Inside Croydon

All prospect of City Hall or the government stumping up the £330million-plus needed to build an extension to the Croydon tram network appears to have vanished. Finance reports released last week by Transport for London show that further delays to Crossrail have gobbled up the budget to the point where TfL admit to having “maxed out” on borrowing, forcing the postponement of a series of infrastructure projects throughout the capital.

It seems unlikely that the tram will be arriving in Sutton any time soon

The tram network, operating over 26 miles of track from Beckenham to Wimbledon across south London, has been a welcome addition to public transport provision since it opened in 2000. But after 20 years of steady growth in passenger numbers, the trams are still awaiting the first significant extension to the network.

Boris Johnson failed to deliver an already costed and funded tram extension from Croydon to Crystal Palace when he was London Mayor, despite promising the scheme in three election campaigns.

And a more recently proposed tram extension scheme, intended to connect Wimbledon and Merton through to Sutton, now appears dead in the water because of lack of available investment money, as Crossrail – the £17.6billion Elizabeth Line – sucks up resources through its two-year delay. Continue reading →