Today for the the first time I had to go to Croydon (kicked up a fuss at work about going as it meant trying to get out of London when everyone was trying to get in!) but it turned out to be not that bad i particularly enjoyed my experience on the trams (reminded me off of my old stomping grounds in Sheffield)

I did notice they were looking a little 'tired and worn', surely they can't be that old yet?

But it did get me thinking about the future of this little system

I have heard rumours about extensions to it are there any firm plans for this one?? when are the due dates??

It's 7 years old now, which is scary how quick that time has gone.

I guess the biggest and most likely extension in the short term is the Crystal Palace extension, although no one knows when this will happen.

http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/114

The best place for information on the Croydon Network is this site: www.croydon-tramlink.co.uk (Sadly it's webmaster and creater Stephen Parascandolo was killed in a car crash earlier this year so it no longer gets updates).

Crystal Palace has been kicked into the long grass, due to Crossrail getting in the way of money getting to anything that didn't have funding secured before the arrangements were sorted.

Yes i've just read the alwaystouchout stuff, but sometimes it seems to be a little behind.

Thought someone on here may know more.

but if extensions have been put to one side till after CrossRail its a bit of a shame.

This is considered the most successful system after Nottingham NET. There is massive potential for this system with all sorts of extensions (north, south, east and west) being thrown around. One of streatham extensions could have eventually led to a future join up with the cross-river tram via Brixton.

Whenever I've been on it I've been really impressed at the speed it cruises on the ex-railway lines. They were rebranded from Croydon Tramlink to Tramlink/London trams which brightened up the stops a bit - but otherwise the trams look a bit shabby. The white and red colour is not particularly flattering. The insides however are absolutely fine.

Since I have been working down in Croydon, I have used Tramlink a lot. A good system and less than a pound per journey if you use an Oyster Card.

The Crystal Palace extension seems the one most talked about but I think there were plans some years ago to extend from New Addington to Biggin Hill.

I also remember there was a proposal to extend the Beckenham Junction branch south toward Catford and Lewisham, possibly linking up with the DLR, although through running would have posed a few problems.

The extention between New Addington and Biggin Hill will never happen due to the valley in between the two. The only way it would be possible would be a bridge across the valley, which would not be worth the cost. It was more a good idea, but I've never seen any serious plans.