate alignment>
247702		9.177	[OP#]			Dundonald Road
251698		9.800	[OP#]			Merton Park
257693		10.605	[OP#]			Morden Road
265687		11.559	[CP#]			Phipps Bridge
268684		11.942	[CP#]			Belgrave Walk
273680		12.598	[OP#]			Mitcham
283675		13.715	[=#WE#=1ud2=]			Mitcham Junction
283675		13.736					<Flyover crossing NR line>
286675		14.096					<Separate alignment>
293672		14.788	[OP#]			Beddington Lane
300670		15.675				[staff halt for depot]
302668		15.846	[OP#]			Therapia Lane
306664		16.375	[OP#]			Ampere Way
311658		17.096	[OP#]			Waddon Marsh
314655		17.595	[OP#]			Wandle Park
316655		17.717					<Flyover crossing NR line>
318657		18.043					<R: Waddon New Road>
317656		18.119				[end of single track]
318657		18.150				[Roman Way underpass]	<R: Cairo New Road>
319656		18.254	[WE=]			Reeves Corner
319656		18.319				[Reeves Corner west divergence]
Eastbound line only; westbound follows a different alignment
319656		18.350				[Tamworth Road Junction]	<R: Tamworth Road>
320657			[=E]			Centrale
321660		18.802				[London Road]	<R: Station Road>
322661		18.935	[=E]			West Croydon
323662		19.094				[Station Road corner]	<C: Wellesley Road>
324658		19.519				[Lansdowne Road]	<R: Wellesley Road>
325657		19.588	[=E]			Wellesley Road
325656		19.761				[Wellesley Road divergence]	<R: George Street>
Both directions
327656		19.91	[WE=]			(Dingwall Road)
328657		20.025	[W=BE= #]			East Croydon
329657						[Cherry Orchard Road / NLA tower]	<R: Addiscombe Road>
333657		20.527	[=WE]			Lebanon Road (w/b)
334657		20.594	[WE=]			Lebanon Road (e/b)
336657						[Chepstow Road]	<Es: Addiscombe Road>
337657		20.956					<Separate alignment>
338657		21.085	[OP#]			Sandilands
340656		21.194				[Sandilands Junction w/b]
340656		21.200				[Sandilands Junction e/b]
340655		21.380				[Woodside Tunnel north portal]
338653		21.630				[vent between Woodside and Park Hill Tunnels]
338652		21.748				[vent between Park Hill and Coombe Road Tunnels]
337651		21.892				[Coombe Road Tunnel south portal]
335645		22.50				(Coombe Road)	<En: Coombe Road>
337645		22.684	[OP#]			Lloyd Park
342644		23.18					<Through woodland>
352640		24.270	[OP#]			Coombe Lane
355639		24.608				[Coombe Lane level crossing]	<Es: Gravel Hill>
363635		25.668	[OP#]			Gravel Hill
364635		25.768				[Gravel Hill level crossing]	<En: Gravel Hill>
367635		25.742				[Addington Park roundabout]	<En: Kent Gate Way>
368636		26.137				[Kent Gate Way eastbound carriageway level crossing]	<C: Kent Gate Way>
369637		26.401				[Kent Gate Way westbound carriageway level crossing]	<Cross-country>
370637		26.499	[OP#]			Addington Village
371636		26.677					<Ew: Lodge Lane>
376631		27.372	[OP#]			Fieldway
378626		27.81					<C: Parkway>
379625		28.050	[OP#]			King Henry's Drive
381622		28.435	[V=V #]			New Addington
Westbound line only; eastbound follows a different alignment
In this section locations are listed down the page in the westbound direction
325656		19.761				[Wellesley Road divergence]	<R: George Street>
324655		19.568	[=W]			George Street
323655		19.463					<R: Crown Hill>
322655							<R: Church Street>
320655		19.178	[=W]			Church Street
320655		19.146				[Church Street Junction]
319656		19.105				[Reeves Corner east divergence]
319656		19.054				[Reeves Corner west divergence]	<R: Cairo New Road>
319656		18.989	[=EW]			{Reeves Corner}
Chord line; in this section locations are listed down the page in the direction of running
320655		19.146				[Church Street Junction]	<R: Church Street>
319656		19.105				[Reeves Corner east divergence]	<R: Tamworth Road>
319656						[Tamworth Road Junction]
340656		21.194				[Sandilands Junction w/b]
340656		21.200				[Sandilands Junction e/b]
341661		21.8				(Bingham Road)
341662		21.913	[OP#]			Addiscombe
343668		22.525	[OP#]			Blackhorse Lane
345669		22.70				[Woodside Junction]
347671		22.931	[OP#]			Woodside
352676		23.642	[OP#]			Arena
352677		23.705				[Arena Junction]
356682		24.53				[Elmers End Junction]
357683		24.615	[=3du2=1B]			Elmers End
352676		23.642	[OP#]			Arena
352677		23.705				[Arena Junction]	<Across South Norwood Country Park>
350685		24.775	[OP#]			Harrington Road	<Across rough ground>
349687		25.11				[Beckenham Cemetery Junction]	<Beside NR line>
353689		25.531	[=Bb= #]			Birkbeck
357693		26.100	[=WE= b #]			Avenue Road
362696		26.666	[=Bb]			Beckenham Road
366698		27.2	[-]			[Penge Junction]
373698		27.741					<Station forecourt>
373698		27.893	[V=V #]			Beckenham Junction

Depots

Therapia Lane depot is on the south side of the track west of Therapia Lane station, with access from both ends. It lies on the original BR alignment with the tram line diverted around it.

Connections

There are no connections to other lines.

Rolling Stock

The line was initially served by 24 Bombardier CR4000 articulated trams. Their numbers run from 2530 to 2553, following on from the last of the old London trams (number 2529). Twelve Stadler Rail Variobahn articulated trams (numbers 2554-2565, in delivery order) have since been added, six in 2012, four in 2015, and two in 2016.

Links

Other information can be found at the official Tramlink site and the late Stephen Parascandolo's unofficial site. On 2007-10-20, tram 2535 was officially named Stephen Parascandolo.

CentreWest, the company operating Tramlink, employs a number of enthusiasts and, of course, has an interest in encouraging new tram routes. As a result, though they are not on the current destination signs, trams have previously been seen with indicators reading:

• 4 MORDEN STATION, SUTTON STATION, and WIMBLEDON
• 7 SHEPHERDS BUSH / Southall Ealing Acton
• 7 SHEPHERD'S BUSH, UXBRIDGE, and ACTON TRAM DEPOT
• 16 CROYDON GEORGE STREET, PURLEY, and STREATHAM UND. STA.

("Route" 7 refers to the Uxbridge Road tram proposals while "Streatham" refers to a former plan to extend the East London Line to Wimbledon.)

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