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TfL’s tram scheme will benefit Westfield, but not passengers

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Alerted by a report on Inside Croydon, BERNARD WINCHESTER’s research into Transport for London’s proposal for a new Tramlink loop has some troubling conclusions

Do you catch the tram from Harrington Road or Beckenham to West Croydon or Surrey Street market?

If you do, make the most of it, because soon your journey could become much more difficult judging by Transport for London’s latest proposals.

The significance of these plans is that the central Croydon tram loop will no longer be used. Instead, trams will be turned back at East Croydon via a new small loop, euphemistically called “an extension” by TfL.

At present, all four tram routes serve George Street, Church Street, Centrale and West Croydon. After the new loop is completed, trams on loop routes 1 and 2 from Elmers End and Beckenham Junction, about half the total, will no longer use these stops. Instead, they will stop at Lansdowne Road or, if the less favoured third option is chosen, at Sydenham Road, to serve the £1 billion Hammersfield supermall, the redeveloped Whitgift Centre proposed by the Croydon Partnership that is formed by Westfield and Hammerson.

Passengers on trams from Beckenham Junction, calling at Beckenham Road, Avenue Road, Birkbeck and Harrington Road, will be hardest hit, as they will lose their direct link to the new rail, Overground and bus interchange at West Croydon. They will instead have to change twice, at Sandilands and Wandle Park, to get there.

Of course, not only passengers will suffer. Impaired tram access could be a body blow to the ancient and vulnerable Surrey Street market. Central library, St George’s Walk and the David Lean Cinema could all be expected to lose footfall.

How Transport for London wants to reconfigure its central Croydon tram services

TfL believes that the new loop is necessary “to accommodate the Croydon Partnership development on the old Whitgift Centre site” and to cope with an expected near doubling of tram passengers by 2031.

Perhaps some changes will be needed: we shall see. In the meantime, Inside Croydon’s loyal reader may be reluctant to see access to Westfield favoured over access to the rest of Croydon town centre.

TfL’s consultation document is disingenuous in not stating clearly what the impact of the new loop will be, and in presenting the three equally unsatisfactory options as the only available choices. One phrase, however (“we would welcome your views on … the principle of an extension”) indicates that the consultation does offer an opportunity to resist this re-routing.

If you don’t want your journey from Harrington Road or Beckenham to West Croydon to take twice as long and require three trams instead of one, perhaps you should write in.

You can see in full the options for the Dingwall Road loop and state your views on-line at:
tfl.gov.uk/dingwall-road-loop .

Paper copies of the plans are available at the Tramlink shop in George Street and at Croydon Central Library. Project staff will be available at the library to answer questions on Monday November 17, from 3pm to 7pm and on Saturday November 22, from 1pm to 5pm.

The consultation closes on December 14.

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