OTT: Croydon Tramlink - Little Help Por Favor?

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Bit of advice please from NSC's all-knowing know-alls?

I start a new contract in Beckenham this week. Which is nice. Apart from National Rail Enquiries tells me the best way to get there is train to East Croydon, then Tramlink to Beckenham. Else its an unspeakable train journey to something called Clock house. Anybody got any experience of using these tram type things things on a regular basis for work? Are they reliable? Are they over-crowded to the point where you have to sometimes wait for the next one? Where do you buy a ticket? Can you buy a weekly? A monthly? Do they have a buffet car?

Any and all advice gratefully received. Cheers.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Cash fares are £2 a journey. Get an Oyster Card. You'll be charged £1 a journey.

Buy one online:-
https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/guest/guestProductConfig.do?method=display

 

[Ernest]

I'm pretty sure the line between East Croydon and Beckenham is being dug up at the moment.

 

[Paxton Dazo]

When I've been to Sutton before I had to get a tram from Wimbledon to East Croydon, they stop every 30 seconds. The one I was on was pretty much empty, and it didn't have a buffet on it.

Was a nice little journey through Croydon City Centre..

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I'm pretty sure the line between East Croydon and Beckenham is being dug up at the moment.

What!!

Cheers all

 

[wehatepalace]

When I've been to Sutton before I had to get a tram from Wimbledon to East Croydon, they stop every 30 seconds. The one I was on was pretty much empty, and it didn't have a buffet on it.

Was a nice little journey through Croydon City Centre..

Town centre

 

[bhaexpress]

I'm pretty sure the line between East Croydon and Beckenham is being dug up at the moment.

As a local (I'm doing much needed Missionary work here) You walk out of East Croydon Station and the trams are right there. They're pretty frequent and the journey takes less than 20 minutes. However the trams go to Beckenham Junction which is not that close to Clock House. Check your trip. To get to Clock House you'd have to go to London Bridge and change, not a very good idea !

Check for details here Home Transport for London which gives comprehensive details about travel around London. Also, as LB suggested, get an Oyster card. Most newsagents sell them (I think they're £3 but maybe a little more). There's also a TFL office not far from East Croydon, turn right out of the station and it's about 100 yards down the road on your left. PM me if you need any more help. Oh yes, the track is being worked on right now however it's merely weekend work, back to normal tomorrow.

Please do not encourage the beggers.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

As a local (I'm doing much needed Missionary work here) You walk out of East Croydon Station and the trams are right there. They're pretty frequent and the journey takes less than 20 minutes. However the trams go to Beckenham Junction which is not that close to Clock House. Check your trip. To get to Clock House you'd have to go to London Bridge and change, not a very good idea !

Check for details here Home Transport for London which gives comprehensive details about travel around London. Also, as LB suggested, get an Oyster card. Most newsagents sell them (I think they're £3 but maybe a little more). There's also a TFL office not far from East Croydon, turn right out of the station and it's about 100 yards down the road on your left. PM me if you need any more help. Oh yes, the track is being worked on right now however it's merely weekend work, back to normal tomorrow.

Please do not encourage the beggers.

Cheers mate, that's excellent!

 

[The Grockle]

Cash fares are £2 a journey. Get an Oyster Card. You'll be charged £1 a journey.

Buy one online:-
https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/guest/guestProductConfig.do?method=display

Definetly get an oyster card as you can use them on buses as well. From my experience trams going in that direction are rarely packed in the morning but could be a little on the return journey. The service is also very good and rarely disrupted. Good luck!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Definetly get an oyster card as you can use them on buses as well. From my experience trams going in that direction are rarely packed in the morning but could be a little on the return journey. The service is also very good and rarely disrupted. Good luck!

Thanks for that

 

[dougdeep]

Another job in the Croydon area Tom? You must be getting to like it up there.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Another job in the Croydon area Tom? You must be getting to like it up there.

Time's is hard doug. It's take what work you can get this year. The bank manager smells blood.

Besides it's not a bad old commute really, and you're off the train before it gets to Smellhurst.

 

[The Grockle]

Thanks for that

No problem. Should there be any problems with the trams you can also get a bus. The 194 goes from east croydon about every ten minutes again £2 cash £1 oyster. You can buy and charge oysters at east croydon too but the kiosks can get very busy at peak times.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

No problem. Should there be any problems with the trams you can also get a bus. The 194 goes from east croydon about every ten minutes again £2 cash £1 oyster. You can buy and charge oysters at east croydon too but the kiosks can get very busy at peak times.

