London rail › Trams

London Trams

South London's tramway, centred on Croydon, with lines to Wimbledon, Beckenham Junction, Elmers End and New Addington. Part of it runs on former railway lines and part in the streets, round a one-way loop in central Croydon. It opened in 2000 as Croydon Tramlink, and TfL has owned it since 2008.

2000Opened
28 kmLength
39Stops
19.3 millionJourneys a year, DfT (2025–26)

Facts

Opened
10 May 2000
Termini
Wimbledon – Beckenham Junction / Elmers End / New Addington
Type
tramway
Depots
Therapia Lane
Operator
Tram Operations Ltd, part of FirstGroup, for Tramtrack Croydon Ltd, which TfL owns
CR4000 (Bombardier Flexity Swift), schematic side elevation, 2 cars
CR4000 (Bombardier Flexity Swift) · Bombardier, Vienna (Austria)
Variobahn (Stadler), schematic side elevation, 2 cars
Variobahn (Stadler) · Stadler Pankow, Berlin (Germany)

Route 39 stops

Wimbledon – Elmers End 25
Wimbledon – Elmers End: schematic, not to scale Wimbledon — change for District, National RailWimbledon Dundonald RoadDundonald Road Merton ParkMerton Park Morden RoadMorden Road Phipps BridgePhipps Bridge Belgrave WalkBelgrave Walk MitchamMitcham Mitcham Junction — change for National RailMitcham Junction Beddington LaneBeddington Lane Therapia LaneTherapia Lane Ampere WayAmpere Way Waddon MarshWaddon Marsh Wandle ParkWandle Park Reeves CornerReeves Corner CentraleCentrale West Croydon — change for Overground (Windrush), National RailWest Croydon Wellesley RoadWellesley Road East Croydon — change for National RailEast Croydon Lebanon RoadLebanon Road SandilandsSandilands AddiscombeAddiscombe Blackhorse LaneBlackhorse Lane WoodsideWoodside ArenaArena Elmers End — change for National RailElmers End
Sandilands – New Addington 8
Sandilands – New Addington: schematic, not to scale SandilandsSandilands Lloyd ParkLloyd Park Coombe LaneCoombe Lane Gravel HillGravel Hill Addington VillageAddington Village FieldwayFieldway King Henry's DriveKing Henry's Drive New AddingtonNew Addington
Arena – Beckenham Junction 6
Arena – Beckenham Junction: schematic, not to scale ArenaArena Harrington RoadHarrington Road Birkbeck — change for National RailBirkbeck Avenue RoadAvenue Road Beckenham RoadBeckenham Road Beckenham Junction — change for National RailBeckenham Junction
Wandle Park – East Croydon via Church Street 4
Wandle Park – East Croydon via Church Street: schematic, not to scale Wandle ParkWandle Park Church StreetChurch Street George StreetGeorge Street East Croydon — change for National RailEast Croydon
Centrale – Church Street 2
Centrale – Church Street: schematic, not to scale CentraleCentrale Church StreetChurch Street

Schematic, not to scale. Ringed stations are interchanges. Each strip is one branch, between junctions or termini. Station order from TfL open data.

StopZoneInterchanges
Wimbledon3District, National Rail
Dundonald Road
Merton Park
Morden Road
Phipps Bridge
Belgrave Walk
Mitcham
Mitcham JunctionNational Rail
Beddington Lane
Therapia Lane
Ampere Way
Waddon Marsh
Wandle Park
Reeves Corner
Centrale
West CroydonOverground (Windrush), National Rail
Wellesley Road
East CroydonNational Rail
Lebanon Road
Sandilands
Addiscombe
Blackhorse Lane
Woodside
Arena
Elmers EndNational Rail
Lloyd Park
Coombe Lane
Gravel Hill
Addington Village
Fieldway
King Henry's Drive
New Addington
Harrington Road
BirkbeckNational Rail
Avenue Road
Beckenham Road
Beckenham JunctionNational Rail
Church Street
George Street

Stops, zones and interchanges from TfL open data (2026-10-02). National Rail interchanges are listed where TfL groups the stations together.

Rolling stock

History 13

  1. London Transport awards Tramtrack Croydon a 99-year concession to build and run the tramway.
  2. The first section opens, from New Addington to Croydon.
  3. The branch to Beckenham Junction opens.
  4. The line from Wimbledon to Elmers End opens, and the network is complete.
  5. TfL completes its £98 million purchase of Tramtrack Croydon Ltd.
  6. Six Stadler Variobahn trams are ordered; the first carries passengers in 2012.
  7. Extra trams start running between Therapia Lane and Elmers End.
  8. Four more Variobahns are ordered for the Wimbledon branch; two more follow in 2016, making 12.
  9. Wimbledon tram stop reopens with a second platform.
  10. Trams to Wimbledon go up from 8 to 12 an hour.
  11. A tram overturns on the curve at Sandilands, entering it at about 73 km/h where the limit is 20 km/h. Seven people die and 19 are seriously injured.
  12. A new timetable runs a tram every five minutes from Wimbledon, alternately to Beckenham Junction and Elmers End, and every 7–8 minutes from New Addington round the Croydon town-centre loop.
  13. TfL invites four manufacturers to bid to build 24 new trams; the award depends on funding.

Sources 19

How we source figures →

unverified service frequencies: TfL's latest published pattern is from February 2018, when the name changed from London Tramlink to London Trams, the end date of Tram Operations Ltd's contract