TfL cancels all trams to New Addington in rolling stock crisis – Inside Croydon

Croydon’s tram network appears to be on the brink of complete operational collapse.

In crisis: there has been no tram service on part or all of the network for eight weeks so far in 2024

Less than half an hour later, Transport for London announced last night that the entire network would shut down at 7pm “to allow repair work to take place as quickly as possible”. Today, there are no trams running from East Croydon to Beckenham Junction or New Addington. Again.

Inside Croydon reported yesterday that only eight trams in the fleet of 34 could still operate.

So far in 2024, there has been no service on part or all of the tram network for seven weeks, with the closures often for planned “essential track maintenance”. The latest service outage will last eight weeks, in the 19th week of the year.

This latest service withdrawal was rushed and smacks of crisis.

Industry sources also suggest they are increasingly suspicious of excuses given for taking trams out of service due to “wheel damage caused by line debris”. There were similar service withdrawals in 2023. But then, only half as many trams were affected by damaged wheels.

As well as closing the network last night, TfL have also decided that today and Saturday and Sunday, tram services will only run between 7am and 7pm.

Today, trams only run between Wimbledon and East Croydon, again cutting services to Addiscombe, Woodside, Lloyd Park, Beckenham Junction, Elmers End and New Addington.

“From Monday 13 May we expect to be running services between Wimbledon and Beckenham Junction,” TfL said last night. “We apologize for the continued disruption this is causing.”

No services: Beckenham and New Addington are interrupted by the tram network. Again

What TfL calls “enhanced bus services” operate on routes 54, 64, 130, 289 and 466 “to help customers who want to travel”. Which is nice.

The tram fleet has 22 of the original Bombardier stock which have run along the 17-mile network since its opening in 2000, plus 12 Variobahn trams which were purchased between 2012 and 2015.

TfL has started a tender process to find replacements for the Bombardier trams, but due to covid and the transport agency’s financial crisis, it is at least a year or two behind schedule on this multi-million pound purchase .

In a statement issued to Inside Croydona Transport for London spokesman said: “A number of our trams have unfortunately suffered wheel damage from debris on a section of track, meaning we are currently operating a significantly reduced service across the network.

“This impact is likely to affect services over the weekend and beyond while we fix the wheels, but our priority is to get trams back to safety as quickly as possible.

“We’re sorry for the disruption this is causing customers and we’re boosting local bus services so everyone can still get around.”

TfL’s advice is for anyone traveling in the area to check before they travel, consider alternative routes and allow more time to complete their journey.

From May 2024: Two-thirds of the tram fleet is out of service due to wheel failure
From June 2023: 20% of Croydon’s tram fleet has suffered wheel damage

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