Ta. Have since been swotting up on National Rail Enquiries and (if I read it right) I can get a monthly Brighton to East Croydon + Zones 5 & 6 for £249.30. Seems you can use a Zone 5 or Zone 6 ticket to interchange on to the trams and the ticket is valid on the whole tram network. Bargain! Seeing as how my last contract was in East Croydon until RBS pulled the plug last month cost £214.30 for a monthly, I'm thinking that rather than faff about with Oyster kiosks and queueing and the like, I'll pay the extra £35 a month for a Zone 5 & 6 and just use that. Sounds like a sort of plan aye?

 

[The Grockle]

Ta. Have since been swotting up on National Rail Enquiries and (if I read it right) I can get a monthly Brighton to East Croydon + Zones 5 & 6 for £249.30. Seems you can use a Zone 5 or Zone 6 ticket to interchange on to the trams and the ticket is valid on the whole tram network. Bargain! Seeing as how my last contract was in East Croydon until RBS pulled the plug last month cost £214.30 for a monthly, I'm thinking that rather than faff about with Oyster kiosks and queueing and the like, I'll pay the extra £35 a month for a Zone 5 & 6 and just use that. Sounds like a sort of plan aye?

Bloody hell that's alot of money! I suppose it is a long journey.
It is certainly worth paying the extra £35 for zones 5 & 6 as it would cost you £40 a month to just use the tram two times a day with an oyster card. Plus ofcourse you'll have more freedom should you need to hop off the tram or grab a bus.

There might be a lot wrong with Croydon but you can't knock it's transport links, you shouldn't have any problems THPP.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Bloody hell that's alot of money! I suppose it is a long journey.
It is certainly worth paying the extra £35 for zones 5 & 6 as it would cost you £40 a month to just use the tram two times a day with an oyster card. Plus ofcourse you'll have more freedom should you need to hop off the tram or grab a bus.

There might be a lot wrong with Croydon but you can't knock it's transport links, you shouldn't have any problems THPP.

Thanks a lot for your help mate. Much appreciated.

 

[Bluejuice]

I actually quite like the trams in Croydon. They dribble along the streets with the pedestrians but once they get onto their open unshared track it's almost like a rollercoaster in parts. I'd compare them to the DLR, fairly modern and comfortable enough although there's more room for standing than there is seating.

However they've been f***ing about digging up the lines for a while now and even though the end is meant to be in sight they've already gone over deadline twice and the mess outside East Croydon station doesn't look like being cleaned up any time soon. Causes me a right hassle as my office is directly opposite East Croydon station but all the work on the trams means I can't simply cross over to get there and instead have to trek 15 minutes all the way around the workmen who are making a right botch of the line that was only installed a few years ago anyway.

I'd say check the work is definitely going to be done by the time you need to use them as the replacement bus service is obviously shithouse.

Otherwise, as others have said, they are very reasonably priced with an Oyster card charging you just a quid a ride (or even two rides if you return within 40 minutes) and they are so frequent at peak times that overcrowding doesn't seem to be a problem.

One thing I would say is that a lot of people in my office who live along the tram line further afield refuse to use it despite its cheapness, simply because of the amount of time it takes. If you are going a fair distance along routes shared with cars and pedestrians alike it can take an absolute age to get anywhere and it can feel like you'd be better off walking at times.

At any rate, they make a mockery of our own city wide rip off bus network.

 

[bhaexpress]

Another job in the Croydon area Tom? You must be getting to like it up there.

Oi Douglas ! Beckenham is in KENT ! I was born there, how dare you insinuate that I lived in Chavdon Actually Beckenham is in the Borough of Bromley. It's Bromley Council that don't want Palarse to move into Crystal Palace Stadium.

I'll have you know that they have a much better class of Chav in Beckenham, even the beggars crook their little fingers when they hold up their begging bowls.

 

[Since1982]

Blimey - there is a fair few of us who have to brave the badlands of south london every day. I work in Sutton - truly a dreadful place. We should have some sort of Albion support network to get us through the week. My only pleasure is having a fair few Palarse fans working for me

 

[Beach Hut]

Croydon Tramlink - The Unofficial Site