Trams in London - Current Trams

Current Trams

Most new rail systems in London have since been built to use light rail, as the steeper gradients, cheaper engines and more flexible land use inherent in modern designs have led to more affordable and practical systems.

The first of these is a light rail system was built to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of East London. Originally conceived by PLA in 1977 as an express ground level tramway both in street and on reserved track, the concept passed to LDDC in 1980 and was upgraded. The Docklands Light Railway opened in 1987 at a cost of £77 million, running on dedicated new or disused railway viaducts and redundant surface-level railway rights of way. It is not a true tram system, being a hybrid system somewhere between modern trams and conventional rail but with fully automated driverless articulated high-floor tramcars. It has since been extended to cover 31 km of lines north and south of the River Thames.

The next generation of trams started with the opening of Tramlink in 2000. Croydon previously had many tramlines. The first to close was Addiscombe – East Croydon Station route through George Street to Cherry Orchard Road in 1927 and the last Purley - Embankment and Croydon (Coombe Road) - Thornton Heath routes closed 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 New Addington. 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. In 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 mins via East and West Croydon and Mitcham plus New Addington to Tattenham Corner every 15 mins 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. In fact, Peter Parker was very well aware of this even before becoming Chairman. 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. Working with Tony Ridley, then Managing Director, London Transport, the scheme was brought out into the open with Scott Mackintosh being appointed Light Rail Manager in 1989.

The scheme was accepted in principle in February 1990 by Croydon Council who worked with what was then London Regional Transport (LRT) to propose Tramlink to Parliament, resulting in the Croydon Tramlink Act 1994 giving LRT the legal power to build and run Tramlink. The new Act still incorporated major parts of the 1870 Tramways Act which had held back previous private tram companies. However, as most of the routes affected were managed by the same authority, the obligation to maintain the road surface was not a new cost.

Tramlink operates modern articulated tramcars based on a Bombardier low-floor design, originally developed for Cologne, Germany, with the tram units numbered from 2530. This number was the next in sequence from the last London tram, number 2529, withdrawn in 1952 Since it opened on 11 May 2000, the 38 km of track have been operated by FirstGroup on behalf of Transport for London on three routes across South London. It features accessible low platforms that match the 350 mm high car floor or tram stops at the same height as the pavement. Much of the track is dedicated tramway, with some sections shared with other road vehicles, including some of the same roads served by the previous generation of tram. The off-street track includes new rights-of-way, adapted former railway lines and one section running alongside a Network Rail line. Part of the formation between Mitcham and Hackbridge was originally used by the Surrey Iron Railway, the world's first public railway, authorised by Act of Parliament in 1803.