More consultation for Tramlink Dingwall Road loop

Transport for London have launched a second stage of consultation for the proposed Dingwall Road loop on London Tramlink which would see a new short section of line built to aid an increased service to run into Croydon from the eastern side of the network. In November three different options were put on the table with the results of this consultation has shown that the anticlockwise option was the most popular and it is this option which further views are now being sought.

The Dingwall Road loop would see westbound trams from East Croydon turn right into Dingwall Road and travel northbound to the junction with Landsdowne Road. Trams will then turn into Landsdowne Road calling at a new tramstop near Emerald House. From there the line will continue westbound before turning back onto the current tramway at Wellesley Road and then services will continue back eastbound.

The proposals for this line have been developed jointly by TfL and Croydon Council and as well as providing some much needed extra capacity to the tramway would support one of the largest town centre regeneration projects in London. This development is expected to create over 5,000 permanent local job opportunities and deliver between 400 and 600 new homes. It is hoped that the extension will enable an extra 1600 passengers an hour to travel in each direction.

It is planned that the construction of this loop line would see a major recast of the timetable with the current proposal suggesting that from 2019 the following services would run:

Wimbledon to Beckenham Junction (every 10 minutes)

Wimbledon to Elmers End (every 10 minutes)

Elmers End to West Croydon (2 trams per hour)

New Addington to West Croydon (every 12 minutes)

New Addington to Dingwall Road loop (every 12 minutes)

In addition to the Dingwall Road loop there are a number of other proposals as part of the Trams 2030 strategy. This includes the construction of a new turning loop on the west side of the town centre and a second platform at Elmers End to enable further services to be run on the existing network. Other ambitious plans would include extensions to South Wimbledon and Sutton, double tracking from Wandle Park to Reeves Corner, double tracking (or extra passing loops) on the Beckenham Junction line and further new trams being purchased. These extra trams could be longer than those currently running on the network which would also require longer tram stops to be built.

It is hoped that construction could start on the Dingwall Road loop in 2017 with opening by autumn 2019. However this is subject to funding and approval; providing all is well TfL intend to apply for powers to build the line this autumn.

On the existing line work is currently continuing at Wimbledon to construct a second platform which will provide extra capacity on this busy line which has already been aided by the recent double tracking of sections in the Beddington Lane area.

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1 Response to More consultation for Tramlink Dingwall Road loop

  1. James palma says:

    Wow! Fantastic exciting news!

    I used to drive the trams on this system 3 years after it opened and left in 2008 and i saw the fantastic rise in popularity of this system. It is so good to see the investment it sorely needs.

    Interesting routes though, reverting back to the original Elmer’s End and Beckenham to Wimbledon services. I used to enjoy these, but not the 9 New Addington’s to west Croydon’s we were rostered to do, talk about boring!

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