Disruption down the line: track replacement works on the central Croydon tram loop, including a half-mile stretch along Wellesley Road, begins on Aug 6
Transport for London has issued further details around the tram track works planned for central Croydon next month, which are expected to last more than three weeks.
Five tram stops – Centrale, Church Street, George Street, Wellesley Road and West Croydon – will be closed during the works, and there will be no services to or from Elmers End.
Inside Croydon revealed this summer’s major tram engineering works in our Under The Flyover podcast with TfL’s trams manager, Mark Davis, earlier this week.
The trams, which have operated since 2000, last year provided 20million passenger journeys across the network between Wimbledon and Beckenham Junction, through Mitcham and Croydon. But the infrastructure requires constant updates and upgrades, with the next major works coming next month.
From Thursday August 6 to Sunday August 30, a half-mile stretch of the network, between Tamworth Road and along Wellesley Road will be closed as the track is replaced.
This will cause disruption to services through Croydon town centre, while trams will continue to run from Wimbledon to Reeves Corner, and between East Croydon and Beckenham Junction and New Addington.
In a briefing issued by TfL, they say the works will “renew” the tracks in the town centre section of the network, “helping to improve the reliability and performance of the network by reducing the risk of track defects and unplanned service disruption”.
TfL says: “The closure has been scheduled during the school summer holidays, when customer demand is lower, to minimise disruption as much as possible.”
Trams will operate between Wimbledon and Reeves Corner, East Croydon and New Addington and East Croydon and Beckenham Junction. Five tram stops (Centrale, Church Street, George Street, Wellesley Road and West Croydon) will be closed while the essential work takes place. Anyone travelling through Croydon town centre “can complete their journeys by walking, cycling or using local bus services”, TfL says.
There will be no tram service to or from Elmers End during the closure.
TfL suggests that anyone wishing to travel by tram should instead use Birkbeck tram stop (almost half a mile from Elmers End) or the 289 bus between Arena and Elmers End.
“While TfL will do everything to minimise disruption, customers are advised to consider allowing extra time for journeys through Croydon town centre, and to use the TfL Go app or journey planning tools to find the best route before travelling,” TfL says.
And TfL manager sDavis aid: “We know these closures will affect some customers and we’re sorry for the disruption, but this investment is essential to maintaining a safe and reliable tram network.
“By replacing key sections of track in one of the busiest parts of the network, we’ll help improve reliability and reduce unplanned disruption for the millions of journeys made through Croydon each year.
“There’s never a good time to close parts of the tram network, but we have planned this work during the school summer holidays, when passenger numbers are lower, to minimise disruption as much as possible. We encourage customers to plan ahead using our journey planning tools or the TfL Go app and thank them for their patience while we carry out these crucial improvements.”
To hear our interview with TfL’s Mark Davis in full, and catch-up with the news about tram fare rises and the purchasing of new rolling stock, click here - You will need to sign up as an Inside Croydon paying subscriber, when you will be able to access our full podcast archive, as well as qualify for special money-off offers, prize competitions and more
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They will have to close Wellesley Road when they replace the tram tracks which cross the northbound side of Wellesley Rd at its junction with Station Road (West Croydon) and on the southbound side btw Lansdowne Rd and the Wellesley Rd tramstop……leading to “Motorist fury” headlines from the lazy fume-belcher drivers !?!