Sutton Council have claimed that they have moved ahead of Crystal Palace in the race to extend the London Tramlink system – although the situation remains that Transport for London are not committed to funding any extensions at the present time. The claim was made by Amanda Cherrington, the Council’s head of economic renewal and business environment, at a recent meeting of the Strategy and Resources Committee.
It has previously been said that there are three potenital extensions which could be built on Tramlink with Bromley, Crystal Palace and Sutton all said to offer benefits. It had been
thought that Crystal Palace would be the most likely to be built but these latest comments from Sutton are suggesting that it could they who are celebrating Tramlink arriving in their town first.
Members of the Strategy and Resources Committee at Sutton Council agreed to give £36,000 to a campaign to lobby the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, about bringing Tramlink to the town. It is hoped this money will “clinch” the deal but how effective it is remains to be seen.
A decision on the funding of any potential extensions is expected in July or August this year.
I think it would be much easier to do the Crystal Palace extension first, especially after most of the consultation and design work was done several years ago.